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I was just diagnosed as being positive for HPV and will have a culposcopy in a few days. I've done some research and have read that once you have HPV that it will never go away. But I asked the nurse at my doctor's office and she said that in some cases, the HPV will just go away and your body will recover on its own. If that's the case, how often does that occur? What are my chances that my HPV will just eventually go away?
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Im referring to the website I mentioned in an earlier post. Yes I am a healthcare professional.
April 20, 2009 - 3:34pmThis Comment
Again, I'd really like to know your name since you are a healthcare professional providing information. You don't seem credible when you're anonymous and I don't know if I can trust your information. I'd also like to know what your affiliation is with the web site you mentioned. Thanks so much!!
April 22, 2009 - 4:51pmThis Comment
You will soon be able to know you can trust the website info as it is in the process of being certified, the seal will indicates that it complies with standards for medical accuracy on the web.
April 17, 2009 - 5:21pmThis Comment
I'm sorry, I'm confused... which web site are you referring to? This site or the HPV site you recommended? It would be helpful if you would disclose who you are so I'll know for sure that you're a healthcare professional and I'll have access to your credentials. Thanks so much!
April 20, 2009 - 1:40pmThis Comment
Yes I'm a healthcare professional.
April 17, 2009 - 5:19pmThis Comment
Some people misinterpret doctors comments that the virus will "clear" on it's own to mean that it is cured. I can assure you this is not the case. Once you have contracted HPV you will have it for life. The only way that it "goes away" so to speak is that it can be kept asymptomatic by the bodies immune system and so you will not show any outwards signs or symptoms of an HPV infection. This does not mean it is gone.
Your doc probably used the Digene HPV test which is the only FDA approved test for HPV although the Cervista tests were just recently approved though not available as yet. The Digene test cannot tell the specific type of HPV you have only that it is high risk. Since high risk HPV depending upon your Pap results (CIN2 or CIN3) would require treatment and that treatment would be the same regardless of the type of high risk HPV the ISH is usually not done as it is very time consuming taking three or more weeks to do and is very costly. To find out what type of HPV you have, your doctor would have to have an ISH (in situ hybridization) performed on your biopsy (Pap) tissue.
As for your question regarding oral HPV, recent studies indicate that transmission of the virus through oral sex is likely since 25% of head and neck cancers have been found to be caused by HPV, 90% of those by HPV 16.
You can find more detailed and accurate medical info at the Any Mother's Daughter website. Hope that helps.
April 16, 2009 - 4:48pmThis Comment
I really appreciate the info, however I'm a little wary of whether I should take it with a grain of salt because I don't know if you're a medical professional or doctor. Are you the author of the web site you mentioned? (It looks really interesting and I'll be checking it out this weekend.) If you're going to provide this kind of detailed medical info, I'd really like to know if it's legitimate. Thanks so much!
April 17, 2009 - 5:02pmThis Comment
By the way, I've been going through some of the content on this site and saw some posts by Dr. Goldstein. I'm wondering how I can ask him directly about whether or not HPV goes away because it seems like some people in response to my original post have said that it can go away and others say it's something you always have in your system. So I'm a little confused. And I'd like to know how to find out what kind of HPV it is that I have and wonder how to do that. Also, I'd like to ask Dr. Goldstein if, since I've had oral sex with the man I'm with, could I possibly have HPV in my mouth as well. I don't really understand all the implications of having HPV and how it impacts all of my body. Thanks so much!!
April 16, 2009 - 4:27pmThis Comment
Thanks for all of the great info, everyone. I think I caught the HPV very, very early. I'd been in a monogomous relationship for my entire adult life so far, and after we broke up I started dating someone just a few months ago. Because of his many past relationships, I felt that it was wise to test for STD's when I went in for my annual pap last week. My pap smear came back normal, and I'm negative for all other STD's, however I'm positive for HPV. I'm glad my doctor is going to do a colposcopy, and soon, so that I can stay on top of this. I'm sad to be middle-aged and suddenly exposed to an STD. Younger women have the Gardasil vaccine, but we older women who start to date again don't have that kind of protection. Cervical cancer scares me, as I have a family member who has fought it, and it's not pleasant. I'm hoping my HPV will just go away.... I'll let you wonderful women know about how my colposcopy goes. It's in a couple of weeks.
April 15, 2009 - 1:37pmThis Comment
Hi there, I myself was just tested positive for hpv, I did'nt know how to react to this when I found out that same night I cried myself to sleep because I was ashamed of myself.
November 19, 2010 - 10:27amI talked to a few people about it and they said Im not the only one who has it, alot of other people have it just like me so it's nothing to be ashamed of.
A few months ago I became quite itchy and burned when I went to the bathroom, I did'nt go and see a doctor because I thought nothing of it, as the months went on I was getting worse and worse and it got to the point where I couldn't stop scratching... so finally I went and seen my Doctor and she tested me for STD'S the ones that I should be concerned about but they all came back normal which was a great relief off my shoulders... So then she started treating me for Yeast INfection but even the medication for this didn't even clear things up... I went back to her and she suggested I should get a colposcopy done to figure out what was going on,, and that's when my results came back saying that I had HPV...
Forsure I thought OMG there goes my life, how can this happen to me... when I called my friend and told her, she told me that she had it so bad that she had to get a hysterectmy because her's turned into cancer... She also told me that its best to keep up to date with paps test which I have been...
HPV is only a STI.... and Ive heard that once you have it, it's always going to be there... When you have children you'll have a flare up and have difficulties on giving birth... and then I also heard that It can clear itself up and there's always a chance of you getting it back.. so honestly Im not sure what to believe.. the question that I have is this... DOES IT GO AWAY BY ITSELF??... OR ONCE YOU HAVE IT, YOU"LL ALWAYS HAVE IT?
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