Are you HPV postive?

how did you react when you found out? and what were you most scared of?


i just came back from the doctor, and found out that i am HPV positive. im devastated, i didnt want to be just another statistic, and ive only been with one person......IT FREAKING SUCKS! please tell me your story.

hi.

you'd be surprised how NOT alone you are. currently there are over 6 million new HPV infection annually, and about 20 million people are HPV-positive. also, more than 80% of all females, according to the CDC, will have been infected with HPV before 50 yo. in other words, you are not alone.

i was infected with HPV when i was 20 (now 36). i actually knew nothing about it and was scared to death. my partner at the time, was totally in denial and did not admit to anything. several years later, his girlfriend was infected with HPV too. how interesting.

when i found out, i cried. i thought i was dirty and was going to die of cancer. i was embarrassed to tell my parents and my new boyfriend. but, what helped me was the fact that i was studying public health, had access to research and educated myself. fortunately, i had no long-term effects from it, and i have tested negative since 1994.

now i teach college public health and one of my topics is human papillomavirus infection, treatment and prevention.

i also meet about 3 students a week who come up to me and disclose that they have HPV and are scared.

the only advise i can give you is to educate yourself, keep up on your paps, reduce your number of unprotected sex partners and do NOT believe you are alone...

check out this website, it's very helpful to those newly diagnosed with HPV.

http://www.ashastd.org/hpv/hpv_overview....

I'm gonna tell you my opinion. I 've done reasearch and even talked to nurses about it. I'm also a pe teacher who teaches sex ed as well.

to be quite honest, HPV is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. For males, there are not symptoms other than getting little red domed like bumps in the gential area. for females, it is a little bit different..

experts say that 8 out of ten women who die from cervical cancer is due to HPV, however what they do not mention is how many of those women went to a obgyn on a regular basis. all HPV can do to women is ,if not maintained by an obgyn cause a concerous tumor to build up on ther cervix, which can be scraped off by a doctor, if seen on a regular basis (twice a year is what i hear) as long as u see the obgyn regularly he can detect whether the cervix is getting that cancerious tumor over it ...

hope this was helpful..

Yea, and when you look for information on the Internet you will find all sorts of judgmental stuff and admonishments to not have sexual contact with anyone etc. etc. but keep searching and you will uncover that: guys carry the virus and will never know unless it is one of the strains that causes warts - there is no way to test them - so they are home free. Condoms do not prevent the spread - it is skin contact that spreads it. It is the same virus that causes plantar warts on the bottom of the foot - which get spread in public showers by people peeing while showering. So like any virus that lies dormant (chicken pox that turns to shingles later in life) this too will lie dormant - you just need to keep your immunity up and stay healthy - cause that cancer thing is not an easy cure.

yup i got it 2 hun.. i was most scared of A) dying of cancer B) gettin warts C) never haven kids. Now all of these things are possible but not 100%. Its gunna be ok, i relized about a year later how little of a deal it was when i got herpes. Youll be just fine hun, just go to the doctor at least every six months to get a pap. and make sure things are not progressing. And learn from this.. i wish i would have.USE A CONDOM ALWAYS! EVEN IF THEY SAY THEY LOVE YOU! IT DOESNT MATTER DONT END UP WITH SOMETHING WORSE!