besafe20
08-14-2003, 07:23 PM
I got a call from my doctors office telling me the results of my first prenatal visit (im 14 weeks pregnant). Anyway it took them 2 weeks to get the pap smear results in and she told me that it was abnormal but only slightly, basically a step below normal. She was telling me not to worry that they would do a colospy (sp?) and see if it looks abnormal still and determine the cause. She even mentioned hpv. I am STD free so far but I was never screened for hpv. I have no symptoms of the virus and neither does my husband. I just dont understand why they dont screen for this routinely. I understand hpv causes many abnormal paps. My husband was a virgin before me. Does anyone have any info?
Sponsor
sdp2
08-14-2003, 07:47 PM
You can't screen for HPV. Like you said, you know it when you get an abnormal PAP smear. There are types of HPV which cause warts and others which do not, so you wouldn't see any "symptoms" if it's the non wart type.
devastated
08-18-2003, 12:24 PM
Don't get yourself too worried, there are other things that can cause an abnormal pap besides HPV. For instance, if you had a yeast infection or bacterial infection at the time, that could result in an abnormal reading, and some also say that using lube or spermicide close to the time you get your pap can make it come back abnormal. Try not to worry until you go back for your follow up, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. :)
livenlearn
08-18-2003, 04:36 PM
you CAN screen for HPV.... there are hundreds of strains... and only the "high risk" strains are of concern... however, my pap was "viral tested" for the virus and came back negative...
anyway, i've been going thru a series of paps over the last year and a half... they've still all come back abnormal... this past week i had my 2nd colposcopy... it really isn't anything to be afraid of... and they're just being cautious.... this past time i went i specifically asked the doc if this was going to stop my plans of trying to conceive in the next few months.. he said "absolutely not" this has nothing to do with becoming pregnant or harming the pregnancy.... if the pap was "a step below normal"... that's where mine have been over the past year... he's just been watching me with a pap every 3 months and eventually it'll clear....
not everyone who has an abnormal pap has hpv.... i have paps that are abnormal... and i DO NOT have hpv... i had chlamydia a year and a half ago which sparked all of this.... try not to worry... your doc is doing the right thing... you'll be fine
anyway, i've been going thru a series of paps over the last year and a half... they've still all come back abnormal... this past week i had my 2nd colposcopy... it really isn't anything to be afraid of... and they're just being cautious.... this past time i went i specifically asked the doc if this was going to stop my plans of trying to conceive in the next few months.. he said "absolutely not" this has nothing to do with becoming pregnant or harming the pregnancy.... if the pap was "a step below normal"... that's where mine have been over the past year... he's just been watching me with a pap every 3 months and eventually it'll clear....
not everyone who has an abnormal pap has hpv.... i have paps that are abnormal... and i DO NOT have hpv... i had chlamydia a year and a half ago which sparked all of this.... try not to worry... your doc is doing the right thing... you'll be fine
Oblio
08-20-2003, 12:03 AM
ok warning.. colposcopy hurts like H*LL.
i think that has got to be the worst ever procedure. i am hpv positive. it sucks. my boyfriend never tested for it (b/c you really cant unless you have a wart) and in the 4 1/2 years we've been together he's never had any warts (but he's the one i got it from as his ex girlfriend has it too, and sickly enough she sees the same doc as me.. eek) anyways, i never had, nor have i had any visible warts. mine were only found after having a negative pap, and could only be seen under microscope.
but as a favor to your child if you ARE positive, please have a c-section, b/c it IS possible to spread it to your child through natural birth. and if i were a parent i'd hate to explain to my child that any person she ever has sex with she has to tell them she's hpv positive even though she's never had sex. that'd blow... not to mention i'd hate to be the parent explaining to my child that i gave it to her.
i think that has got to be the worst ever procedure. i am hpv positive. it sucks. my boyfriend never tested for it (b/c you really cant unless you have a wart) and in the 4 1/2 years we've been together he's never had any warts (but he's the one i got it from as his ex girlfriend has it too, and sickly enough she sees the same doc as me.. eek) anyways, i never had, nor have i had any visible warts. mine were only found after having a negative pap, and could only be seen under microscope.
but as a favor to your child if you ARE positive, please have a c-section, b/c it IS possible to spread it to your child through natural birth. and if i were a parent i'd hate to explain to my child that any person she ever has sex with she has to tell them she's hpv positive even though she's never had sex. that'd blow... not to mention i'd hate to be the parent explaining to my child that i gave it to her.
livenlearn
08-22-2003, 02:52 PM
i think there's A LOT of confusion about HPV... how its spread... how people contract it, and then how people are born with it etc.... my ex husband has hpv.... he's had it since he was little... but, he doesn't HAVE GENITAL WARTS.... there's a huge difference between the hpv that causes genital warts and hpv that doesn't..... my children have had warts on their feet/hand.... any wart of any kind on any part of your body .. hpv is responsible for.... that doesn't mean that because i gave birth to them vaginally "I gave it to them"..... i'm negative for any strain of hpv... i've never had a wart of any kind on any part of my body.... but, my children have..... even with herpes, (which i believe is far worse than hpv) if you dont' have an outbreak while delivering, the baby will not get it.... my sister has herpes, and has had 2 kids that don't have it....
i really think being mis informed is more dangerous than being infected and well educated on the subject.
[This message has been edited by livenlearn (edited 08-22-2003).]
i really think being mis informed is more dangerous than being infected and well educated on the subject.
[This message has been edited by livenlearn (edited 08-22-2003).]