HPV/Colposcopy questions.. - Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Message Board

alana707 · 12-14-2007, 06:45 AM

Hi everyone, first time here, and I am so happy to have found this message board! Unfortunately most doctors are in a hurry, or not very clear, and we usually leave their office w/ many questions unanswered...
Here's my situation: My pap smears have been perfect for the past 20 or so years, but I just found out recently that I am HPV positive (which by the way I have no idea how I got, since I've had only one sexual partner all my life-my husband-and I live a very healthy life, eat right, exercise, don't smoke don't drink etc..). So, I was sent for a colposcopy, during which .. I am not sure what the doctor did, it does not sound like any of the experiences I've read on this board... all he did was do some, what felt like scraping, no pain just very uncomfortable.. I asked what he's doing and he said he just took a biopsy, and I'll go to see him next week for the results! That was it, when I asked for details, he said "don't worry, I'll tell you when the results come in".

I feel so anxious and worried since the colposcopy, and since the doc didn't give me any answers I'm looking else where, and I still don't understand what went on what it meant etc..
Here are my main concerns, if you can help , I will appreciate it so much:

---Do they always take a biopsy during colposcopy, or only if they find something suspicious?

---If they do find precancerous cells , caused by HPV, and they are treated, does the HPV go away or is it still there always threatening to cause more precancerous cells?

---Since I only have/had one sexual partner, does it mean I got HPV from him?--is there any other way you can get it?

Thanks so much in advance,
Alana

BE 123 · 12-14-2007, 07:06 AM

1) If it was a scraping, then it was either a pap, or an ECC. A biopsy would feel like the pinch that it is. Depending on your age I'm leaning towards the ECC. In peri or post menopausal women the TZ (area they need to see as most bad cells begin there) "disappears" up the canal, making it harder to visualize on colpo.
2) Unfortunately yes, removing the cells still means the HPV can come back. But for some women, removing the bad cells allows your body to fight the HPV and suppress it into dormancy. This sounds like your situation. You've probably had it a long time, but it only recently became active.
3) If only been with husband, definitely yes. No other way to get it.

happymom28 · 12-14-2007, 09:59 AM

1. They take biopsies of "suspicious" areas. Some people experience pain and others experience discomfort. I think a lot of it depends on your pain threshold and the doctor doing the procedure. There are some women who are in agony and others who barely feel a thing.

2. Unfortunately you will always have the HPV. You may have had it for 10+ years and not have known. It can lay dormant in your system undetected for quite sometime until it is brought to the surface for some reason. Now that you are armed with this knowledge you will know to go to every appointment and not be tempted to skip. That's something I use to do until I discovered the HPV.

3. The only place it could come from would be your husband. But again, it could have been in your system for several years without you knowing it. He could have contracted it long before you met and he would have no reason to know. This strain doesn't really produce any "symptoms" in men.

BE 123 · 12-14-2007, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by happymom28

2. Unfortunately you will always have the HPV. You may have had it for 10+ years and not have known. It can lay dormant in your system undetected for quite sometime until it is brought to the surface for some reason. Now that you are armed with this knowledge you will know to go to every appointment and not be tempted to skip. That's something I use to do until I discovered the HPV.

happymom28, if you're still here, could you reply to this please? Are you sure hpv is for life? Right now I'm (unfortunately for all of us) with you: I'm reading more and more evidence indicating you'll always have hpv once you get it, but the official reports from health agencies like CDC, as well as my doctor, say for most people it's a transient infection that is cleared by one's immune system. Unless they mean "cleared" another way, doesn't that essentially mean "eradicated?"

Basically, is hpv more like a cold that you get over and never get again...OR, is it more like herpes that can keep resurfacing? A virus can behave both ways, and I'm praying hpv is like the cold.

I'd hate to think reputable health agencies were lying to us (as I for one relied on their written info, and I know many others do/did as well) and/or parsing words (eg, saying "cleared" and meaning "just asleep" when most reasonable people would take "cleared" to mean "GONE").

If anyone else has any info to this effect, please share. Thanks a bunch.

happymom28 · 12-14-2007, 12:35 PM

My doctor compared it to herpes in that it is always in your system and then something causes it to "flare up".

He also told me (and this is a bit off topic) that when HPV was on the rise they expect penile cancer numbers to jump as well, and that never happened. He has been doing a lot of research on the subject as to why it affects men and women so differently. He always has new and rather fascinating info on the subject.