Genital warts - Sexually Transmitted Diseases Message Board

SpartyM · 04-23-2001, 07:46 PM

i'm 19 years old, and about 4 weeks ago, i had an encounter with a girl at this party. She told me that she has genital warts, but had surgery a few days earlier. In my drunken stupor, i thought that meant that she doesnt have them anymore and that as long as i wear a condom i should be more than covered. Well, its been about 4 weeks now, and i must say that i have been scratching at my genitals way more often than usual. But at the same time, the weather has been warmer and they just tend to get itchy when that happens. Well, i'm really starting to narrow it down that i probably contracted this disease because i have now found two small, (very small, about the size of this . <<<period, well, maybe a little bigger) red bumps on the shaft of my penis. So i have a few questions coming from that...

1. Where is the best place to go get tested for this disease, w/o having ot disclose my parents insurance so i dont have to go through them to get this treated (not that i will avoid getting this treated if it means i have to tell them, but it would be nice not to have to tell them.) and how expensive is treatment, and is it covered under most insurance plans? I guess, what is best to do if i do indeed have it??

2. If indeed i do have it.....how long after i first recieve the virus is it contangious (ex: if i was to have sex with a girl the night after it happened, would she be vulnerable to get it or not?)

3. Again, if i do have it, can i accidently transport it to other parts of my body through my hands?? Like, i if i went to the bathroom, then touced my mouth....could they develop there?

4. Though i have it for life, are they contagious while the warts are gone? If i get treated, and they are not visible, can i pass the virus on to someone else?

Overall, i'm terrified right now that my sex life is over. I'm very upset at the girl at the time for allowing this to happen knowing the information she had to of known. But at the same time, its still my fault for letting it happen.

But, this board does help with seeing that i'm not alone, and life will go on anyways.

Any feedback would be really appreciated, thanks everyone!

sdp · 04-24-2001, 05:20 PM

First of all, the girl did inform you and took the risk. So don't blame her at all.

1. There is no good way to test for the virus. I doesn't migrate to the blood, rather it infects the top layer of skin. Generally, you treat the symptoms (warts) if you are indeed infected. If you want to get this checked out confidentially, you can check out the local public health clinic.

2. I'm not sure if you are contagious immediately or not.

3. I beleive that it is possibly to transport the virus elsewhere but the probability may be low.

4.Yes, you don't have to have a wart to be contagious. But if treated and the virus is completely killed, you may be free of the virus.

My wife and I had warts 12 years ago and we haven't had any new growths. Do we still have the virus?? Probably, but then again maybe not.

One comment, wart growth does manifest itself with a tingle and itch, but I don't believe they show as red dots. The wart when it grows kind of has a pinkish/white cauliflower appearence. You probably don't have HPV but assume that you might in the meantime.

SpartyM · 04-24-2001, 08:51 PM

Thanks for the info......to anyone who is dealing with HPV right now, i have something to share with everyone that might help with trying to live with this disease. I'm taking it in stride, as a good thing. Lets say i do test positive for it, all well....life goes on.....its not fatal, and i'm gonna take care of it soon. It could be so much more worse. So my sex life my dwindle a little bit......well, that just means that when i do have sex again, i will just have to inform her way in advance, and if she loves me for who i am, and will deal with this with me, then she must truely care for me. So, in a sense, this could work as a way to weed out through future significant others. Also, while decreasing my # of sex partners now, i will decrease my odds of getting a STD that is much more worse, (HIV for example), or possibly getting a girl pregnent. So, maybe this is a blessing in disguise.......god works in crazy ways.....hope maybe this helps!! Everything will be fine!!!

bitterglitter · 05-07-2001, 06:06 PM

A good place to get check is at Planned Parenthood. They are really nice about it and cheap (if they charge you at all).

You are always contagious, whether or not your warts are visible at the time.

To good news is that I had mine burned off (not as bad as it sounds, but not fun either) and they have not come back yet.

I am still with the person who gave them to me, I'm lucky I guess. I hope it lasts because I don't want to have to tell someone else that I have a permanent and contageous condition. (sorry to bum you out).