Hi 12345-I know exactly how you are feeling right now. It is a very scary feeling! I am 23, and I just found out in January that I have HPV. At first, I felt disgusting and ashamed, and I was really scared because I had just started dating someone that I really liked. I was so afraid to tell him and some friends told me not to, but I felt that I had to. First, I researched it a lot and talked to my doctor who told me that it is extremely common. He said that approximately 70-80% of
girls have HPV-many do not know it because some strains of HPV never appear at all. What is even scarier is that many men who have it will never even know it because most do not show any symptoms ever (even if it is a strain of HPV that does appear on females). My doctor told me that if every female that had HPV was eliminated, there would only be about 1 woman for every 700 men. That's how many people have it!!! Your boyfriend now could even have it and he may never know because he would have no overt signs. On women, some strains create warts, and some strains never do. It's like picking a number out of a hat-you never know what you're strain you're going to end up with. People like you and I were just unfortunate to have gotten the strains that create warts. I suggest that you do some research of your own and find out the facts. What I told you is just what I told my boyfriend, and he understood completely!!! If your boyfriend cannot understand what is happening with you then he doesnt really care. Also, make sure that you have a pap smear if you havent already because some strains of HPV can cause warts to appear on your cervix which can cause abnormal cell growth, but this can be taken care of. And no, your sex life is far from over!! Take care of your warts and they most likely will never appear again. Be careful though, just because you dont have them does not mean that you dont have the HPV virus in your body. You will always have the virus. Practice safe sex. Good luck!!! I know that everything will work out for the best.