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Avatar universal

HPV, Now What?!!

Ok, so I went to my gyn today to see about a possible bacterial infection that I have been having and instead of discussing antibiotics, im being told that it looks like I have HPV..gential warts. Basically my mind is scrambled.. I don't know what to think. I had a pap smear just over a month ago and everything came out normal! I had been in a relationship for 3 years with my boyfriend who showed no signs of genital warts. I know HPV can remain dormant but for this long? Can my boyfriend have a strain of HPV  and give it to me and I end up with warts and he doesnt? Can you only get genital warts by having HPV? I've been seeing that I can have a occurence of warts once my whole life (if im lucky and have a good immune system?) I mean, I haven't been with anyone else besides my boyfriend for 3 years!!! Could I have had it the whole time and it just not "pops" up? And why now? Im so lost...
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Avatar universal
I wanted to add, in addition to Wesson30's list.

- eating plenty of cruciferous vegetables containing DIM (like brocolli, bok choy, kale) which have been linked to helping clear an active HPV infection,
- nothing irritating in the vagina until the infection has cleared (like tampons, prerumes, douches, etc.)
- using condoms until an infection has cleared - there are studies that link viral load and the body's inability to clear an active HPV infection.
- keeping stress to a minimum
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am going to summarize here some of the things you can do to help strengthen your immune system against HPV.  If you want to know the "why" on any one of them you can probably just google it in connection with either "hpv" or "cancer".  The bottomline here is that you can live with HPV so long as it doesn't lead to cancer.  The warts are annoying but they won't kill you.  The following is the result of medical consultation and extensive research.

1.  Anything with curcumin in it - try Valacore or Viralfree available on the internet
2.  Take your vitamins and an antioxidant supplement
3.  Probiotics - go to a quality health food store in the refrigeration section and look for one that includes L.acidophilus, B.bifidum, and L.buglaricus
4.  Drink green tea (5 cups is recommended each day) or get a green tea supplement that contains the active ingredient EGCG
5.  Eat your fruits and vegetables - not 5 a day but everything you can get and go for the green ones, learn to cook spinach (it cooks down to nothing in less than 5 minutes and is dynamite with herbs, onion and garlic) Onions and garlic are 2 of the best for fighting cancer.  Blueberries, acai berry juice, strawberries are all great for your immune system.
6.  Get your flu shot and if you are due for your tetanus (if you are 22+ then you probably are) go get it (this causes your body to go into the fight mode against viruses in general not just the ones that are targeted)
7.  Don't smoke, at all, ever
8.  Exercise daily for at least 20 minutes, be consistent
9.  Get plenty of rest
10.  Drink lots of water
11.  Stay away from other carcinogens (like your cell phone laying in your lap or drinking a lot of soft drinks or alcohol)
12.  Enjoy a small glass of red wine every day or two
13.  Avoid excessive sugar
14.  Be happy
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you so much! I found your information very useful. I am also looking at a lot of other websites to educate myself on HPV. I did have an HPV test done, I will know the results by the end of the week. I also had the shot to prevent any other strains. I guess it makes sense that my BF must have cleared it because as long as I have been with him, I haven't seen any outbreak of warts. He is the first I have had relations with without a condom but now I am learning that even condoms you can contract the virus. Also when you said that an outbreak can be caused by stress...over the past month or so...(which is the time I noticed it), I have been under A LOT of stress..I have started having PAPs once a year since I was 19 and after becoming sexually "active" heh, and they all came out normal but again, I guess that doesn't mean anything.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
It is a shock to find out you have HPV.  It is a silent disease and it seems like people are just now beginning to talk about it.  Most people have some form of the human papillomavirus.  The genital versions of the virus are all sexually transmitted.  Time doesn't mean much.  You can have an outbreak years after the exposure.  Generally it is only a matter of months but you may well have had an outbreak before now and not noticed it.  You may have been under some stress recently and that could have precipitated the outbreak. The good news for you is that the wart causing viruses do not cause cancer.  Did your doctor give you an HPV test?  There are different tests but most just tell you if you have a high risk strain, low risk strain or both.  You only get genital warts by having HPV.  If you have HPV, your boyfriend has it.  He may have cleared it or not.  There is no way for him to know unless he has an active outbreak of warts.  There is no FDA approved test for men but men can get tested.  If he wants to know, he should consult a urologist or a dermatologist to see if they do that type of testing. Now that you know you have HPV, you should be very very consistent in getting your PAP smears.  PAP's are notoriously "spotty" in their ability to detect cervical lesions.  Fortunately, cervical cancer grows slowly.  The key is to have regular PAP's.  There is a lot you can do to help your body fight the virus.  You should look through this forum's archives for some information. Good luck to you!
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