Thank you sooo much Holly. You sound so well informed. I'm so sick of hearing a generic answer that HPV is the ONLY thing that causes abnormal paps. And I'm not in denial that I may have it; 2 partners or not. I'm just frustrated because all the medical experts I've talked to make it seem like HPV is the only thing that can give an abnormal pap. I have known numerous women who had abnormal paps that didn't have HPV. But like I said, even though I've had 2 partners, I know both of them had a LOT more partners than that and that is why I sadly accepted that I do have HPV. They were both long term relationships, too with the 1st one lasting about 3 years. That's irrelevant though. Do you think I should get the colposcopy that my gyno is recommending? I honestly feel it's pointless to get a biopsy on a minor abnormality that is just gonna go away anyway. Also, I'm not necessarily stoked about sitting through an uncomfortable procedure (I already hate paps. lol) just to have a piece of my cervix clipped just so it can be sent off to a lab negative of any cancer. That seems so silly to me. Do you think I should get the Gardasil vaccine to protect me from future strains of HPV? Also, the girl I know with low risk HPV says she doesn't get warts. She was tested separately for both high risk and low risk and came back negative for high risk but positive for low risk. She said she had LEEP done because she had lesions. But she consistently had abnormal paps until she had the LEEP done.
First if you are 28 with only 2 sexual partners you are very low risk for any cervical abnormality. Paps are prone to lab error but they are the best we have and that is why repeated testing has proved to be so successful. There are some women that often repeatedly have mildly abnormal paps that don't mean anything except for a little mild inflammation or irritation. HPV is very common but it is equally possible that your Pap was not read properly. Your friend that had genital warts and an abnormal Pap, either had strains from both low risk and high risk which is called a mixed infection or her test was not read properly. If she had an HPV test, there are times that it cross reacts with some of the low risk HPV’s and produces a positive test. If it were me I would not have an HPV test. If you are under 30 with the history that you have even if you had HPV it is common in your age and most likely a transient infection. Your Dr. will probably tell you that with a LSIL Pap that you have HPV but that is not entirely true either—the study that they base this off of stated that 80% of people that had LSIL had HPV so they conclude that all have HPV when there is the 20% chance that it is not HPV. HPV is common at your age. Cervical cancer is very, very rare—and usually occurs in women in their late 40’s. Also at your age, too much testing can produce results that you don’t want and that won’t mean anything regarding your health because the virus clears but it could have both future medical and life insurance ramifications. If it were me I would sit tight for another 6 months and have a repeat Pap. Good Luck!
Hi, Holly. I had automatically assumed I had high risk HPV because I have never gotten warts (although I know people can have low risk and not get warts) and also because of the abnormal pap. However, I know a girl who has low risk HPV and she said she had abnormal paps. So that is why I was confused. I also read the risk factors for high risk HPV are: sex before age 18, more than 6 sexual partners and smoking. I was almost 24 before I became sexually active (28 now) and I've had 2 partners and I don't smoke at all. Can I order an HPV test to find out for sure if I have high risk or low risk?