Aa
Warts in throat.
So... ugh. About me, I'm a mid-30s male, divorced in the past few years after being in a monogamous relationship since my early 20s. In January 2014 I broke up with my last girlfriend (I've only had 2 since getting divorced) who I had been seeing for about 8 months and a month later I had a genital wart on my groin (upper inner thigh). This was difficult for me to deal with since I've never had and STD and I really wish that there had been more specific information available to help me protect myself because even though I am too old to get the vaccine I might have sought it out anyway if I had realized that exposure to this virus was unavoidable even when using diligent safe sex practices. Regardless, I got it frozen off and was hoping that was the end of my HPV infection.
It is now August 2014 and I just got back from seeing an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor regarding 3 bumps that have been on my uvula (dangly thing in the back of the throat) for at least a month or two. He looked at them and said "they are nothing serious, they are just papilloma". Which of course means warts. From HPV.
As you can imagine, I in pretty bad shape over this. The ENT doctor assured me that these are not cancerous (just like my genital wart was not cancerous), which is good, but I am extremely concerned about how sensitive I seem to be to this wart causing strain of HPV that is in my body. I am having these throat warts surgically removed in a week and a half, but I am terrified with the following concerns:
-The doctor says he sees these a lot, and most of the time doesn't bother to remove them unless the patient is overly concerned about them (which I am) because they cause no health risks. However everything I've read about HPV says that oral HPV infections are much more rare than genital HPV infections. Am I possibly extremely sensitive to the strand of HPV that I have? Do I likely have many more warts down my throat and on my larynx that I cannot even see that might cause further health issues? After spending the money to have these warts surgically removed, will I just get more and need to continuously have surgeries to be wart free?
-I am extremely fearful that I am more vulnerable to HPV than most people. I get frequent Herpes coldsores on my lips and face, and I know these viruses have similar properties. I feel like I need to limit my future sexual activity both to insure that I do not spread what I have but also to avoid reinfection and possibly more surgeries (and trust me, my sexual activity is limited enough as it is). I am also very concerned that if I am sensitive to HPV then I am at high risk of actually getting throat cancer in the future.
Argh!! How to people deal with this?? Are there support groups?? Do people just get on anti anxiety meds?? I understand that this isn't going to kill me but it has the potential to severally impact my quality of life considering how crazy it is making me.
It is now August 2014 and I just got back from seeing an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor regarding 3 bumps that have been on my uvula (dangly thing in the back of the throat) for at least a month or two. He looked at them and said "they are nothing serious, they are just papilloma". Which of course means warts. From HPV.
As you can imagine, I in pretty bad shape over this. The ENT doctor assured me that these are not cancerous (just like my genital wart was not cancerous), which is good, but I am extremely concerned about how sensitive I seem to be to this wart causing strain of HPV that is in my body. I am having these throat warts surgically removed in a week and a half, but I am terrified with the following concerns:
-The doctor says he sees these a lot, and most of the time doesn't bother to remove them unless the patient is overly concerned about them (which I am) because they cause no health risks. However everything I've read about HPV says that oral HPV infections are much more rare than genital HPV infections. Am I possibly extremely sensitive to the strand of HPV that I have? Do I likely have many more warts down my throat and on my larynx that I cannot even see that might cause further health issues? After spending the money to have these warts surgically removed, will I just get more and need to continuously have surgeries to be wart free?
-I am extremely fearful that I am more vulnerable to HPV than most people. I get frequent Herpes coldsores on my lips and face, and I know these viruses have similar properties. I feel like I need to limit my future sexual activity both to insure that I do not spread what I have but also to avoid reinfection and possibly more surgeries (and trust me, my sexual activity is limited enough as it is). I am also very concerned that if I am sensitive to HPV then I am at high risk of actually getting throat cancer in the future.
Argh!! How to people deal with this?? Are there support groups?? Do people just get on anti anxiety meds?? I understand that this isn't going to kill me but it has the potential to severally impact my quality of life considering how crazy it is making me.
Thank you for the very reasonable advice. I do already live a very healthy life for the most part. Probably too healthy at times. I'm a long distance runner and I've always felt I'm probably hindering my immune system with the extreme amount of running I do. So I guess it's time to cut back a little. And there is the weekly binge drinking. I guess it's time for that to go. Other than that I eat very healthy but probably don't eat enough considering the amount of running I do. I guess these are the only things I can do at this point. And try not to go crazy. Thanks again.
I don't know of any support group specific to HPV but there should be given the number of people who have it. Anxiety meds is a good start. Some of us do something else which is not medically proven to help recovery but no one can deny it is a good thing to do. We lead very healthy lives. Give up smoking cigs, reduce or give up booze & 420, exercise regularly, go on healthy diets, take vitamins and supplements, get more rest, reduce stress and avoid sex through the recovery period. All in some hope that a stronger immune system can kick this virus butt and prevent more warts. No doctor will ever say this will do this, of course. But every doctor does tout the benefits of a healthy life. The sooner you are wart free the better. Good luck!
You are reading content posted in the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Community
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
