HPV questions

[Mags370]

I have high and low risk. I have very mild dyplasia, I do not need to have it checked for 6 months. I have warts in my vagina and just had my first acid treatment and will continue these until they are gone or try other treatments until they are gone.

My concerns are this. Can I transmit either to my mouth myself. Meaning somehow touch my vagina and mouth. I am careful but I can't drive myself crazy with being careful! I also worry about somehow giving it to others this way. I know...it's not likely but I am trying to deal with just learning I have this.

How much of a risk are either high or low risk orally?
I know docs say don't worry..but do you know of any people who have had warts orally?
Are there strains that are oral or is it just some of the genital strains?
Now that I have both high and low, how much of a risk is oral sex for me?
How safe is kissing? If I never had an oral symptom can I have HPV or pass HPV orally?

My oral fears are based on this. If most people show no signs of HPV and I get both high and low, get both cell changes and warts...am I somehow not at higher risk for oral changes. :( Again docs say don't worry...but I do worry.

I am going to ask the doc at my next treatment about warts inside the vagina, meaning where I can't see. Is this possiable and how do they know if someone does or not. Do you know anything about this?
Does treating the ones I have prevent more or is it just a matter of getting the HPV worked through my system?

If either of you know info I can read that will help me, please share it. I have read Ashastd .org, CDC...and anything else I can find that seems on the up and up and not based on fear.

[Mags370]

I have young sons, what are your views on having them get the vac's?

The doc says that because the area turns white that is proof they are warts. I don't have any doubt they are warts but will skin that is not a wart turn white from acid too?

I wish one treatment did it! I think it is going to be a little more battle. The burn is a bit worse this time as well, the white skin comes loose and off but the bumps are still there. What do you suggest if 4 treatments doesn't take care of them? More acid or something else, I will ask the doc as well if I have this issue.

[gracefromHHP]

the area looking different is just related to application.  it's a little harder to see the area once you've treated it once.  odds are the provider just applied it to a little bigger area this time.  sometimes 1 treatment takes care of them, sometimes you need a few.

our recommendations at this time are, if you've had 1 type of hpv, probably not worthwhile to get the gardasil shots. There are some studies on the benefits of getting gardasil and preventing head and neck cancers when you are older but not enough yet for the fda to approve the shots in women and men over 29.  

[Mags370]

I had my 2nd acid treatment today. It burned a bit more, nothing bad but I noticed when I got home that it seemed the area that turned white was bigger than last week. Does this mean the warts spread? The doc says I will do 2 more treatments, one a week. Do you know how often that is all that is needed. I am trying to be positive that even if I do require more treatment after those that this wont be a long process to getting rid of warts.

I also had asked in this thread if warts could be inside where I couldn't see. I asked her and she said yes but that when she did my pap she didn't see any. She also didn't see the warts in the opening that I am being treated for now. How would I know if warts grow where I can't see? Just I worry about this or not? I asked her if she would examine me after we are done treating the warts that are visable and she said no.

I also asked if at 40 I am def too old for the vac and she said yes. The ENT doc had asked me why I didn't get it to prevent future exposure to the types I might not have and I said because I am too old but he seemed to think otherwise. Guess he deals with the other end of the body but thought I would ask to make sure, am I too old?

[Mags370]

Thanks...confirming all this is both common and really out of my hands does help calm those fears. I guess this bad sore throat is adding to it. I made a really great immune building Thai soup.

I have not even thought of research programs and might look into that. I did look for support groups in my area and the area I will be moving to and didn't find any. Luckily there is MedHelp! At some point I am going to know enough about this topic I might volunteer educating others! Esp women around my age who didn't learn a thing about it in the 80's when we had our sex ed classes. I had read that HPV has been present for 1000's of years. That they have found it in ancient Greece. For a long time they knew it must be associated with sex because women who never had sex, such as nuns never reported cases of it. Also men who's first wife died from cervical cancer oftne had a second wife you also had it. This is before testing and treatment options of today so no I am not worried about cervical cancer.

I have seen studies about green tea helping with the cell changes but I can't drink it because I have hypothyroidism and so I am looking into ways to boost my immune system in hope I can get the warts and cell changes to stop in a short time frame.

How can you be so sure about mucoceles? If so little is really known about how HPV works...maybe they are. I just find it odd that they both happened at the same time with me. I know stress is prob a factor with that. Both are effect mucosa, both are very common, painless (for the most part) and both do not tend to cause more serious issues.

[gracefromHHP]

mucoceles are not hpv related.  

I figured you weren't 111 but didn't know your age hence the gardasil question.  too late for you to get the shots - if you've been having sex with your partner since you contracted hpv, too late for him too to even make it worth paying out of pocket for them.  typically hpv infections have persisted for years and years before they even start to cause obvious cervical cell changes so no way to know if your recent diagnosis is a result of a more recent partner or a partner from long ago.  

Honestly not a darn thing we can do about oral hpv anyways hence why we don't test for it or get overly concerned about it. If you develop an obvious oral wart, we remove them. warts are a cosmetic issue only. the non-wart causing types of hpv it takes years of infection before they lead to cancer.  We have no treatments for them so knowing you have it doesn't change a thing hence why we don't routinely test for it at this time.

have you checked out clinicaltrials.gov at all to see if any hpv related research is going on near you that you can participate in?  Lots of it going on out there and it would allow you to be a part of some of the newest hpv treatments out there :)

[Mags370]

Sorry about the double posts, I am learning the rules of posting as I am learning about HPV.

My sore throat has not been for 4 months but I have had issues off and on with my throat for some time...def 6 months. I just saw and ENT and he of course thought fears of oral issues with HPV were silly and that tons of people based on internet fear info will be coming in. Not that I disagree with him, simply I don't wish to be dismissed as if nothing is wrong. Just like it took me 3 gyn visits for a doc to exam me well enough to find I have warts when I knew there was an area of concern. I trust docs but I know I have to be proactive.

I am trying hard not to let fears cause phsyical symtoms or stress too much. Not easy for a type's like me.

I guess I just fear that if I have both high/low with cell changes and warts...then I could get oral issues and that is something I have to work through. I know there is no info to support that. I also have these mucoceles in my front gum and I think there is somehow a link between them and HPV..both are very common.

So I am 40, almost 41 and docs don't offer shots at my age. I have been told they don't do them when I asked.

[gracefromHHP]

mostly hpv in the oral area doesn't present with obvious warts. It's similar to the cervical hpv infections in that most folks don't know they have hpv orally even.  we don't currently routinely test for oral hpv either.  

how long have you and your partner been together? have either of you had gardasil shots before this?

[Mags370]

Yeah, love that site and have read every word on it concerning HPV. My questions are what it doesn't say. Such as oral issues and I want to know those answers from people who have had those issues, not just don't worry about it. I don't want to over worry but I want to be in control of my own health and not let anything go untreated. I am still very shocked I have HPV and in a learning phase of the process. I don't want to have anxiety with it so I have to educate myself to get past the fears.

What I am asking about where women get warts is, when it says in the outside the vagina, does that mean where I can't see. I am just going to ask my doc during my Monday treatment about this.

[gracefromHHP]

once your warts are gone and haven't come back in a few months, no reason not to resume oral sex.  


http://www.ashastd.org/hpv/hpv_learn_warts.cfm   this link has terrific info on warts in general ( as well as abnormal pap tests ) and has a section specifically on where warts appear on males and females.

[Mags370]

Oh and what I meant was...can warts grow inside where I can't see and if so how does the doc know. When I had my biopsy for the high risk cells the doc said he didn't see any warts and that I wouldn't get any because the type I have doesn't cause them. I told him that the nurse said I have high and low and he just looked at me blankly. This was the 2nd visit in two weeks where a doc didn't notice warts on exam, first was my yearly pap. I knew I had seen something and so after a few days I went back and the 3rd visit the first doc agreed with me that I do have warts and now I am being treated. So, I want to know where all warts can grow so I can keep an eye on them and get proper treatment. :)

[Mags370]

I can't tell you how much I apprecaite being able to talk to you...another woman who has both high and low like me!!!

So, because I just found out and just found I have warts we are not having oral sex. Oral as you can tell is my big fear and I am trying to deal with that. I don't want oral warts, he has to have hpv too but I am the one with warts. So...should we just not have oral until the warts are gone, plus 3-6 months to be safe?

Did both of you get warts? If you have had them how was your treatment and how long did it take?

[kdaily]

1) No you can transmit it to your own mouth in this manner or any other manner
2) Heres what I've discovered from my own personal infection, I'm married don't know who gave it to who, don't care... we both had HPV high and low. From my continuous exposure of giving my husband oral I did get it on one spot on my upper lip... it is a given due to the amount of oral I gave him. A one time exposure or a few times isn't going to transmit it that quickly.
Oral in general is too low of a risk to really give any thought to.
Kissing is not a risk.
the only way of getting oral is to come in contact with a wart. you don't get high risk via oral. it is only the low strain hpv that could be transmitted this way which is again too low for you to worry about.
Also you wouldn't give it to yourself.

I don't understand this question:
I am going to ask the doc at my next treatment about warts inside the vagina, meaning where I can't see. Is this possiable and how do they know if someone does or not. Do you know anything about this?

No treatment doesn't prevent more from appear, it will limit the increase as you are limiting the amount ingeneral but all in all the virus will decide when it is done, most cases in a year or 2 but sometimes sooner.

Those are the only ones I'm aware of, I did a lot of my own research when I was diagnosed to know and understand it but HPV in general is a very open ended STD.

[gracefromHHP]

washing your hands after using the toilet or touching yourself intimately are the only precautions to take.

they can see warts inside your vagina when they do your internal exam.

there are over 30 different types of hpv that can infect the genital area , you can have multiple types at a time as you already know from your own experience.

grace