Body not recognizing HPV virus?

[ldissc]

Hi there,

I recently had my first genital wart outbreak last October (about 6-7 months ago) and have had recurring wart outbreaks ever since. I've gone to my doctor to get them burned off 3 times now with the most recent time being yesterday. She was surprised to see me back again and with so many warts (I had 8-10 this time that she burned off).

She showed a bit of concern at first and asked if I have ever gotten an HIV test. I told her that I've gotten 2 comprehensive STD tests that include HIV over the past two years and everything always came back negative (remember that HPV can't be tested for in men). That eased her concern a bit and she said that it must be that my body doesn't recognize the HPV virus itself and isn't attacking it.

So my questions are: Has anyone ever heard of this? Is this a cause for concern?


Additional info that may be useful: I'm a 27 y/o male. I suspect that I got HPV from a girl I slept with 2 years and 1 month ago. It took about a year and a half for warts to ever show up. My current girlfriend is the only person I've slept with since the girl I think gave me HPV. I started sleeping with my girlfriend before the warts showed up, but I don't think she was the one who gave them to me.

[gracefromHHP]

obvious warts are a different type of hpv than the types that are linked with cancer. no worries there!!!

[ldissc]

Ah well ok then. Since my appointment I've noticed that I've got very 2 small warts that we missed during my procedure (I hate when that happens) so I'll get to using the imiquimod on them and will do so persistently and I'll probably Desitin too. I really don't want to deal with those sores again - they hurt!

Also, there's something you said on another person's post that caught my attention. I believe you said something about having HPV infections persist for 2+ years begins to increase your chances for HPV-related cancers. If indeed I did acquire this virus from the girl I slept with 2 years + 1 month ago as I fear, does that mean I'm getting into the "danger zone" since I'm still experiencing warts?

[gracefromHHP]

you have to actually keep using it for 3 months - it can take that long sometimes for it to kick start the body into dealing with hpv better.  you do have to use it exactly as ordered as well as be very careful where you put it . on days you don't use aldara, you can use a barrier cream like desitin to help protect the skin and help it heal.

about 30% of folks get relief from hpv from taking cimetidine. worth asking your provider about since you can now buy it otc. pain to take it 4x/day but sometimes it's worth it to help your body get it controlled faster.

warts are just a cosmetic issue but they sure are a pain in the butt to deal with :(  

best of luck!!!

[ldissc]

Thank you for the reply, Grace. You're always very helpful.

The last time I went in to get them burned off she prescribed me imiquimod (I think that's the generic version of Aldara). And I'd say I used it for probably 4-6 weeks. What I found was that it helped to prevent my new, small warts from growing any larger, but didn't actually make them go away. I stopped using it because it began to cause painful sores/lesions in other areas of my penis. After I stopped using it I sprouted a few more new warts and my current warts grew even larger.

[gracefromHHP]

there are always some folks who have a tough time with warts reoccurring.  it happens. doesn't mean there is anything wrong with you, just means you are going to be annoyed to have to keep going back and getting them treated.  

did you try 3 months of aldara?  

grace