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Stds and symptoms

I had a brief affair with a man 6 years ago who was married for 15 years to the same woman and only separated for a few months.  He had no other affairs that I know of.  I have been married to the same man for 23 years.  Before that I was married to a man who's sexual behavior was highly questionable (multiple parners which includes sex with other men).  I have had three hiv tests (I'm sure you know from the hiv forum), gonorrhea and herpes 1 and 2.  I tested positive for the cold sore herpes otherwise negative. I was recently diagnosed with HPV.  My question is should I test for other stds?  Is it possible to be with the same man for these amount of years and have something that neither of you know about?
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I can see that by shifting Forums that you continue to be nervous about this past event.  If you are asymptomatic, given the duration since your other encounter, it is unlikely you have an STD other than the HPV that you mention.  It would not surprise me if your own doctor has already tested you for other STDs and neglected to mention it.  Unfortunately, this is rather common.  You might ask.  If not, testing for STDs is easily done and highly reliable. Given your concerns and anxiety over this distant exposure, you could either talk to your own doctor (she/he) could test in confidence or, if that makes you uncomfortable, you could go to your local health department where confidential testing should be available.  

A comment or two about HPV.  For better or worse, at present HPV is a "fact of life" and most people have it or will have it at some point in the future.  Despite this fact, only a tiny minority of persons with HPV get the consequences of infection (primarily women and primarily cancer and pre-cancerous lesions).  HPV is the most commonly acquired STD.  Over 85% of sexually active women will have HPV infection at some time in their lives.  The figure for men is less well studied but similar.   In some HPV will cause genital warts, in others it will not cause warts but may lead to changes in PAP smears; if your HPV was detected by PAP smear, the test is doing its job and may have detected an infection which could have been present for some time.  In nearly everyone who gets HPV, warts or otherwise, the infections will resolve by themselves without therapy but the PAP smear allows for detection of those in whom resolution does not occur.  In a very small minority of women, HPV infection can persist and lead to the pre-cancerous lesions that PAP smears detect and which can then be treated.

Hope this comment is helpful.  EWH
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Avatar universal
Being diagnosed with hpv has me confused and afraid of everything.
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