Genital warts

I’ve been with a girl for a few months. Before we started having sex she said that she never had any stds. Tonight I found out that she had genital warts about 4 1/2 years ago. She told me that she had them but no HPV. She says that she’s been tested for HPV several times since. She said that her doctor said that her type of warts is curable. And that she is cured and I don’t have to worry about anything. From what I read warts are caused by HPV and they aren’t curable. Can what she is saying be true?

Oh, and she said that she hasn’t had any in over four years. It took 3 months to cure but no problems since.

I was taught the same thing. Hopefully, some of the of the members here that are doctors will chime in on this one. I’d like to know the answer to this one myself.

Unfortunately, sigh, I recently had an outbreak of a few warts. I did a lot of reading on it. As always, Internet sources can be suspect, but I feel reassured when I read the same thing in multiple locations (maybe not the best method, who knows). You should check the Wikipedia entry as I found it to be consistent with what I found elsewhere. HPV/genital warts is not as well understood as some other STDs I have read about. As far as I know, the HPV causes the warts. HPV is the virus…the wart is a possible symptom. They go together. There are many different strains with only a few resulting in warts. I believe doctors can only test for the antibodies to the virus. There is no direct test that I am aware of. Many people can carry it and never have a symptom. It is very common, and I think I remember reading something like over 80% of people test positive for some kind of exposure to HPV in their lifetime. Reassuring, eh? While it is not directly curable, it is thought that most people get over it naturally depending on what strain they are infected with and how their immune system is. The real problem is can these people pass it on to those who haven’t been exposed. The answer is a big fat no one knows for sure :( It is believed that many people get over it and are either fully cured or have levels that are undetectable which mean “probably” they cannot pass it on.

I am not a doctor and won’t attempt to advise you other than to say you should get as much information as possible before making a decision. Aside from the STD issue, your girl is either misinformed about warts or has lied to you. You’ll have to decide how to handle that on your own. On one hand I can understand her embarrassment and reluctance to tell someone about this…especially if she truly believe she is not contagious. The other side is that she selfishly deceived you. Good luck. I hope some of this information helped, and that you go and get more. Talk to your doctor as well about your concerns.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, I had to have my warts removed. There were only a few and very small. I went into my urologist and sat there while he injected the warts with novacaine and burned them off. All this with a pretty nurse standing in the background. He said it is very possible to get rid of it by removing the warts and watching for future outbreaks.

I don’t plan on having any sex…especially unprotected sex in the near future…or maybe ever, lol. I would certainly talk to my urologist about it if I thought I would be getting into a relationship like that so I wouldn’t put someone else at risk.

So does anyone know if it’s possible for me to get warts if there has been no warts in over four years, she’s not testing positive for HPV and that the doctor said that she got over it naturally and there’s nothing to worry about? I need help as soon as possible cause I would like to address the issue. Thanks.

I should correct something I said earlier. It does look like there is better testing for HPV infections in women than in men.

The key to your worries is the fact that your girl told you she had warts but no HPV. To the best of my knowledge all warts are caused by HPV (genital or otherwise)…warts are caused by a virus. The End.

People can carry the virus their whole lives without knowing they even have it. There is no 100% way to be sure you won’t get it if she had it. If she never had it (which I doubt, no offense), you are fine, of course. On the other hand, it is very possible she is free of the virus.

I think the comment we are waiting for is someone with medical expertise to tell you what risk there is if she had it, but is testing negative now for 4 years. There is going to be some risk, though. I’m not at liberty to say how much, but I’ll hazard a guess that it may be impossible to say.

Here is a forum where your question may receive more attention from those involved with this condition.

hpvsupport dot com

There are also various forums on the internet where you can post directly to a doctor….sometimes for free…sometimes for a fee.

Maybe you both can go in for std testing together to put both of your minds at rest. Not a bad idea.

There are many types of HPV. The type that causes genital warts is considered low risk.

go here: https://www.aldara.com

Once you have the HPV virus that causes warts you have it until you die. Your girlfriend’s immune system has figured out how to keep her from having an outbreak but she can still transmit the virus to you. A lot of women that have warts get over them naturally but are surprised when they have an outbreak during pregnancy when their immune system is taxed. Wear condoms man. Seriously. You don’t want warts. They’re like herpes in that once you have them you have them for good (whether or not you are having an outbreak).

Ok, the paranoia ends here.

I got HPV in the fall of 2006 and now, I’m considered officially non-contagious by doctors.

What is true:
-HPV can’t be cured: True once you have it, you have it for life and this is no big deal. Most of sexually active adults carry at least one strain of HPV at some time in their life. Most never get warts, some do.

-You have to get rid of the warts: for me, nitrogen treatment was great. I had to do it about 5 times to clear them all off. If you don’t get rid of them, they can turn into tumors.

-After you clear off all the warts, you go to the doctor to get examined and make sure that you officially don’t have anymore more warts. Most of the time, you’ll get another outbreak and you have to get rid of them again. If you can go for 1-1,5 years without getting any new visible outbreak, go get checked up by a doctor again. If you are clear, you are then considered cured because there is very little risk of you passing on the disease or getting another outbreak.

Uh, no. Your info is bullshit.

It’s not possible to be considered “non-contagious” by doctors once you have contracted the HPV strain that causes warts.

Again, that is not true. It is a big deal. Genital warts can be a serious issue, especially for women.

There are many strains of HPV. The strain that causes warts will manifest as an outbreak.

Dude, where do you get your information? The HPV strain that causes cervical cancer is not the same one that causes genital warts.

Man, you are saying some completely false shit here. That isn’t true. If your immune system ever gets depressed you can get an outbreak again, even years after your last one.

Are you a doctor skizmata? I’ve been researching this like crazy and the info seems to more or less support what powpow is saying. Even from doctors. Although it technically can’t ever be “cured” the immune system can suppress it to the point where it can’t be passed on to a partner. Sort of like your immune system and the flu. That isn’t ever “cured” but your immune system suppresses it and it eventually cannot be passed on to someone. That being said there is a RARE chance that even after YEARS of no symptoms and no detection of HPV it could be passed on. But it is really rare.

Skiz,

Lucky you, you have my first official Moderator action.

There really is no reason to use that language. Please feel free to disagree, please don’t feel so free to be rude, its really not necessary to convey what you wish to convey.

One of the things that makes Thunders a great place is that we keep a level of respect here that is rare. Enjoy it and be a part of it by helping us maintain it.

Thanks!

Great you read stuff on the Internet now you know it all. Are you a MD or something? If you are then it’s great! But I would please ask you to provide us with some well structured impartial information instead of just calling me a liar and giving links to a page that is maintained by a pharmaceutical company (aldara).

I too read all the stuff on the Internet and I thought that my sex life was over until I discussed it with a doctor who explained to me the difference between theory and practice. Since I received many treatments, I took the time to discuss what the impact on my sex life would be with two more doctors after this first time.

I am now considered clear by the doctors. Here’s how they do it at the clinic I went to: (by the way this clinic is the city’s biggest std/AIDS detection and treatment center so not only are they MDs, they’re MDs who see many cases of HPV):
1-Test for STDs: to make sure that it is in fact HPV
2-Cryo-treatment: to burn the warts. You repeat this for as long as you have visible warts.
3-Check-up#1, one month after the treatment on the last visible warts. If it’s clear, go to step 4, if it’s not go back to step 2.
4-Check-up#2, 3 months after check-up #1. If it’s clear, go to step 5, if not go to step 2.
5-Check-up#3, 1 year after check-up#2. If it’s clear, you are considered ok to go.

From the time you get diagnosed with genital warts until you clear step 5, you are considered contagious. So, if you were to have sex with a person who doesn’t have HPV, the chances of passing the virus to this person would be very high, close to 100%. In practice, the doctors told me that, if I was to have new partners, I had to inform them about it.

Once you cleared the last check-up, the chances of passing the virus to another person are very low. Once again, I asked the doctors what did it mean in terms of ethical sexual behavior and they said that a person who successfully went through check-up#3 (and a complete STD screening) is considered clear of STDs and can have new sexual partners.

Most people who get HPV won’t ever get symptoms. Two persons can be infected with the same strain, one gets warts and the other never gets anything. The girl who gave me HPV was my stable and only sexual partner for 1 1/2 year and I kept contact with her for many months after. I got warts very soon after we started having sex together and she never got anything.

Condoms don’t make much of a difference when it comes to preventing the transmission of HPV since you can get it on any surface of skin (pelvis, tights…anywhere). I got infected even though we used condoms.

Generally, the strain that causes cancer is not the same that causes warts. However, this is not always the case and you should get all warts removed because they can cause cancer, even if you are a man.

This is my story with HPV. This is what I was told to do by doctors. I’m sharing it with you and I’m not pretending to be holding the truth. There is only one message I’m trying to get across: for any question regarding your heath: SPEAK TO YOUR DOCTOR. Nowadays, everybody thinks he or she is just as knowledgeable as an accredited professional in about every field of specialty just because he or she read it on the all mighty source of truth: the Internet. If you need some real info about something that matters, you talk face to face with a person who has a nice diploma on his wall.

And I guess there is another message I want to get across: skizmata, if you are a doctor, please be polite and consider that I don’t have the same knowledge as you do. If you’re just any guy with a computer and an Internet connexion, you should be way more humble about your knowledge.

powpow is correct.

HPV is an entirely treatable condition. Many strains naturally clear themselves over time. Removing the warts is a good idea.

Talking to a doctor and follow a prescribed course of treatment makes perfect sense.

And sparkyx is a great moderator. :)

Actually, yes, I am a M.D. The kind that sees lots of HPV. There are 80 strands of HPV. And it’s not curable. Just because your immune system has it under control now does not mean that it always will. It is only transferable via mucous membranes so a condom is a brilliant idea. People that come across as experts with totally b.s. info are intolerable. On “The New Earth” know-it-all’s and exagerators will be the first to go. Damn, people.