i'm a 21 year old female....i had my first abnormal pap about a year and a half ago, my family doctor referred me to a gynocologist, she told me that i do have HPV, and in the last year i've had 2 colposcopies and today i just had a pap and an "inner scraping"....i have had no symptoms or signs of warts that i can see and my gyno has not told me anything about it...i know there are many different types of HPV, and that's where i get confused. i haven't had sex of any kind since october (6 months), although i'm with the same partner. he and i had unprotected sex before then. he has no physical symptoms (i.e. warts)

* can the same HPV that caused my cervical dysplasia cause warts? or are they two completely different types?

* i've read that usually partners don't "bounce" HPV back and forth...so if i have sex with my partner, will it make it harder for my body to "get rid of" my dysplasia? because i've had it awhile now and hearing that i have to have another colpo isn't fun news to hear...

*can i ever completely "get rid of" HPV? can he? if there are no warts?

* what are the risks with cervical dysplasia and pregnancy? and if i can completely get rid of it, could there be any related complications with pregnancy?

*if i can completely get rid of it, and i have unprotected sex with my partner, can he re-infect me?

i would very much appreciate any kind of an answer...thank you!

Hi musicislife139.
If you haven't already, I strongly suggest that you read this site's HPV info section:

http://www.ashastd.org/hpv/hpv_learn.cfm

You can see to the left there the various topics. I suggest going through them all. There you'll find answers to many of your questions. Especially the one with HPV and pregnacy.

As for "ping-ponging" the virus back and forth, there were a few other people who posted the very same question just recently. You can check them out here:
http://www.ashastd.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=677 and http://www.ashastd.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=672

Do you know if they ran an HPV test on you, too? Do you know if you have "high-risk" and/or "low-risk"? From the sounds of your situation, you more then likely have "high-risk" HPV. That's the type that usually caused cervical changes (which you can read on that first link. They have a section on cervical dysplasia). I have heard that sometimes the "high-risk" hpv can cause warts...called flat warts. HOWEVER, from the vibe I get from this board and another, it's very rare. It's highly doubtful you'll have warts. Now if you have "low-risk" HPV (or have it along with the "high-risk"...you can get more then one strain of the virus), that's the kind that will cause external genital warts. It also has been known to cause mild abnormal paps, too. Course, you can have either "risk", and never develop symptoms. Be you man or woman. You can still be a carrier without symptoms. Meaning you can pass it along without knowing you have it. For men, the only way they'll ever know they have it is either if they get warts ("low-risk" hpv), or they have a former partner who informs them that they have it. Which means they possibly are carriers now. "High-risk" HPV rarely causes any symptoms in men. Usually none. You can read up more on the first link I gave you, and you can check this one out (re: HPV and Men):
http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/STDFact-HPV-and-men.htm

As far as getting rid of HPV, you can check out these threads:
http://www.ashastd.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=638
http://www.ashastd.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=394.

Hope these will help! Goodluck!

thank you rogue! very helpful!

well, after finding this board yesterday, i decided to call my gyno's office and have a long talk with her nurse (you know how some things are just easier to ask over the phone or online)...i asked if they had ever run a test that could tell me the type of HPV i have and come to find out they NEVER even ran an HPV test...yeah, i was kind of mad...but this is what the nurse told me:

Sept 05-first abnormal pap
Oct 05- first visit to new gyno, low grade SIL (squamous intraepithelial lesions), mild dysplasia, classic symptoms of high risk HPV
Nov 06- same, first colposcopy
Jan 07- same, second colposcopy
Mar 07- pap, inner scraping...still waiitng on results

so i was pretty mad when i found out they never even did an HPV test on me...classic symptoms of high risk? what the hell....so i told the nurse that i want to come back in and have a specific test to check for HPV, so she's checking with my doctor and will be calling me back

has anyone here gotten the gardasil shots? my gyno told me that i should still get even if i'm not clear right now because it will still protect me against most of the forms of HPV i don't have...i want to get it so bad, but it just costs so much

Hello musicislife,

Thanks for sharing your story with us. I'm interested to hear what your clinic decides about the HPV test.

Clinics don't routinely offer HPV testing for women under age 30 unless they have unclear Pap test results, and they want to sort out whether or not "high risk" HPV is present. Women of any age with Pap tests that more strongly suggest the likelihood that HPV is present (such as a reading of SIL, especially in 20-something women) are typically referred to colposcopy rather than HPV testing.

HPV most often does not lead to issues with child bearing. Read more at http://www.ashastd.org/hpv/hpv_learn_dysplasia.cfm#7.

Keep us posted if you don't mind.

Fredo

_________________
ASHA Moderator

well, my gyno's nurse called back and said they'd be more than happy to do an HPV specific test if i wanted, but my insurance wouldn't cover it...boooooo.....i'm already fighting my insurance over all this, the last thing i want or need is more medical bills

i'm just soooo nervous! i want this damn disease OUT...it doesn't have my permission to be in body anymore...so there..<stomps foot>..i'm also scared to have a normal sex life with my boyfriend of 5 years...we had unprotected sex before all this crap hit the fan, and it just SUCKS that it seems like there is an overwhelming amount of information and hardly any definite answers....i'm a "yes or no" kind of girl and all these "maybe's" are driving me nuts