Ask Dr. Kate: How to live and love with genital warts

From the Community…

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  Posted by bell Tue Dec 16, 2008 4:15pm PST

  Hi there,

  I have been living with them for the last 2 years and they are not fun, but definitely deal able :) So what I have learned is yes you can transfer them back and forth to each other. My doctor says to wear a condom every time for a least a year. This is teaching the virus there are is no skin on skin contact here! Also make sure you take a multi-vitamin high in folic acid. There are also herbal suppliments that I take for HPV; they seem to help a lot. You can find them on line by looking for Homeopathic options.

  Lastly I will say that the TCA does work but it kills, not just burns. You are out of commission sexually for about 2 weeks. I had it done every two weeks for about 5 months, boo. The Aldara to me is not the way to go, they tell you to use it for a long time and what it is doing is basically slowing taking them off. When you could just go in for the TCA treatments and be done with it!

  As I get everything under control the vitamins, homeopathic pills and condoms are really working. Knock on wood I have been symptom free for 6 months. I wish you the best!

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  Posted by karen w Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:32pm PST

  Its true,you will naturally cure yourself of it.I was diagnosed with it when I was 23 and it cleared up from my body in about 7 months.It was really traumatic for me when I found out because it was from my current boyfriend who was a real rotten boyfriend back then and his promiscuity passed it to me and I knew it.I'm 30 now and it was scary and I did go through the weekly topical applications by the doctor and it did burn,I also went through a copolscopy-hope I'm spelling it right-because as you probably know hpv can cause cervical cancer and they noticed an abnormal pap and froze the top layer of my cervix.That shedding process afterwards was almost more unpleasant than the warts..I basically had to wear adult diapers for around 10 months afterwards! But you dont need to worry,I havent had a breakout in 6 years.I'm also with the same guy who is completely changed from the scumbag and we get checked together and dont pass anything back and forth to each other,it's naturally cleared itself from his body aswell.Thats what it does,sometimes you may have a reaction when you brush on something unclean or foreign to your area and that can cause a brief breakout but you will be fine,your body will fight it off.You just have to always get your paps skears every 6 months and bloodwork too because hpv can lead to cervical cancer but it doesnt always.Its something that I keep on top of now and I also worry about it effecting my fertility ability and concieving a child with it,if anyone knows anything about that please speak up? My boyfriend and I have tried but I just do not get pregnant no matter what or when we do it monthwise and I wonder how hpv may effect this.Just another girl like you living with this-we'll be fine :)

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  Posted by serenity_seeker Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:31pm PST

  It has not been my experience that the body rids itself of these naturally. I have the HPV genital warts on the top of my pubic region and I have been completely celibate and not engaged in any sexual activity with anyone for the past two years. So far I have not been able to rid myself of these even using a topical solution. I am going to the doctor in January to seek out other alternatives.

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  Posted by mssweetness4U27 Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:44pm PST

  I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH GENITAL WARTS WHEN I WAS LIKE 19 OR 20. I HADE SURGERY TO REMOVE THEM. I WAS NEVER TOLD OF HPV CAUSING THEM AND I HAVE NOT HAD ANYMORE OF THEM. ARE THEY GONE? DO I HAVE HPV? I AM NOW 27 AND WENT THROUGH A PREGNACY RECENTLY.DOCTOR DIDN'T DIAGNOSE ME WITH HPV.DID SHE EVEN TEST ME FOR IT?

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  Posted by Karrie Wed Dec 17, 2008 7:27am PST

  I was diagnosed when I was 18. I had an abnormal Pap showing displasia (sp?). My OB/GYN did a colposcopy which is a big microscope to look closer at the cervix. She then ended up doing a Leep procedure, wich burns off the top of the cervix in hopes to get all the mutated cells. They then send it off to pathology for testing. I had to go through two colposcopies and two Leep procedures which was not fun. The pre-cancerous cell were not removed so she had to do a "cone biopsy" which removes 3/4 of your cervix up to the uterus. The tip of the cone is up toward the uterus and the opening of the cone is almost 100% of the top the cervix. I had to get checked every 6 months after that for 3 years. It has been almost 15 years and I have had no sign of the virus since. I too like Karen got them from a cheating boyfriend. I have had a healthy sexual life so don't worry. I'm just glad that the medical community is finally doing something about it. I wish I had the vaccine when I was a teen. Good Luck!

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  Posted by Brandi Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:08am PST

  Hi Karen w,

  I have HPV also, but without the warts I just had the cerviacal cancer and had the leep to remove it, about 9 years ago. The doctors told me that I would not pass it onto my child when I had her, and was able to get pregnate easily, as far as I know I dont think it affects your fertility. But I am now trying to have another child and its taking a while. Have you done the ovulation tests to find out when your ovulating? If your having a problem getting pregnate you might want to talk to your obgyn anyways to see if everything checks out normal. Anyways hope this helps.

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  Posted by karen w Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:43am PST

  thank you so much bmnortup I will ask my obgyn for that,she normally brushes it off like are you still getting your period?stop worrying then! this blog is helping a lot because i have never talked about my hpv with anyone.

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  Posted by Holly Mae Wed Dec 17, 2008 12:05pm PST

  Thank you all for talking about this! It might be embarrassing, but its so great to know that so many others go through this! I went through the HPV thing. Then it became the warts thing. They went away with medication. I had a pap a year ago and it came back clean. I'm due for another one net month and with any luck, it will come back ok. My HPV was pretty agressive, so I had the Gardasill shot. So far, so good. I would recommend the shot if you can get it!!

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  Posted by overyouandit Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:03pm PST

  When I was first diagnosed 4 years ago the warts spread like wild fire. I first used Aldara. Which I don't recomend because for me it was the most painful thing I had ever been through it burned and stung and after using it for only like four or five days I could barely walk!!! I also did the acid that the doctor applies... That was nothing compared to Aldara it barely burned but it didn't get rid of the warts so I had laser surgery which was like having 2nd and 3rd degree burns on your genitals but they gave me all sorts of meds so it wasn't that bad and they are gone instantly. Now it's four years later and just a few months ago I had to have a wart cut off. Because it was all by itself and the doc said that would be best. So it's getting better but it's still not out of my body. Oh and I did have a long term boyfriend that I lived with and he didn't have any problems.

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  Posted by Cheyenne Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:38am PST

  I had an abnormal pap five years ago and then the warts came one day like wildfire. It took me a year and a half but, finally I went in and had them laser removed because Aldara and TCA never worked for me. I will have scars probably the rest of my life. I guess it's a small price to pay. However, it's been three years now of no reoccurence. My boyfriend of the last 5 1/2 years, whom I have always been faithful to, never had any issues thankfully.

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