Hi, I understand that you don't want this disease to stop you from dating but if you go to an online std dating site and meet someone there is a risk you might catch another std, unless the person you meet has the exact same hpv strain as you. If you meet someone who doesn't have an std you can get them vaccinated so they don't catch what you have when the time comes when you both become intimate. Just a suggestion though. Best of luck to you.

I'm not a guy but, just food for thought. If you look for women to date that have hpv, who's to say that they're the kind of person you want to be with. But, if you look for the type of person that you want to be with first, then the rest will face into place naturally.

I think that if you just start looking for someone like you normally would, then if you should happen to find that girl that you want to get to know and you start talking and find out that you two Are in fact hitting it off, then I think once you get past the initial intro's, you could bring that up.

It can be challenging just finding someone that peeks the interest. I suggest just to relax and start looking wherever your instincts are leading you and then see what the future unfolds.

Sportbike, how long were you dealing with genital warts before they cleared and what treatment did you use?

NYY1982 Once I found a good doctor it took me approximately 6 months of treatment. Every doctor I talked to told me the same thing. The best treatment for genital warts is the cryo/freezing treatment. I don't know how effective it is for women but it worked very well for me. What I liked best about the treatment is that it kills the wart(s) instantly. For me the pain was very tolerable and I healed up quick, generally within 1 week.

It is not uncommon once you start treatment that things get worse not better. Once the virus feels like it is under attack it tends to become more active. My case, by all accounts was mild. I generally had 1 or 2 warts show up. After a few months I was having around 4 or 5 warts show up. Then after 6 months, poof, no more warts.

I'm in my 40's so meeting a girl and talking about the vaccine is not really an option for me. Women in my age group will have not been vaccinated and they generally stop doing that after age 26, I think. The most difficult thing for me is getting back into dating and how to approach my status and where do I look to meet someone. With genital warts it seems like you are in a gray area especially if you have been clear for a while.

Sport bike, thanks for your response. I've been doing the TCA treatment off and on for a little over a year now and I'm beginning to think I may be in the small minority in which these warts are persistent. How long were you battling them before cryo and what treatments had you been using?

Hi. I have the same dilema. The replies to your post are helpful but I can't decide what to do, so I'm basically doing nothing. I am still dealing with the warts and I need more time to accept the change in my life. But I have been thinking once I manage to have courage to start dating again, what should I do? How do you cope with emotonal consequences of having warts? It would mean a lot to me to find out about other people's way to deal with it. Thank you!

NYY1982 I had two small bumps that I noticed one time when I was doing some grooming down there. Over the next 6 years I was misdiagnosed and told that those bumps were nothing. So I know that I had warts for at least 6 years prior to being properly diagnosed. During this time I was not "battling" the virus I just had it. Once I was properly diagnosed the doctor froze off the two bumps. However it was a county clinic that I was at and they did not do continuous treatments for people. I was told I would need to go find a doctor if I needed further treatments. It took me almost 9 months to find the right doctor. By the time I found the doctor I had a couple of almost microscopic warts. He froze them and that is when my 6 months of battling the warts started.

A few things I can tell you I did that helped me a lot. First off eat healthy, and I mean a lot healthier. For the most part I started eating a lot of vegetables. I cut back on bad foods like sugary drinks, candy, fatty foods, etc. I don't drink and I don't smoke. Get a good night of sleep and work to keep your stress down. Constant stress is like being sick. It lowers your immune system. I also started working out. I also worked hard at learning all I could about how the virus effects me. There is a lot of information on the internet about warts. Some of it is garbage, some of it is great, and most of it talks in generality. I figured it was best for me to learn about the virus and how it effects me. What did I learn? I learned that stress can be a trigger for me. I learned that the healthier I ate the better and that eating more vegetables seemed to really help. I learned that when an outbreak was coming on I had some signs, itching would increase, it would be uncomfortable for me to sit down, and that the area(s) would get rather irritated/red and that once the wart(s) showed up the area was rather painful for a day or so. These are all things I learned about how warts effected me specifically. None of this was in a book or on the internet so I recommend you take the time to learn as much as you can about how your warts effect you. Since I know some of my triggers and signs of a possible outbreak I can take steps to try and avoid them and I don't get in such a panic now if I get a little itchy down there or see a little red dot because I know typically what steps I would go through prior to an outbreak.

A couple of things about warts. A wart will never have a hair follicle in it; ever. If it does, it is not a wart. Warts will look like a bump on top of the skin not a lump under the skin. Warts want to do three things; they want to show up, they want to stick around, and they want to get bigger. If you get a red bump or two in your groin area and then a couple of days later they are gone, they probably were not warts. It is uncommon for your body to lose the battle against the virus and have a wart show up and then a few days later win the battle and get rid of the wart. Typically your immune system does not win or lose the battle like that so quickly.

So to summarize what has been working for me. I found a good doctor. This helped a lot. He's respectful, I can ask him anything and I feel like we have a plan on how to attack this virus should it ever come back. He has told me a several occasions I do not need to come back but I still see him about every 4 months for a check up. That is my decision not his. I eat healthier. I work out, (I've lost 35lbs so far.) I take a daily multivitamin. I choose to take a supplement called activamune. It is an immunity booster with DIM in it. It is believed that DIM helps in the fight against hpv. I tried several other supplements but this one seems to work the best for me. I deal with stress better now. I get plenty of sleep. I have some hobbies I've started and this helps me deal with stress and not constantly think about warts. I check myself everyday when I'm in the shower. Once I get out of the shower I apply some baby powder to my groin area. This helps keep the area dry and I wear boxers. If I didn't apply baby powder or I didn't wear boxers are my warts coming back...no. However these things work in my favor and I'll take all the help I can get. Other than when I'm in the shower I hardly ever think about the warts anymore. Ultimately you just want to be as healthy as you can and keep your immune system as strong as possible. You cannot boost your immune system past 100%, so you just want to work hard to keep it as close to that 100% as possible. I hope this helps some. If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them for you.

Leny. I know what you mean about how to deal with dating. It is so difficult to figure out. So many of the doctors I've talked with say virtually the say thing, that it's no big deal really and to just get out there and start dating. The real dilemma for me is this. It is believed that the virus does not shed. So once your immune system gets it under control all is good. If that is true then what is the difference between me, who has been clear for 2 1/2 years but knows that I have the virus, versus some guy who has the virus but hasn't shown any symptoms ever and therefore does not know he has the virus? As far as I can tell the only difference is I know I have the virus and he doesn't but neither one of us is more contagious than the other. It is such a gray area and hard to figure out what is right. If you have any questions let me know I'll do my best to answer them.

You already know what I think you should do..you will find your way..I believe you deserve to be happy

i agree with cat9999

I know a couple that got married after meeting on an std site.