I feel the same but since I am single it is worse then ever, scared of the rejection. How can I go out on dates and have fun without thinking about that. People are trying to hook me up with some girls but I don't feel like it at all.

Elena~ I guess it felt like a rollercoaster before I found DS. Nobody would understand what I was going through.
But I guess now I feel stronger, and Happy that my acid treatments worked.

When I met a guy...I constantly think...I have HPV and GW. What the hell do you want to be with me? So I just don't bother going any further with starting a relationship. I hate this virus. I feel like a lepord.

I mean since Ive been diagnosed...I really haven't been looking for a guy because I don't think he will want to be with me because of this, but there are really sweet guys out there! Im just focusing first on finding a new career, moving out.

Im nearly 24 and there isn't any rush.

I'm at a point right now where I just feel like I can't date anyone. I'm afraid to get close to someone because I know that if I did start dating someone, the right thing would be to tell them and be honest but I am so scared of how they would view me then.
But right now I think I need to take care of me first and not worry about what others think! that's the best thing, you know that you are a strong and good person and you need to remember that and just take care of yourself and I know eventually things will work out.

Hi Missy, I know what you are saying. I think although my partner is kind and loving and understanding... what IF I were younger and just beginning the dating process. I am sure I would have mixed emotions.

I just want to let you all know that I care, and that I hope someone is as understanding with every one of you, as my partner has always been of me.

I always say we are NOT OUR DISEASE. And it is not a crime that we caught a virus in our life. If I did not have this virus and I found that I was dating and the man I met did? Well, I would find a way to work with that without making him ever feel less than. Because this can happen to anyone.
((Hugs everyone))
EllaBlue

I want so badly to rewind time. I hate how I feel now, I feel gross, like no one would want me if they knew. Where I am supposed to go from here? Do I sit and wait for cancer to develop? Or for the GW strand to develop? I'm 19 years old-I looked forward to college for so many reasons and one of them was to meet a husband. I just feel like no one would want me.

I too was freaky out when I got the news from my doctor's office last week. "Don't worry," the nurse told me. Excuse me? Don't worry? "Isn't it an STD?" I asked the nurse. "No," she said, "Its a virus." Looking it up on the internet, she was wrong. I dunno where SHE went to nursing school but it IS an STD. Sigh. I haven't had sexual contact for 11 months, so I'm at a loss as to how to this happened. I was sad to find there is no cure for HPV, only treatments for warts (which I don't have) or abnormal cells. My STBX (my only sexual contact in years) swears his STD tests are clean. But they don't test guys for HPV. Ok....there's my rant.

Some comforting thoughts (at least for me) are that HPV goes away on its own for most people, nearly three out of four Americans (74%) have HPV sometime in their lifetime, and most people don't know they have it. HPV also lays dormant, for weeks, months, even years so its hard to tell who it come from. You don't have to be promiscuous to get HPV--many people get it and only have a few, or just one sexual partner. Not everyone that gets HPV gets cancer either, thank goodness. Also, according to the American Social Health Association many individuals who get genital warts and have abnormal cells do not have recurrences for the rest of their life. Some people have only one, some have several. Most people's immune system's overcome the virus and it is eliminated in two years. This is good good news in my book y'all! So life isn't over. Yeah, it sucks for a while. But its better than a lot of things, right? Cheer up guys. =)