HPV Support Group
Human papillomavirus is a diverse group of DNA-based viruses that infect the skin and mucous membranes of humans. More than 100 different human papillomavirus (HPV) types have been characterized. Some HPV types cause benign skin warts, or papillomas, for which the virus family is named. HPVs associated with the development of such "common warts" are transmitted...
Every time I get a bump down "there" I freak out and obsess with a mirror and a light until I drive myself nuts. This happens often. Usually I just go to my PCP and she tells me it's nothing to leave them alone but this time was different.
I went in on Monday to get bumps looked at and she is pretty certain it's HPV. I'm sick over this. I go to the dermatologist tomorrow and hope to God they burn them off. I do not want to be dealing with creams for weeks on end. I don't even know the words of choice to use when talking to the derm about this. I probably won't even sleep tonight.
I just needed place to come to where people would understand. I feel gross every time I go to the bathroom, take a shower, or even look down there.
I just started dating someone new and I'm pretty devastated. Even though the derm hasn't officially diagnosed, I had a complete meltdown on the phone with my new guy the day I went to the PCP. So far he is being supportive about the whole thing and he seems to know enough about it which so many men I feel don't. They are like HPV-who? I just don't know how he is really going to feel or act going forward. Will he really ever want to touch me again without wearing a rubber glove?
I dread having this conversation with my last long term partner. I feel like I owe it to him to tell him even though he cannot get tested. I'm not going to contact him until after I see the derm and am prepared to have that conversation.
I'm being diligent about taking vitamins, I'm not drinking. I have a hard time eating when my anxiety takes over so I'm considering going to get some supplements to drink like Boost or something. I am also trying to get on a normal sleep schedule but stress won't let me right now. My PCP prescribed a sleep aid to help.
Any advice, words of encouragement, helpful suggestions to get through this.
I went in on Monday to get bumps looked at and she is pretty certain it's HPV. I'm sick over this. I go to the dermatologist tomorrow and hope to God they burn them off. I do not want to be dealing with creams for weeks on end. I don't even know the words of choice to use when talking to the derm about this. I probably won't even sleep tonight.
I just needed place to come to where people would understand. I feel gross every time I go to the bathroom, take a shower, or even look down there.
I just started dating someone new and I'm pretty devastated. Even though the derm hasn't officially diagnosed, I had a complete meltdown on the phone with my new guy the day I went to the PCP. So far he is being supportive about the whole thing and he seems to know enough about it which so many men I feel don't. They are like HPV-who? I just don't know how he is really going to feel or act going forward. Will he really ever want to touch me again without wearing a rubber glove?
I dread having this conversation with my last long term partner. I feel like I owe it to him to tell him even though he cannot get tested. I'm not going to contact him until after I see the derm and am prepared to have that conversation.
I'm being diligent about taking vitamins, I'm not drinking. I have a hard time eating when my anxiety takes over so I'm considering going to get some supplements to drink like Boost or something. I am also trying to get on a normal sleep schedule but stress won't let me right now. My PCP prescribed a sleep aid to help.
Any advice, words of encouragement, helpful suggestions to get through this.
I started off with one small "bump" a year ago in August. My skin is and always has been very sensitive. I need to clean myself several times a day or the moisture "down there" really irritated my skin. Add the addition irritation of a wart (I hate that word) and I had a few scratching frenzies. This can cause the outbreak to spread. Which is exactly what happened to me. Now I have a lot of very tiny "bumps" on my vulva at the very base (where the buttocks meet the "goods"). I've tried acid at my OB's office many times, but that only are it so small that we couldn't see it, returning in a few weeks, and ultimately terrorizing my skin to the point she did a biopsy to rule out cancer of the vulva (never thought I'd be glad to hear "it's just genital warts.").
I'm now using Condylox for the second time. I see a noticeable difference after one or two days. But I know it's not getting rid of them completely. So why do I continue to apply the gel and deal with the extreme discomfort (actual pain on the third day of each week)? Who the hell knows. Wishful thinking I suppose.
I haven't ever visited a dermatologist before. Will you please know what they say and what their treatment plan is?
It is a very frustrating process to go through. I have had HPV for 3 years now, and honestly, one piece of advice I can give to you... Although you have to keep an eye on things, don't be a mirror addict to your downstairs region. When I was first diagnosed I was, for the fact of not believing it was my body I was looking at.. and I became more and more upset and negative towards myself. This doesn't help the situation at ALL.
You need to remind yourself you are still beautiful, you still have your loving family and friends, and everything you had prior to finding these bumps. Like I said it is not easy, but it will get easier as you learn to deal with having HPV.
I've used a cream that is applied at home by yourself, which I found to help very slowly, but it was an on going pain that burnt and itched (but of coarse you can't itch, which was sometimes more painful), I would not recommend this. Now I see my doctor for a short visit to apply nitrogen, it is painful sometimes, but it is a very fast application and after a few visits, the bumps go away. It's not fun, but I recommend it over the cream.
My doctor first told me "It's just bumps, if you find one, we burn it and its gone, its almost like you never had it". Of coarse you can't ignore it, but its true in the sense that you really only worry badly when the bumps are visible. If you can get rid of the bumps its like a weight lifts off your shoulders for awhile.
I did come back positive for low risk and I have already had 3 cryo treatments at the dermatologist. It's only been a month and I am completely at my wits end with this. I was optimistic that I would get the few small bumps frozen off and I'd be good to go. NOPE! Every week I get a new small bump...I can't even tell the damn difference between an enlarged spore/hair follicle, a Fordyce spot or an hpv spot and to be quite honest I don't think the doctors can either because they are not biopsying every one. I go for a few days and leave things alone and then right back to where I was obsessing spread eagle with a mirror!
I'm totally miserable right now. I feel super lonely and depressed. The guy I was seeing, we had a falling out over money (not hpv) and that has been extremely difficult on me. He was so supportive and now he's gone but I supposed it was for the best before he drained my entire bank account. I feel like I am too old to be going through this and trying to date and find someone to spend my life with on top of everything else. I feel like I just keep taking blows.
Michelle, I feel the same when you say you feel better when the bumps are gone because thankfully the ones that have been frozen are in fact gone, just things are popping up in other places....and these are so small that I can barely see them let alone point them out to the derm. I can typically feel them when I am showering and the skin is slippery and I graze my nail over it - that is how I can tell it's slightly raised. I feel like I almost need a magnifying glass to see anything which I have not bought and do not intend it. I will up I the looney bin if I do that!
I just don't know....I want to happy and normal and have a regular life and honestly so much of that happy normal regular is not there...and it wasn't before HPV. I have gone through a lot of life struggles and have been beyond resilient but all that aside there is only so much one person can take. I need this to stop so I can move on with my life and deal with the other things I was managing before this. This beyond sucks. I actually went to the point of signing up on a new dating site for people with STIs - you include in your profile what you are "living with"....well guess what, hardly anyone has HPV as their diagnosis. No one talks about this virus unless you get hit with a whammy of bumps or an abnormal pap. Ugh...clearly being a dating website where people have other viruses....mostly herpes...good lord the amount of people who have genital HSV is astounding and there are for the most part many many attractive people. It's crazy! But I am not trying to add fuel to my fire by picking up something else. I need that like I need a hole in my damn head.
I'm just frustrated and venting. No one get's this unless they are dealing with it. I am a very anxious and easily stressed person to begin with so this just amplifies those feelings to the max. Some days it takes all I have to go to work! Today was one of them :(
I go to therapy, I am getting treatments, I just don't know what else to do.