Positive for high risk HPV - colposcopy today - anxious!
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Anonymous
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I have joined the growing ranks of menopausal women (54) having a reactivation of HPV picked up during routine pap. Ugh!
I had approximately 25 years of normal paps/negative for HPV (have never had a positive HPV result - but I did have one abnormal pap back in my mid to late 20s that resolved by next pap without further action). Then, this past January, went in for regularly scheduled pap and - BAM! I did have a a normal pap (small favors!) but tested positive for high risk (16) HPV. (Have been married/monogamous for almost 20 years - so this has to be a reactivation of a previous quiescent infection - apparently pretty common finding now that routine paps for the over 30 set are combined with HPV testing). If you test positive for a high risk (16 or 18) HPV, guidelines call for a colposcopy - I have mine this afternoon. I am nervous/stressed! Apparently they find abnormalities during colpo in approx 5% of follow ups of women with normal pap/but positive for high risk HPV. (I guess those aren't terrible odds, but high enough to make me worry) Any words of wisdom/commiseration from those who have BTDT?! |
Anonymous
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What is going on with this
"growing ranks of menopausal women (54) having a reactivation of HPV " Does anyone have any more info? I had to get a colposcopy back in my 20s and thought those days were behind me. |
Anonymous
| Hi! Fellow HPV'er here at 45. I tested positive last year but luckily my actual Pap was normal. However, I was told I needed to return in a year (not 3) for followup. Thankfully, the virus had cleared on its own and nothing further had to be done. I went down. rabbit hole when it activated, and learned that it truly takes a long time for HPV - persistent - to cause changes. I am sure you will be ok. |
Anonymous
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I just had a colposcopy for the same reason. I'm 49. I have a high risk (but not the aggressive type) HPV strain that won't clear. I'm not menopausal.
The colposcopy just confirmed the pap results. I have HPV and there were some abnormal cells as a result. No cancer and it's not considered pre-cancer. But, I'm on the watch list. I go back for another pap next year. The nurse told me she's had three colposcopies and it's never gone farther than that. She's fine. The GYN recommended that I try Papillex. She said that the research looks sound. I'm trying 90 days now and then 90 days before my next pap to see if it helps my body clear the virus. |
Anonymous
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Thanks for sharing OP. I too had an abnormal pap, but with positive HPV. I did colposcopy, which was not a big deal. At that time (30 years ago) the treatment was laser to cervical and vaginal tissue and use of a topical chemotherapeutic agent for a couple of weeks.
It was a bit painful but there was no lasting damage. My partner at the time was also treated by laser. I never had another bad pap or HPV test. If you have HPV, then your treatment plan also needs to include your husband otherwise he is just going to guve it back to you. TBH, later in life, I found out that my then DH was cheating on me. It was an extra-betrayal for me because I knew how common HPV is and that by cheating be was putting me at risk to repeat my whole earlier bad Pap/HPV experience. That made me realize that even though I had long considered my hpv/bad pap to be "no big deal", it had made me very wary (rightfully so) of my health & safety with sexual partners. |
Anonymous
Me too, PP. Me too. I thought I was in the clear after 25 years of normal paps/negative HPV results! But no (lots of studies/stories out there once you look for them). Such a drag: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4061121/ https://omniaeducation.com/news/obgyn-1-in-5-new-cases-of-cervical-cancer-are-in-women-over-65-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-hpv-in-seniors/2452332/ It has only become routine to co-test for HPV in pap tests in the past 10-15 years . . . so reactivation now getting picked up in routine testing . . . . |
Anonymous
Thanks for the links. A serious drag is right. I am just less interested in medical care as I reach menopause and would seriously contemplate not caring about this if it re-emergences since it is slow-moving and I'll probably die of other things anyways. The HPV scares of the 90s were very traumatic for me. |
Anonymous
| How is one supposed to know this is a reinfection not a spouse cheating situation? |
Anonymous
| Also, it flares under stress. This is the most stressful time in many of our lives: aging/dying parents, kids leaving for college, menopause, etc. |
Anonymous
| OP here. I feel pretty confident this is not a spouse cheating situation- but I guess you never know 💯? Anyway - an update - colposcopy was a bit unpleasant - doc actually thought things looked normal - but took a couple biopsies because why not - all up in my business anyway. Biopsies came back today normal - hurrah! So now I will forget this ever happened until a year from now when I go in for next pap 😂 |
Anonymous
| Also (OP again) a PSA - if this happens to you - ask to get the HPV vaccine! Growing evidence (Easy to google) that it has adjuvant effects (even if you are older; even if you are already positive); while doesn’t appear to help you clear virus faster, does seem to prevent development of lesions (what you are worried about - as lesions can turn in to cancer). I have now had two shots (I sprang into action as soon as I got that positive result I was so freaked out) getting my third in September. |