Never hear about this. HPV- GENITAL & ANAL WARTS.

[RubberAustria]

7 hours ago, killer52lt said:

I am not a medical professional.

So please be careful to give others advices like „They  usually take a few months to go away on their own.“ HPV - if not treated - can cause cancer. The earlier treatment starts the better!

[killer52lt]

18 hours ago, RubberAustria said:

So please be careful to give others advices like „They  usually take a few months to go away on their own.“ HPV - if not treated - can cause cancer. The earlier treatment starts the better!

Please be careful when using logical fallacies.

[BootmanLA]

2 hours ago, killer52lt said:

Please be careful when using logical fallacies.

It's not a logical fallacy. Some types of warts may well "go away on their own". At best, you can say "HPV, if mild, often goes away on its own after a few years", but even that statement ignores some critical information about types of HPV, and (relevant for this site) HIV+ people may have considerably less success with HPV "going away" on its own.

The problem is categorical statements about X or Y or Z on a medical topic - there are almost always other factors/issues that may affect the accuracy of any such statement, which is why "Generally" is one of my most commonly used words in this forum. 

[viking8x6]

On 7/14/2023 at 12:34 AM, BootmanLA said:

The problem is categorical statements about X or Y or Z on a medical topic - there are almost always other factors/issues that may affect the accuracy of any such statement, which is why "Generally" is one of my most commonly used words in this forum. 

However, many people [see what I did there?] do not intuitively understand "Generally" to mean the same as "In most cases" (which is, I presume, your intent). This may lead to misunderstanding. Not something for which you deserve any blame, but perhaps a cause for unnecessary friction.

[Poz50something]

excuse my neophyte ignorance about HPV, but I was under the impression that even without noticeable growths, the virus remaining in  the body could enable anal cancer and other genital area cancers to occur. Please, please let me know if I am misinformed.  The cost here of any HPV vaccine is $200 CAD plus taxes, and is not covered by RAMQ, the provincial medical insurance of Quebec. For now, I cannot afford that. One day, maybe.  

[BootmanLA]

26 minutes ago, Poz50something said:

excuse my neophyte ignorance about HPV, but I was under the impression that even without noticeable growths, the virus remaining in  the body could enable anal cancer and other genital area cancers to occur. Please, please let me know if I am misinformed.  The cost here of any HPV vaccine is $200 CAD plus taxes, and is not covered by RAMQ, the provincial medical insurance of Quebec. For now, I cannot afford that. One day, maybe.  

You are correct about the medical part of your question - some HPV infections can appear completely asymptomatic and yet later cause significant concerns - not just anal and "other genital area" cancers, but oral ones, too, if the infection were to be contracted via oral sex. 

As for cost: Assuming you're correct, all I can recommend is that you start saving now, forgoing something minor, if necessary, to put a few bucks aside every week, with a commitment not to touch that money for anything else except an absolute emergency. I don't know your financial situation (nor do I need to), but if you managed to put away, say, $5 a week for 20 weeks - less than four months - you'd have the money needed. "One day" could be a lot closer if you just keep taking steps in that direction. 

[ErosWired]

Or, instead of shooting from the hip with best guesses and anecdotal supposition, we could actually consult a medical authority, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose fact sheet on Human papillomavirus (HPV) is readily available to anyone with internet access, which - oh, look - you’re using right now!

[think before following links] https://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/stdfact-hpv.htm

HPV is the most common STI in the United States. Most cases - around 90% - do resolve on their own within two years without health problems. It’s the other 10% that get ugly.

Note that there isn’t a single HPV virus - there are more than 150 in the family. The HPV vaccine provides immunity for 9 of them, the ones most likely to cause problems. Just because you get one of the HPV viruses and your immune system clears it, it doesn’t mean you get any immunity to the others, nor will you necessarily gain long-term immunity to that one. Studies show that some do and some don’t. The main recommendation for avoiding all types of HPV:

”Use a condom the right way, every time.”

So much for that.

[iSpreadSTDs]

This was a pleasant thread until egos got bruised and began taking over. However, it was still pretty informative. Thanks guys! 

[onlyraw]

Which is why I say THE most important thing anyone on here can do, if they are going to be sexually active and not use condoms - is to have a Dr that you trust that you can be totally honest with- so that they know what to look for and what tests to run when you go in for an appointment and so that  they know their stuff (like the difference between the multiple kinds of warts) and what they should be screening for based on previous history.

(yes I know I have already said that on this chain- but I think it is worth repeating)

[Close2MyBro]

59 minutes ago, onlyraw said:

Which is why I say THE most important thing anyone on here can do, if they are going to be sexually active and not use condoms - is to have a Dr that you trust that you can be totally honest with- so that they know what to look for and what tests to run when you go in for an appointment and so that  they know their stuff (like the difference between the multiple kinds of warts) and what they should be screening for based on previous history.

(yes I know I have already said that on this chain- but I think it is worth repeating)

My doctor knows I'm gay. When I told him his response was to tell me that the "standard of care" for sexually active gay males would require more regular testing for STDs and making sure that I had been vaccinated for things that straight people usually don't get unless they travel. He also asked me if any previous doctors have talked to me about safe sex and I said yes and then he asked me if I used protection or not and I said no. He said he wasn't going to lecture me that I was old enough to understand the risks. He also told me that if I had any suspicion of having any STDs not to wait and to come in and see him. I agree that having a gay-friendly doctor that you can be honest with is important. If you don't know where to look, call your local Gay/Lesbian center and ask them for referrals. I did that when I moved to Vegas. I contacted four gay organizations around here and the funny thing is that one doctor's name came up from all of them. I thought the doctor might be gay, but no, he's straight. He just did his residency in a heavily gay area and thus knows and understands the gay population very well.

[ellentonboy]

I do have one question that two female providers have failed to give me a direct response to.  I asked " If I have HPV was this a result of a recent sexual encounter, or could it lay dormant in my body and decide to manifest when it likes?"  Both of them said yes it is an STD, but didn't (or couldn't give me a time frame).

I have no one to blame but myself, but I would like a straight answer.  Before  the Covid lockdown I had multiple partners a week, for a two to three year period.  Since I wasn't informed I had HPV until 2021 or so, I am wondering if it was there all along, hiding in plain sight so to speak, and I had no clue.  I am not trying to track down the individual, but since the diagnosis I haven't put others at risk. 

So does anyone know?  Does it show up and cause problems right away, or does it just decide on it's own when it wants to become an issue??

I don't go back to my infectious disease specialist until the end of August and the women at the I have been dealing with at the Anal and Rectal Cancer Institute have not really answered my question.  I just would like some answers.....

[Close2MyBro]

2 hours ago, ellentonboy said:

I do have one question that two female providers have failed to give me a direct response to.  I asked " If I have HPV was this a result of a recent sexual encounter, or could it lay dormant in my body and decide to manifest when it likes?"  Both of them said yes it is an STD, but didn't (or couldn't give me a time frame).

I have no one to blame but myself, but I would like a straight answer.  Before  the Covid lockdown I had multiple partners a week, for a two to three year period.  Since I wasn't informed I had HPV until 2021 or so, I am wondering if it was there all along, hiding in plain sight so to speak, and I had no clue.  I am not trying to track down the individual, but since the diagnosis I haven't put others at risk. 

So does anyone know?  Does it show up and cause problems right away, or does it just decide on it's own when it wants to become an issue??

I don't go back to my infectious disease specialist until the end of August and the women at the I have been dealing with at the Anal and Rectal Cancer Institute have not really answered my question.  I just would like some answers.....

It may or may not become cancerous. There's a correlation between HPV and certain cancers, but not a causation link, meaning just because you have HPV doesn't mean you're going to get cancer. Some people develop cancer, some don't.

[ellentonboy]

1 hour ago, Close2MyBro said:

It may or may not become cancerous. There's a correlation between HPV and certain cancers, but not a causation link, meaning just because you have HPV doesn't mean you're going to get cancer. Some people develop cancer, some don't.

I appreciate your response.  Two of the four procedures so far have produced "pre-cancerous" warts and they were removed.  But my question remains - were they there hanging around for years, or is this result of a sexual encounter say a few months before they were discovered.  I am just curious as both of the individuals I asked sort of "shrugged their shoulders' and these two professionals are anal and rectal cancer specialists.  I don't think the question is that difficult, I am just trying to wrap my head around when I was exposed.  I know what I was doing at certain time periods, and I know when I first was told I had them.  Not trying to track down the guys, I just want to know if I could have been exposed in say, 2017 or 2018, and they didn't show up until 2020 or 2021?    

Either way I have to deal with this, but during "lockdown" my exposure was limited, during 2017 to say 2019, my encounters would be considered "high" even by the standards mentioned here on BZ.

 

[Close2MyBro]

9 minutes ago, ellentonboy said:

I appreciate your response.  Two of the four procedures so far have produced "pre-cancerous" warts and they were removed.  But my question remains - were they there hanging around for years, or is this result of a sexual encounter say a few months before they were discovered.  I am just curious as both of the individuals I asked sort of "shrugged their shoulders' and these two professionals are anal and rectal cancer specialists.  I don't think the question is that difficult, I am just trying to wrap my head around when I was exposed.  I know what I was doing at certain time periods, and I know when I first was told I had them.  Not trying to track down the guys, I just want to know if I could have been exposed in say, 2017 or 2018, and they didn't show up until 2020 or 2021?    

Either way I have to deal with this, but during "lockdown" my exposure was limited, during 2017 to say 2019, my encounters would be considered "high" even by the standards mentioned here on BZ.

 

I had one experience with them, and much like you, was trying to figure out when I may have contracted them and from who. I asked my doctor (a proctologist) and he told me that trying to figure out when it occurred was a waste of time.  He says some people are exposed and develop them soon after exposure. Others could potentially carry the virus for months or years before developing symptoms, and some people are carriers who can spread it but never show any symptoms himself. I gave up trying to figure it out and was just glad it was treatable. I only had one, it was removed surgically thru an outpatient procedure. I've had no recurrence since, and this was back in 2003.

[ellentonboy]

1 hour ago, Close2MyBro said:

I had one experience with them, and much like you, was trying to figure out when I may have contracted them and from who. I asked my doctor (a proctologist) and he told me that trying to figure out when it occurred was a waste of time.  He says some people are exposed and develop them soon after exposure. Others could potentially carry the virus for months or years before developing symptoms, and some people are carriers who can spread it but never show any symptoms himself. I gave up trying to figure it out and was just glad it was treatable. I only had one, it was removed surgically thru an outpatient procedure. I've had no recurrence since, and this was back in 2003.

That helps, and thank you again.  You're  the first to actually say that I could be have been carrying the virus for months or years.  Just looking back at my sexual history and the timing (and I do know who has been in that area, despite the "numbers", I recall the dates based on where I was living)  I am happy for you that you have had no recurrences, it sounds like you have been able to go back to your normal sex life which is fantastic.  I see the specialist again in late August, for now that area of my body is "under reconstruction".  I just don't want to take a chance till she clears me, I would not want to expose someone else nor do I want my ass damaged and be put out of the game for six months. 

THANK YOU!