Has anyone EVER gotten over genital/anal warts??

LegacyUser

Hi

First off, I'm not looking for medical advice.
I have anal warts and I know it. Nasty but that's the truth. And there doesn't seem to be a damn thing I can do about it.

I've had them for about 6 months now. I've done the creams (Aldara burnt like Hell), Apple Cider Vinegar (intolerably painful - and I am no wimp), tried freezing using home kit, finally had them cut out by a Dr.

And now they are back

So it looks like I may have to learn to live with them. And say goodbye to my sex life (p.s. please do not judge - I always use protection. No idea how I got this blight).

Anyway...I keep reading online, statements such as: "Warts tend to go away by themselves within about 2 years".
Now, what I would like to know, is if this is just a myth created in order to stop people killing themselves with despair? (sorry if sounds a bit extreme, but if you've had this condition you'll understand).

So I would love to hear from anyone who has previously had genital/anal warts. Did they, in fact, go away by themselves, or do you still have them?

Just to re-iterate, I am not looking for medical advice. Please do not close this thread.

Thanks

Colonel_McCoy

Go to the doctor\std clinic

LegacyUser

Colonel_McCoy wrote: »

Go to the doctor\std clinic

If you read my post, it is clear that I already have. Many times.

I would love to hear from anybody with helpful input. Particularly those with personal experience. You can log out and post unregged to preserve your anonymity.

Thanks

LegacyUser

Also, warts (HPV) is supposed to be one of the most common STDs, right up there with chlamydia.

Yet no one ever talks about it. The secrecy just adds to the shame.

There must be others with personal experience, who would care to share anonymously.

I would appreciate it.

LegacyUser

Im the same. I have had genital warts for about a year and a half now and no matter what I do they always come back. I think it's all about lifestyle. If you stop smoking, cut back on drinking ( i always find one or two break out after booze), healthy diet, exercise. Builds up your immunity. im trying to do so at the moment but with exams at the moment, Im stressed out to the max.
I do feel shame and cringe at the thought of having to tell a potential oh that I have them and that using condoms doesnt completely barricade them. LIke you, I have always used condoms but it can pass from simple skin to skin contact. I suppose, in short, I'm doing the best I can at the moment, but it does suck. I find if in an exercise regime, they tend to disappear for me.

LegacyUser

Hi there,

I know how you feel - I was diagnosed with warts two years ago and had them treated in the well woman centre (cryo). It took about 8 months to get rid of them. After a year or so they seem to have stayed away, but I do panic evey time something looks like a bump.

Tip from the well woman clinic was to take multi vitamins and avoid stress (while dealing with warts!).

The above may not be any help to you, but you are not alone out there,

Good luck!

LegacyUser

hey op - i'll give you my experience

i got a small genital wart about 16 months ago. i have used the condyline ointment on it. it went away for a while but it slowly grew back a little. it has proved very hard to get rid of and is still visible a little bit, i'm still using the treatment on it.

the thing that really pissed me off was the fact that i got it from a girl i didn't even have sex with. we fooled around in bed for an hour and bam, 4 weeks later it appeared. unfortunately hpv can spread that easily. i've had very few sexual partners in the last few years so the doctor told me that it was most probably that girl. don't beat yourself up, that you're not sexually conscious or make the proper effort to be protected. you were just unlucky.

the [really] scary part is that so many people out there may have the dangerous strain of the hpv virus that can cause cervical cancer with the ladies, this IMHO is the terrible part because at least with the wart you get treatment and make an extra effort to look after yourself i.e. you know you have it and it will go away eventually.

in terms of treatment, i would recommend regular contact with your doctor, remember that your body is fighting it off, albeit very slowly. it will go away over time. it is an incentive to look after yourself, stay low on the booze, get good sleep and exercise regularly.

in terms of the ladies, you may well have a dry spell or two. i haven't had a girlfriend since i got it because i want to get over it first and partly because i had a bad break up a few years ago. would be terrible to pass it on.

the main thing i would say it to keep your head up, your body will fight it off and you will bounce back. keep getting the proper exercise, perhaps take a few vitimens but don't over do it, there is no magic bullet.

it is absolutely no different to a wart you may have got on your hand as a child, of the flu virus you may have had when you were younger. both are still in your body, but happily suppressed by your immune system. the same will happen with this strain of hpv, but it will take time.

i wish you well.

LegacyUser

beenthere123 wrote: »

Hi there,

I know how you feel - I was diagnosed with warts two years ago and had them treated in the well woman centre (cryo). It took about 8 months to get rid of them. After a year or so they seem to have stayed away, but I do panic evey time something looks like a bump.

Tip from the well woman clinic was to take multi vitamins and avoid stress (while dealing with warts!).

The above may not be any help to you, but you are not alone out there,

Good luck!

thanks for all the replies guys.

this above was what I was hoping to read, actual real life evidence of someone beating the warts (fingers crossed for good). That gives me hope.

In relation to the lifestyle tips, thanks and all, but I'm actually a bit of a health freak (in a sane way). No smoking or drinking, I exercise regularly, eat well and am never stressed (except about warts!). I guess building up immunity just takes time. I did have warts on my fingers as a kid and they eventually went away. Hopefully I will have a similar resolution here.

LegacyUser

WartsSuckAss wrote: »

Hi

First off, I'm not looking for medical advice.
I have anal warts and I know it. Nasty but that's the truth. And there doesn't seem to be a damn thing I can do about it.

I've had them for about 6 months now. I've done the creams (Aldara burnt like Hell), Apple Cider Vinegar (intolerably painful - and I am no wimp), tried freezing using home kit, finally had them cut out by a Dr.

And now they are back

So it looks like I may have to learn to live with them. And say goodbye to my sex life (p.s. please do not judge - I always use protection. No idea how I got this blight).

Hey there,

If the doctor cut out the wards and they grew back, it means that the procedure needs to be done again. The norm normally is, that, if the warts haven't grown back after 6 months, you're free of them less they come back. Also, anal warts can be treated with laser, but you will have to ask your GP about this. That procedure is quite common in The Netherlands where I live, but I don't know if it's done in Ireland as well. Other treatments options could be Podofylline. It stops the developement of the cells that create the warts, but again, is something only done by a GP. I strongly recommend you discuss these options with him, you really don't have to live with this OP.

LegacyUser

try_not_to_stress wrote: »

hey op - i'll give you my experience

i got a small genital wart about 16 months ago. i have used the condyline ointment on it. it went away for a while but it slowly grew back a little. it has proved very hard to get rid of and is still visible a little bit, i'm still using the treatment on it.

the thing that really pissed me off was the fact that i got it from a girl i didn't even have sex with. we fooled around in bed for an hour and bam, 4 weeks later it appeared. unfortunately hpv can spread that easily. i've had very few sexual partners in the last few years so the doctor told me that it was most probably that girl. don't beat yourself up, that you're not sexually conscious or make the proper effort to be protected. you were just unlucky.

the [really] scary part is that so many people out there may have the dangerous strain of the hpv virus that can cause cervical cancer with the ladies, this IMHO is the terrible part because at least with the wart you get treatment and make an extra effort to look after yourself i.e. you know you have it and it will go away eventually.

in terms of treatment, i would recommend regular contact with your doctor, remember that your body is fighting it off, albeit very slowly. it will go away over time. it is an incentive to look after yourself, stay low on the booze, get good sleep and exercise regularly.

in terms of the ladies, you may well have a dry spell or two. i haven't had a girlfriend since i got it because i want to get over it first and partly because i had a bad break up a few years ago. would be terrible to pass it on.

the main thing i would say it to keep your head up, your body will fight it off and you will bounce back. keep getting the proper exercise, perhaps take a few vitimens but don't over do it, there is no magic bullet.

it is absolutely no different to a wart you may have got on your hand as a child, of the flu virus you may have had when you were younger. both are still in your body, but happily suppressed by your immune system. the same will happen with this strain of hpv, but it will take time.

i wish you well.

are you saying you still have the wart? It kinda depresses me to think I could still be treating these warts 16 months in, especially considering how harsh and painful some of these treatments are. If you only have the one, I guess that is not so bad. But I have like 4 or so, one of which is quite big, and I'm always afraid that they will spread.

Anyway I will keep an eye on the situation. If needs be I will go back to the clinic, but they have already done a lot for me, and I'm not sure they can do much more. They were very patient with me, but not necessarily full of hope for a speedy 'recovery'. I am just very grateful that all the treatment was free.

I suppose I will just have to play the waiting game now. Come on, immune system, hurry the f*ck up already!

Thanks again, guys. Nice to know I am not alone in dealing with this.

LegacyUser

Hi Op,

Sorry to hear about your plight. I had genitial warts over a year ago, think I got it from an ex I had a one night stand with :-( My new girlfriend at the time was very supportive and knew I hadn't being cheating or anything as they can take months to appear.

Anyhow I went to my GP first off, she diagnosed the problem. She then froze the warts off. I then went back for a second appointment however the GP was unable to freeze them off completely so I went to my local GUM clinic. The staff there were fantastic. I got another treatment and thankfully since then the warts have stayed away.

The virus is very common in people nowadays, more then you might think.

Best of luck

LegacyUser

Hi OP. I'm a girl and I got them from my first boyfriend even though we used condoms. I was 18 when I slept with him and they appeared about 6 months later. I had them on and off for another 2 years and they went away when I was about 20.

I'm 28 and haven't had any since.

My began on my thighs and then I got them around my anus.
I still have some scarring from the ones I had on my thighs.

I would advise to keep going for treatment and getting them removed.

LegacyUser

GenWart wrote: »

Hi Op,

Sorry to hear about your plight. I had genitial warts over a year ago, think I got it from an ex I had a one night stand with :-( My new girlfriend at the time was very supportive and knew I hadn't being cheating or anything as they can take months to appear.

Anyhow I went to my GP first off, she diagnosed the problem. She then froze the warts off. I then went back for a second appointment however the GP was unable to freeze them off completely so I went to my local GUM clinic. The staff there were fantastic. I got another treatment and thankfully since then the warts have stayed away.

The virus is very common in people nowadays, more then you might think.

Best of luck

Hi

Thanks for your kind words. Quick question - is freezing painful/does it take long to recover from? I might check this out.

What do you think was the difference between the two procedures you had (i.e. why did it not work the 1st time, but did the 2nd time?).

Very happy for you that you are rid of this scourge! Someone develop a vaccine already!!!

Uriel.

OP, firstly, the virus that causes the warts HPV is the most common STI out there. There are over 100 strains and most sexually active adults will have one or more strains at some time in there lives. For most people (male and female) they'll never know they had a strain and the body will deal with it itself.

Some strains can cause visible warts to appear. But honestly these are not a life long issue. For the vast vast majority of people they will actually disappear by themselves within 2 years (often much sooner). Usually though treatments are the most effective and quickest way of getting rid of them. So you definitely should go back and get further treatment. It's very common for it to take multiple treatments before you can get rid of them.

As a previous poster mentioned, once they disappear (either naturally or through treatment) and they are gone for 6 months usually that will be the last of them. Though sometimes they can reappear at moments of extreme stress or body strain (most commonly during pregnancy). Having said that for most people once cleared, they'll never have then again.

I'm sorry I didn't pick up if you were male or female, if you are male are you gay (you don't have to answer that question here on boards) just if you're male and hetero, anal warts are unusual (though not impossible) or if you are female and have never engaged in anal sex, it's strange to have anal warts (again not impossible though) usually they appear on the skin at the point of contact. Just wondering that as it could be possible you were misdiagnosed which is often possible too.

Bottom line is, they are no different than the warts people get on their hands etc (same infection, HPV, just a different strain) so there is no shame in having them and doesn't reflect on you as a person. Condoms don't offer 100% protection as they don't cover the entire penis or the inner thighs etc...

It will be a distant memory in a short time for you. Continue to see your STI doc or another one for a second opinion. And be careful until they are gone with other partners etc...

Uriel.

OP here y'all wrote: »

Hi

Thanks for your kind words. Quick question - is freezing painful/does it take long to recover from? I might check this out.

What do you think was the difference between the two procedures you had (i.e. why did it not work the 1st time, but did the 2nd time?).

Very happy for you that you are rid of this scourge! Someone develop a vaccine already!!!

Sometimes it's not that something is done different it's just that the active virus might not be fully present in the wart the first time around (I.e still under the skin, inthe local nerve etc) and while some or even most of the virus is removed the first time. Some still remains and causes the warts to reappear. Could also be down to the clinician performing the treatment. I would never recommend attnwdning a GP with STI related issues. much better and efficient care is received from the specialists (usuall)

the relatively new gardasil vaccine protects against the most common wart causing HPV strains (as well as the two most common cervical abnormality causing strains). It is not FDA etc or European approval for use in men yet, but there is no known harm in a man getting the vaccine. Probably wouldn't be much use for you at this stage though.

LegacyUser

Did you have a swab taken and tested for HPV? Misdiagnosis can happen.

I was diagnosed about 6 years ago as having anal warts after years of itchy pain and being diagnosed with various thrushes/degrees of thrush/haemroids and eczema for 4 years prior to that. I had them burnt off but it didn't stop the itch. 3 years later I hadn't had another "break out" of physical warts but I was still itchy so I started to doubt the diagnosis. Finally this year a dotor worked out it was an anal fissure.

So far as I know, you shouldn't burn them off yourself (was this one of those veruca kits or prescibed by your doctor?), stress causes break outs, there are prescription creams (to treat break outs), l-lysine supplements and accupuncture are supposed to be good preventatives. This is stuff I read about online when I thought I had them so there could be more knowledge out there now.