2.5 years ago I got HPV from a relationship that left me emotionally devastated because the man basically used me and then dissapeared.

I discovered it from a PAP that was C, I tested positive for HR HPV, but since the next pap was B and than two times PAP A my gynecologist said we will just follow it.

Unfortunatelly I got GW, which I discovered probalby 6 months after the break up. My gynecologyst treated it with a laser, and I got the HPV vaccine.

It was not approximatelly 1 year from the treatment and I was very happy that I did not have a reccurence of GW. I even went to a check up visit 10 days ago, because I was starting a new relationship and I did not want to put anyone on risk. The gyneco that visited me said to me I did not have any GW.

I was still very much concerned what to do, because if I told the guy I had GW he would run away, but if I would not tell him and if he gets it from me I would feel horrible ( he is my coworker in the same firm). So I am dating this guy, starting to like him more and more and he also like me.

But today when I was shovering I felt a little thing that was rigid in my vagina, like 0.5 mm very small bumps. I looked with a mirror and it seemed to me that there are app. 4 very very tiny 0.5 mm rigid spots, and I think it is GW.

I was completely completely devastated. I cried and cried. 

I was nuturing some hope that my body eventually got rid of the virus and that I could go back to a normal sex life, and now I am back to the beggining.

I don`t know what to do.

I feel I could never have a normal sex life again, either I told the future partner about GW and he will probably run away, or I don`t and then he will get schocked if he gets it from me.

I feel so sad I cannot stop crying. Is there any hope for me to lead a normal relationship life?

Will this nightmare end?

Dr. Hook's and my expertise is identical:  our online comments differ somewhat in style, but our professional opinions and advice never do. I reviewed your two recent discussions with Dr. Hook and agree with all he said. I am saddened that you are still so upset and sad despite his advice. And now it seems you are asking pretty much the same questions that he answered, and I doubt my own comments can help any further. (I do not understand what you mean by Pap tests A, B and C (unless maybe the first, second and third of three different tests?).

My main advice is that you not assume the new genital bumps that you have noticed are warts:  they may not be. And even if they are recurrent warts, they will not keep recurring forever -- this problem will end. And indeed you can have a healthy and rewarding sexual and romantic life despite HPV and warts. But in the meantime, you must see a doctor for professional diagnosis and advice. When you do so, you should also make sure she or he knows you are so sad and cannot stop crying. It is clear you have rather serious depression and likely would benefit from professional counseling and perhaps medical treatment.

I will be happy to comment further after you have been medically evaluated and can report on your diagnosis and the treatment recommended, if any. But I won't be able to have any further comments or advice until then. But I hope this reply is helpful in the meantime.

HHH, MD

I believe we have had a little bit of an missunderstanding.

I do not have depression and my crying is not constant. I cried yesterday ( and could not stop for a while) when I noticed the new gentital bumps simply because I dont know how to approach to people in romantic life with this problem. Other than that my life is normal and I do not have a depression.

The problem as I told you is my concern about transmitting the visible warts to the other person, in the sense that when I meet a new potential partner if I told him so he would run away or even can told any friends that he knows that I transmitted it to him, but if I do not tell the sitiation is totally embarassing if it happens.

This is why I contacted you again to clear the answer if this problem ever stops or am I going to be contagious forever?

Many doctors tell that HPV is a life diagnosis, which can be understandible very discomforting, but still there are a lot of doctors who say it is just a disease that will go away. I simply purchased another question to undesrastand better if the problem of contagion will pass or not and what would you do in my position?

I am otherwise a very healthy person.

Before I got HPV I was not so aware of the danger of it simply because when I read about it I got the information that our body gets read of the virus in 90% of cases, this is why I was only concerned about the protection from other STDs.

PAP A in my coutry is normal, PAP B is slight changes of unkknown origin and PAPC C is LSIL.

So I had a LSIL, than after 6 months a PAP with only slight changes and now the last 2 PAPs were normal.

Thank you for your answer.

HPV DNA can persist indefinitely in once-infected tissues, but the science isn't clear on whether this is always the case or only sometimes, or in what proportion of infected people. Obviously it's not rare, because reappearance of HPV isn't rare. However, in the vast majority of infected persons the immune system eventually keeps the infection in check to a point that recurrent symptoms (e.g. warts, a newly abnormal Pap smear) are the exception, not the rule; and continued transmission to partners also becomes rare. Your 90% statistic probably is about right:  probably 90% of infections are sufficiently controlled that the virus (including residual DNA) is entirely gone; or at least suppressed enough so that it doesn't matter. That your Pap smear has become normal is strong evidence that your immune system is successfully controlling your cervical infection, which isn't necessarily due to the HPV strain that caused your warts.

I don't know if your new genital area bumps are warts or not -- but even if they are, it is unlikely they will continue to recur as time passes. And when you have no symptoms, there is no need to hold off on sexual contact or new partnerships. Every sex partner you have in the future (and every one in the past) likely has or has had genital HPV -- it's nearly universal in sexually active persons, at least in western societies with current sexual norms. So any new partner will be at no higher risk of a new infection from you than from any other partner s/he might choose. Even consistent condom use doesn't help much in preventing HPV. The main prevention and control approaches are for women to have Pap smears according to local guidelines, and to be vaccinated. And by the way, recent research shows that vaccination helps reduce the frequency of reactivating with newly abnormal Pap smears and warts -- for the first several years of the vaccine, it was believed to only prevent new infections. 

The bottom line is that you are unlikely to have recurrent warts or cervical HPV for the long term, and almost nobody with HPV remains "contagious forever".

Does that help a bit more?

My life is ok, my depression or better said demoralization comes when I do not know how to approach possible future romantic partners.

I cried that day because I was 1 year free of GW and thought I was ok, just starting to be a little intimate with a new partner, we did not have sex yet but I was planing to, so this ruined everything.....

For example the new guy, if I told him about GW, he will run. If I don`t we can come into a situation where he would think I caused his eventual problem.

Both gynecologists that I saw said to me not to tell possible man, beacuse it would prevent me to normally get to know a person, and I really deserve to find love at my age ( 33).

I would love to ask you what you would do in my position?

If the new bumps are GW, and I treated them, if I am free for 6 months and we use protection, is there still a chance to transmit it?

Thank you for your help. I needed it.

I can't help very much with your dilemma about telling your current new partner. Most people would inform partners about active HPV (warts, newly diagnosed abnormal Pap), but in general it is not necessary for past HPV that has cleared up. Many men don't care much about genital HPV or warts. If you're fearful he would not react well, you should also consider how he would react if he learns at a later time that you kept the information from him.

That completes the two follow-up comments and replies included with each question. My final advice is that you find a specialist who understands HPV in detail, such as an STI or infectious diseases specialist. In some countries, especially in Europe, many dermatologists also specialize in STIs. Find such a personal physician can advise you in person much more effectively than this or any other distant online resource.

I hope the discussions have been helpful. Best wishes to you.