my girlfriend has genital warts

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My girlfriend was informed during her OBGYN appointment yesterday that she is the proud owner of genital warts. There are three of them, very small, that reside around her anus. During our sexual encounters, I never noticed them, so this was a shock to me.

She was given medication to make them go away, but we must use condoms for 4 to 16 weeks while the creme works its magic.

I did some research, and it turns out that most adults carry the virus that causes genital warts. Most people never have warts, though. Chances are that if I didn’t have the virus before, I do now. Ain’t that some shit?

Anyone have any personal experiences to add?

2

Geez! Does your girlfriend know that you are announcing to a HUGELY popular message board that she has genital warts? If so, if not… let’s just say my girlfriend probably would not be my girlfriend anymore. Just curious.

3

The beauty of these boards is that for the most part they’re pretty anonymoous, pezpunk.

I wouldn’t be too concerned.

4

Heh.

5

Just to put a little spin on it, many many people carry HPV, the virus which causes this and never show any symptoms, and may or may not be contagious.

Knowing that little nugget of knowledge, lets take a look at this:

I’d say that its also quite possible that you have been a carrier of the virus and never showed signs, and then you gave the virus to her and unfortunately she happens to be one of the unlucky ones to develop symptoms.

Before you go getting pissed or whatever, consider the possibilities.

6

:::waiting for handy:::

7

That’s a good point. She may have gotten it from me.

(I wasn’t pissed anyways. In fact, I’m the perfect, loving, supportive boyfriend.)

8

Off topic, but I think she must be an awesome individual to have been honest enough to tell you. Many people wouldn’t have been so forthcoming. I would, but I know many people who wouldn’t.

I have no personal knowledge of this, but I would say that you should talk to your physician, or the physicians on this board, for some clarification as to what this might mean for the both of you.

I think she is a keeper. You can deal with the physical problems, whatever they might be…an honest person in your life is a gift.

Scotti

9

LOL SUE!!

10

I also hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a condom may not necessarily protect you. Some researchers believe that it gets trasmitted anyway since there’s so much genital-area skin-to-skin contact during sex.

And yeah, most people carry the HPV virus (there are numerous ones; some of them cause genital warts, some cause other things; some don’t seem to do anything that we know about) though obviously not everyone has symptoms. It could be that you’re an asymptomic carrier, and you’ll nver get any sign of it. Or you might find yourself with a wart when you go through stress or otherwise wear your immune system down.

No STD is anything to sneeze at. However, given the suspected prevalance of HPV, warts are nothing to get excited or worried about. Your GF should always be prompt about pap smears though. The HPV that is thought to be a factor in cervical cancer is different from the HPV that causes warts, but if she has one she could have others. Catching abnormal cervical changes early is important–although here too, let me assure you that they often clear up on their own without any further treatment. It’s just that you want to have a doctor looking in on the situation to make sure it’s not getting worse.

11

Here I am Sue!

First of all there are quite a lot of Herphes virus types. #5, 7, 16, 18. It’s more likely than not that we all have one of them but they don’t effect some of us. I don’t know what type your girl has but the doctor would know the virus number, which is important.

HPV (Me & Jillgat/Mcgrauder wrote about this a bit here already) is a major contagious virus, especially number 16 & 18, which causes cervical dysplasia in women & shows no symptoms in men, but I do not think that it’s the one causing genital warts.

By the way, what made you see the doc about this in the first place?

PS: try webmd.com for more info. cause Im not a doc & Im sure all the docs are gonna come in & chew me out.

12

I’ve heard that half of the adult population carries the human papilloma virus, so it’s not that big of a scandal. But my doc told me that there are different strains of it, some more likely to cause visible warts than others.

If you’re worried, go tell your doc before you see any warts. He’ll rub some acetic acid (vinegar) on your winky and if there are any protowarts, they’ll turn white. Then he’ll get some Liquid Nitrogen and a cotton swab and freeze the little boogers. A day or so later, they fall off.

Freezing works with full-grown warts, too. But they turn black and take a week or so to fall off. It’s not pretty. But it’s better than having warts on your willy.

The real bitch, though, is that now, you have to tell every partner about your HPV, and wear a condom even if you’re in a long-term monogomous relationship. Or, you could explain to them that if they have unprotected sex with you, they’ll have to have an annual pap smear every year for the rest of their lives (or the rest of their cervix’s life), because HPV is considered a risk factor for cervical cancer.

Yes, I got it back in college. It wasn’t the only thing I caught, but it was the only thing that has no cure… thank god. lady bug got rid of her cervix years ago. It wasn’t her friend anymore.

Oh, and also, my doc told me that the warts are more likely to grow at a spot on the skin that had been broken, either by abrasion, cut, or something else.

So, ummm… if this is true, why are miss aoty’s warts around her anus? Something you’re not telling us?

Anyway, regardless of your specific practices, go yourselves a favor, go buy a big bottle of AstroGlide, and use it liberally!

13

Has anyone said there is no cure? You can remove the warts but not the virus. I do have firsthand knowledge of this.

14

CrankyAsAnOldMan has a point about condoms possibly not protecting you from transmitting the virus, especially with the location you described. The condom only protects your winky itself from anything it would otherwise touch, and her bits from anything you might carry on your winky. If you’re touching other bits of yours to her bits, then unless you want to experiment with sheets of latex and surgical tape, there’s probably not any way not to pass viruses back and forth.

I really only wrote this post because I love the word “winky.” And “bits.” And the idea of sheets of latex and surgical tape sounds kinda fun, too. (Good luck with the girlfriend.)

Corr

15

I’m sorry, I know that this is a serious subject. But I can’t help myself…I am laughing hysterically from your post, Corr.

I am your new best friend, Corrvin. You are hysterically funny. And I LIKE hyserically funny. REALLY I do.

Scotti

16

Condoms won’t protect someone from the herph virus. That’s why you should always look before you leap.

I know a lady who got HPV, she got cervical dysplasia from it. Actually, that’s how they know you have HPV in the first place, you get cervical dysplasia. She said her doctor told her that the virus is also in her throat. But I have not read about that on the web.

If a woman gives HPV #16 or #18 (might be more strains now) to a guy he can get anal or penis cancer later in his life. Check the info on thse things Just search for them at webmd.com

17

Yup, condoms won’t protect you from everything; and even the nicest people may carry a few viruses and transmit them right before an outbreak, or while they’re asymptomatic. Last statistic I heard is that about a third of the sexually active population carries HPV-16 or -18, the two viruses that cause cervical dysplasia and microscopic warts.

I know it’s a serious thread…but one of the reasons that STDs are so prevalent is that so few people can be open and honest. If a little humor helps even one more person tell their date that they have a booboo on their hoohoo…I’m for it.

Corr, who thinks good sex ends in a bout of laughing

18

You should tell her often that you love her “warts and all”

19

Sure sailor, just tell 'em ‘those warts look nice on you.’

“Corr, who thinks good sex ends in a bout of laughing”

I don’t know about that, laughing kinda makes a guys pee pee into a lip noodle.

20

So many Freudian slips, so little time.