Hi Sarah,

I'm not an expert but I think that HPV can stay dormant in the body for years, so it could have been transmitted early in your life and never given any signals it was there. HPV is serious because it can cause cancer of the uterus.

You say your smear test didn't show any abnormal cells, so that means all is good and healthy, you don't have cancer. But since HPV can lead to cancer, you have a high risk of developing it in future, but it doesn't mean that you will. Some people do others don't.

I don't know how quick the HPV could develop into cancer but if you do a test every year you should be OK, please check with a nurse or doctor. I don't know if it is possible to cure HPV completely. There is a vaccine for tens now, but that was not the case years ago.

If you are not happy with your doctor's advice you have the right to seek a second opinion. The Macmillan Trust can also help with medical advice, they have a free phone line. Or you could ring the number below to ask the nurses here more questions.

Hope this is helpful. All the best!

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I am very grateful. I will speak to my gp or nurse as soon as I am able, I feel so awful that my smear test was rather overdue though I guess prior to this one only reason cells would have been looked at if they were normal then. I wouldn't feel so worried if I had been sexually active in recent years as I'd feel reassurance that most infections clear within it says 1-2 years, it just feels a little pointless waiting for another year to see as it states if my immune system will clear it when I know that it must be a persistent infection because it has to have been so long since exposure. I didn't realise there was any change in the way they processed smear results and got a really awful shock seeing the hpv positive result and then all the information saying it usually clears in 24 months but for some it can persist and this then results in cell changes, I can't seem to find any percentage or risk that says of those with a persistent infection x amount is likely to cause changes. Once again thank you so much for your kind words. S x

Thankyou .. oh I'm so worried but Thankyou .. nurse wouldn't speak to me , receptionist said don't worry but hey it's not her is it♀️.. I feel dirty and gross but its been years so how did I get it .. I just feel I'm on a time bomb 

I havent been active either..I felt the same..thought has my husband cheated etc etc ..but i was reassured by nurse..its something the can reoccur after years and its only recently they have started to test for it on smear...so honestly just try to put in back of your mind do your 12 months ..

You'll be ok

I've just come across this post.  I've not been sexually active for 10 years but last year I tested positive for hpv but no abnormal cells.  This year I had another smear and again am hpv positive but this time also high grade severe abnormal cells.  Found this out last week and today am going for a colposcopy.  I'm absolutely terrified! I don't understand how it can go from nothing to severe in one year.  I'm not saying this to frighten anyone else but if you are hpv positive don't miss your test each year.  I'm 59 years old.  It was a shock to be hpv positive last year and now this my heads all over the place.  I can't tell my family till I know what's what.  Anyone had the same experience I'm going through? I'm scared of what might happen today.  Sorry for jumping in on this thread x

So sorry to hear this and sincerely hope your colposcopy went OK and that they are or have removed the abnormal cells xx

Hi worried41

I've read about the tests they use. There are 14 high risk HPV strains that they all screen for. All of these are known to cause cervical cancer. Some of the tests just screen for hrHPV so any of the 14 strains but some can also say if there is specifically strain 16 or 18 these cause about 70% of the cancers. I asked my doctor if the test they'd used on my sample identified the strain. They hadn't identified it but they were able to say it wasn't 16 or 18 so it maybe worth asking your doctor if they can find this information for you. 

hiya, im 25years old and been having problems down there for years , they wouldnt give me a smear till now, its came back high risk hpv and abnormal cells im so so scared and feel alone. how did yours go? hopefully your okay x

Reading this thread regarding hpv I'm the same. I'm 57 and we were never tested for this. It's probably been dormant for years in my body.  I'm glad I joined this forum. A lot of my initial concerns have been answered. I'm not out the clear yet as biopsies have been taken. A few weeks for results. 

Hope the biopsy comes back ok, I totally agree with what Fiona61 has said, that now they are testing for hpv, although a good thing, it will cause so much worry and anxiety, I am now on my 4th year of worry 3 years of hpv positive smears, had a colposcopy and now a recheck in another year, its been over 20 years since I've been sexually active so can't see it going on its own  

How did you get on? I have tested positive for HPV and have had a fully trusting relationship with my partner for 13 years! So there's no doubt in my mind that I have had the virus for at least that amount of time. My smear came back normal but I've read stories of people having normal smears that didn't detect their cancer. I've bled ever so slightly after sex a few times, not every time. I have been suffering with lower back pain for a good while now. Sometimes when I sit down my vagina feels swollen or something in that area does. I always get fobbed off by the GP with the solution being my Mirena IUD. But the HPV diagnosis surely changes things? Has anyone ever demanded a colposcopy? I've only just been a couple of days ago to see about my back and been sent to book physio but unsure whether to call back and highlight the positive HPV result? I just sometimes feel they don't connect the dots or write me off with health anxiety. 
 

I agree with others above. The aftercare after hpv diagnosis is extremely poor. It needs to change and full verbal discussion needs to be had, rather than a letter and that's it. 
 

I hope all are well and any updates from anyone in the thread very welcome as I've read all previous replies <3

Hi everyone, I'd like to thank you all for sharing your knowledge, experiences and fears because you have all really helped me. I've done lots of reading but this is the first site I've found that has acknowledged the difficulty of hpv that has been in the body a long time - and the anxiety that causes. It does seem that because they have only been testing for the virus for a few years, the research just isn't there in terms of whether hpv that's been in the body for years is more likely to develop into cancer.

Found I have hpv from my smear test at the beginning of February. Am 58 and not sexually active for 11 years so like many of you, wondering what it's been doing in my body for so many years and why it's surfaced now in particular. I am terrified. It doesn't help that my last 3 or 4 smear tests have been excruciatingly painful so I dread having to undergo more investigations.

Maz62 and Wellstone - have you had the results of your tests yet?  Really hoping you both get good news.  Dee1983 - if you are worried, I would flag up the hpv and really press for more action. Please let us know how you get on.

Hi everyone, I'd like to thank you all for sharing your knowledge, experiences and fears because you have all really helped me. I've done lots of reading but this is the first site I've found that has acknowledged the difficulty of hpv that has been in the body a long time - and the anxiety that causes. It does seem that because they have only been testing for the virus for a few years, the research just isn't there in terms of whether hpv that's been in the body for years is more likely to develop into cancer.

Found I have hpv from my smear test at the beginning of February. Am 58 and not sexually active for 11 years so like many of you, wondering what it's been doing in my body for so many years and why it's surfaced now in particular. I am terrified. It doesn't help that my last 3 or 4 smear tests have been excruciatingly painful so I dread having to undergo more investigations.

Maz62 and Wellstone - have you had the results of your tests yet?  Really hoping you both get good news.  Dee1983 - if you are worried, I would flag up the hpv and really press for more action. Please let us know how you get on.

Hi, I am 64, abstinent for 10 years,with only two partners previously.  I was totally in shock when the hpv positive, no cell changes detected, letter arrived in February.  I have been trying not to worry but how can you not?  A year seems such a long time to wait and like others mentioned, I worry that the hpv is unlikely to become dormant after all this time.  I had kind of thought, when I was first notified, that maybe it had been dormant but all the stress of the pandemic plus losing both my parents and ex husband in a four month period and a house move, had been the cause of reactivation but reading all your posts it seems unlikely.  However, I am very grateful to have found this thread and to know I am not alone in this.

Hi Karen 

84% of the population have. HPV at anyone  time. In my case inwas  one if the really unlucky ones  my h p v 16+ has remained dormant for at least 40 years not detected  in any smears ias it wasn't checked until recently  4 years ago I had a lump in my collar bone thought I had pulled a muscle turned  out had h p v 16- tonsil cancer with several effected nodes. I have been married to hubby 42 years we trust each other implicitly I hadn't slept with anyone else and hubby had once prior to me. As my oncologist said we were unlucky probably been passing it to each other  for years.  There are no symptoms onky good thung us teenagers are now vaccinated nboty girls and boys But lucky in ine way that h p v oral cancers are curable treatment horrendous but I got through it. So put it out if your mind it's common to show on one smear but 12 month later you'll be clear. My cancer is extremely rare I don't smoke or drink. 
Hazel www.RadioactiveRaz.wordpress.com  my blog with tonsil cancer 

I hope your getting through treatment well. Thank you for sharing.

my Dad was recently diagnosed with throat cancer caused by HPV and has it secondary in a node. Unfortunately his is not operable as it's too deep in the throat and tongue but he will be starting radio and chemo in the next week or so.

However today I received news that I am HPV pos, first screening for 3 plus years...I can't remember when I had one last as I have a 4yr old.  I'm feeling a little freaked out. X

HinRay  don't worry about your dad chemo radiation is the gold  standard treatment I am now 4 years post radiotherapy for tonsil cancer with several affected lymph nodes happily living my life. As for your h p v status presumably from a recent smear test ? At any one time 84 % of the worlds population is h p v postive our bodies generally get rid of it over a period of time it's very very rare for HPV cancers to present so your dads  in an exclusive club which like me he didn't want to join but take heart HPV cancers are eminently curable .my blog below might help www.RadioactiveRaz.wordpress,com .

Its not usual to operate so don't stress the chemotherapy and radiotherapy work it's not uncommon either for patients not  to have all the chemo sessions radiotherapy is the main event so to speak.any questi9ns just ask always happy to help .please do it worry about yiur status there's no correlation to yiu dads cancer it's nit a genetic cancer  

Hazel 

Thank you Hazel. He's been give 88% chance of it being cured. Just got to get him through the next few months. I'll send him your blog, I'm sure he'll find it really helpful to read a real persons account rather then the stuff he's been googling! xx

Hi please please tell him to keep off Google the info is unregulated. As my oncologist ssud ti me he could go in and diagnose himself dead within 5 minutes. Please keep away verge info is mostly our if date. I'm 4 years post radiotherapy happily living my life. 
I will help if I can 

Hazel xx

Thank you. I've shared your blog with him. X

im going to make him up a treatment/recovery hamper, have you any Suggestions what I could include? He's in denial about how unwell he may feel. He's due to have 1 day chemo, 5 days radio per week. And feeding tube fitted at 3wks into the treatment x

Hi Ray. Don't think about the recovery phase just yet. It's best ti take everything)ng in small bite sizes. It's unusual l if anyone gets off Scott free , by week 3 inwas Nil  by mouth even plain tap water taste slime sewer water plus I couldn't swallow it. For hospital days with chemo maybe make sure he had a long cable for ohine or tablet as plugs are always out of reach. Any magazine s or books crossword puzzle tyoe books. I lost interest in reading for a good whike but in early days needed distractions. We watched box sets simple stuff. 
Boxes of tissues as once treatment starts there's lots of spitting to be done.

i boughta humidifier from Amazon for nighttime appx £25 mine was a cool mist I really it helps.  Because treatment is to our mouths and throats t( usual stuff that people take for I'll people aren't any use  food and drink for a good while is very hard  it becomes a matter if food is fuel . If you could  arrange a rota for people to take him to hospital would be a good idea  plus company at home short visits usually the first week eating and drinking is ok ish then by weeks 3-4 gets harder or impossible  

A note  book  for any questions and a pen are very useful  Make sure he takes medication as directed  

there's no prizes for being brave pain s real  

hooe this helps Hazel 

Hello, I was diagnosed 9 years ago, not had a partner for 13 years and after being diagnosed with HPV I have deliberately stayed away from relationships. 
Have just met someone who I really like, tried not to but I he's on my mind all the time.  we haven't had sex, but how do I tell him I'm HPV positive :-(

Just feel so sad and almost dirty/contaminated :-(

We are from same circle of friends too so I'd hate them to find out. 

Hi don't even thjnk sbout it 84% of the world at any one point are h p v positive. Majority geg rid of it naturally a tiny snd I mean ti y go on like me ti get h p v oral cancer 40 plus years later. . So don't think about it  Hazel x