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

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

Thank you Hazel, feel so down about it like life is just over and I'm just existing. Not in a dangerous way I hasten to add just go back to work, home and repeat and keep smiling mode and break it up with him before it gets serious. 
  
I'd be so worried I'll end up with a call from him that he has woken up with a sore or something I just can't bare it :-(

Hi chat with your g p hpv does not cause rashes unlike some sexual transmitted illnesses please don't let  it ruin yiur life. 
i had no idea I had h p v lived very happily and my hubby if 40 years never caught it or not that we know we had regular sex and still do. 
lHazel x

Thank you for your kind words of support Hazel. It's so hard to get a GP appointment at the moment but I will try again, so much appreciated.
Just stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment . Can't bare to tell him and couldn't bare to not and have sex, I'm running out of excuses to him  
Will read through this site some more too. 

Just stumbled across this blog and it's the first realistic information I've come across. I'm 59, always had regular smears, been exclusively with the same partner for 38 years, so a positive HPV test blew my mind. The "sexually transmitted" element has absolutely battered my trust in my husband and whatever he says that just won't go away. Like others I've been told to go back in 12 months but the worry and suspicion remains. Thanks everyone for sharing, I wish I'd found this sooner, at least I know I'm not alone with the worry and confusion.

Hi, I'm new to the forum but just wanted to say 'trust your husband'. I'm 56 and I've had regular smears throughout my life. I know I picked up the HPV virus 38 years ago well before I met my husband.

I had genital warts when I was about 18 but I was told that some of the more sinister HPV variants can piggy back the less troublesome ones. However no one tested for HPV back the. Fast forward to now and I recently had my first HPV test and yes it came back positive but no abnormal cells. A bit of a shock but it clearly hasn't left me in all that time, probably as I've read it can lay dormant and come back again many years later.  

I've been marred for over 30 years. This is something I picked up well before I met my husband and the likelihood us you will have too.

I hope this may give you some peace of mind and restore your trust in him x

Thank you ️

Hi, I'm happy to answer. No he never got them despite them reappearing (on me) just once in my twenties after we got together. He must have the same HPV virus's that I've got by now but warts is something that didn't affect him. X 

Hi, I'm happy to answer. No he never got them despite them reappearing (on me) just once in my twenties after we got together. He must have the same HPV virus's that I've got by now but warts is something that didn't affect him. X 

My heart is breaking, last two weeks I've been under the most dreadful stress I've ever experienced due to a family member getting arrested.  Sleep and appetite is completely lost. 
I've been feeling sore down there last few days so investigated and I'm a covered in spots. 
I'm not long in a relationship and we haven't had sex for 7 weeks but iI just want to run and hide, end it with him and just give up. 
Can't stop crying