Hello! Found out last month that I had a high risk strain for HPV in my smear for the second year running. Had a colposcopy each time and cell changes but not so much as to need treatment. These are the two first two smears I have had since the nhs started screening for hpv and as I had irregular ones in my 20s (am now 40) and been with the same lovely bloke since 25 I reckon Ive had it years and years.
I would love advice from anyone else in a similar boat or who used to be on anything helpful they found for shifting it or managing anxiety. I trust the cervical screening programme entirely but worry about raised risk for cancers elsewhere and I know everyone just about has hpv at some stage but not everyone has the high risk type or persistently and cant work out if being a bit daft to be worried or if itās right to feel concerned - would love to have some pals who get it to share thoughts with, thank you xxxxx
Hi, Iām in the same situation right now - with hubby for over 20years - this smear was my first abnormal - high risk HPV and mild dyskaryosis
Iām worried as I have other symptoms too - that point to cervical cancer - but my colposcopy as only requested as routine so having to wait
Itās all a worry and how long may I have had this for ā¦ 
Im really sorry youre in the same boat and really grateful to you coming here to share that. I hope when you hear back it is good news. I am trying to see a gynae in London privately (credit cards are a wonderful thing!) to see if I can get some advice in anything that might help clear it and will share here xxxx
Hi,
Iām in this situation too! Ive had my latest smear this week and I had already decided, if this one is yet again HPV positive, then iāll have a crack at the AHCC supplements and anything else that is claimed to help.
Ive also been married for 20+ years so iām pretty sure ive had this for all that time. Ill never know for sure of course. The first time i tested positive was 2016 and it has remained ever since. Ive had some cell changes at different times, but they havenāt progressed beyond dyksaryosis, thankfully.
I should get my results in about a month i guess (nurse said 2 to 6 weeks currently, but this time last year it took 8 weeks), so if im still HPV +ve this time, Iād love to join you in researching/trying various methods for blitzing it !
X
I was diagnosed with high risk HPV and mild dyskarosis from my regular smear. The first time anything abnormal has appeared and after a smear last year which they told me was HPV positive. The letter did not say it was high risk at that stage. Anyway i have done a Superdrug home test and tested positive for HPV16. My colposcopy was fine. The cervix looked pink and smooth and no biopsy was taken because there was ānothing to take a biopsy ofā. So great news but not great to think i have had this HPV for over 16 years as i have been with my partner for 16 years. The colposcopy nurse took that as a positive because my body may have been fighting it off all that time.
Anyway i am drinking 2 mugs green tea and taking AHCC tablets daily to try to get rid of the HPV. If the results of the trials posted on the internet are true, then theres a good chance i can rid myself of it.
Same her, Iāve been left at 66 with a high risk HPV at age 66.
2Tests later still still positive.
The Superdrug tests say I am positive for ādangerous type of HPVā
but HPV 16 & 18 negative. I know 16 & 18 are the high risk strains for cc but what does āother dangerous strainsā mean?
NHS wonāt do a smear because Iām over 65 so am going to do one more Superdrug type test and if itās the same then feel I need a proper cytology test.
Anyone know how or where to get a proper cytology test done please?? I live in NW UK.
Thanks!
Hi, very similar here! Iām 39 and been with my husband 18 years. My HPV was picked up along with abnormal changes in 2019. Iāve now had four procedures, the most recent a more thorough operation, to remove pre-cancerous cells, and I was quizzing an oncologist about exactly this yesterday!
He said the wording āmost people clear HPV in a year or twoā is misleading. HPV stays permanently present in basal(?) cells after any infection, but normally stops being an āactive infectionā within that time frame as your body can fight it into dormancy.
Research is not conclusive about whether or not that dormant virus can be reignited, but it seems likely that people who have had HPV long-term as we have are experiencing āflair upsā (similar to herpes etc) during times of low immunity/high stress, which can take hold and become an active infection.
Thatās what he told me anyway! Not pleasant to think it might never be truly gone, but reassuring that perhaps we might be experiencing a temporary flair up of a common virus rather than having a longstanding infection of a virus most people seem to shake off easily.
I too am on the AHCC and a selection of normal immunity supplements.
Thinking of you all and wishing you a speedy recovery!
Hi! Iāve been hpv positive 3 years now with no abnormal cells and went for my first colposcopy yesterday. They need to take a biopsy but as Iām going on holiday tomorrow theyāre making me an appt afterwards as I wouldnāt be able to swim. Itās very worrying that there is something that didnāt show up on 3 smears, my mind has gone into overdrive this past couple of days and Iām thinking the worst 
Great info thanks l always wondered if virus stays or it goes forever or if is just our partners and virus going back and forth. I also ask my gynecologist and her answer was we simply donāt know but we just work for a complete removal of the abnormalities and there is no current treatment for HPV and then she recommended vaccine as a booster for the body to fight infection and also protect from other types that body has not been exposed to yet. And also recommended condoms she said not 100 % but better than nothing
Take care and good luck to all
Hello, I was in the same position as you, though Iām 47 so still getting smears. I tested positive for a HR HPV strain on a Superdrug test (just done at a random time, previous NHS swab was negative a couple of year back but Iāve been positive in the past about 10 years ago with previous CIN3 and LLETZ with curative result, so wanted to check the HPV hadnāt reactivated after having Covid last year. And also I am anxious about all this stuff!) Anyway, I came back positive for HR HPV but not 16 or 18, so same as you, and went into a total panic. No way of getting an additional HPV test and smear on the NHS until itās time for my next routine smear (2 years) so opted to go private for HPV PCR and smear, regardless of HPV results. Very surprised and happy to say I came back negative for any forms of HPV and my cytology from the smear was completely normal. It was around Ā£300 for all this and I know itās not an option for everyone but if you have the means (and frankly, no other way to get a smear now) I think the peace of mind is priceless.
Oh Iām so glad you tested and are clear. Peace of mind is priceless!
Thank you, thatās reassuring! Glad itās possible to get a proper smear test done. Was it BUPA or similar? Even tho Iām on limited income now I think itās needed.
I do wonder about the value of the Superdrug tests as theyāre so general.
Big hug for the info! x
It was my local Nuffield hospital. I just explained to the receptionist Iād like to book a smear and she said Iād need to book a gynaecology appointment and then could discuss with the gynaecologist. Gynaecologist was happy to perform smear, send for cytology and do HPV swab, and sent me the full cytology report and full HPV PCR results also. Shame it was the only way to get an answer but I hope this route might help you too if thereās no other way.
Same here. Found out I had HPV in 2020 on routine smear. First smear Iād had since they rolled out HPV primary screening. I consider myself a long-timer as Iāve been with my husband for 10 years, meaning this is clearly from an infection I must have picked up 10+ years ago and never known about. Whether or not it was active the whole time I will never know. Anyway, I tested HPV positive again in 2021 but I tested negative in 2022 so am back to routine recall. From what I have read about HPV going dormant rather than being cleared, and the ability of a dormant HPV infection to re-activate for some women, particularly those of peri/menopausal age (Iām 46), it is something I intend to keep an eye on going forward. For this reason i have decided to screen myself annually outside of my routine appointments.
Hi everyone
This is my first post and Iāve found reading all your posts to be very helpful. Thank you for sharing your situations. Iām not sure but I felt it might be helpful for some if I share my experience of having persistent HPV over what I believe would be long term (12 plus years).
My situation is that Iām 35 and I live in Aus, approximately 1 1/2 yrs ago a new GP reminded me to do my pap smear (THANK-YOU DOC). It had been a long time, I am unsure of how many years since my last smear. I was just above the age bracket when they rolled out the vaccine in Aus and NZ (how I wish I had been included now). My smear came back HPV16 positive with low grade cell changes so I was sent for a colposcopy.
I have been with my partner for 12 years so I too felt that my HPV infection must have been present for a long time. Anyway, I probably didnāt verbalise this worry strongly enough, so the gynaecologist simply completed a regular colposcopy and told me everything looked ok (no biopsy was taken) and that all I needed to do was to repeat my smear in one years time.
On repeating my smear I went back to my GP as my gynaecologist said that would be fine, but they sent me back to the gynaecologist (another month or two delay to get in) this time she completed a smear and colposcopy (because I asked - just to be safe). However I could tell it must have looked different because this time she also took a biopsy and the result was CIN3 (severe cell changes), and unsurprisingly to me positive for HPV16 again.
Iāve now just had a Colposcopy / LLETZ / CONE BIOPSY done in hospital under general anaesthetic due to the large amount of cells they needed to remove (two days ago). Iām waiting four weeks for results to check they got it all and make sure there are also no cancerous cells.
I just wanted to share this as if you feel you may have had HPV for a long time it might be helpful to discuss this and request a biopsy rather than the āwait and seeā to hope the HPV and any abnormal cells clear up on their own. Thatās just my experience and I hope it might help even just one other person advocate for what they believe as I wish Iād had the LLETZ over a year and a half ago when my previous smear identified changes.
Iām also interested in this supplement to help boost immunity to fight the HPV infection, none of my doctors have talked about this with me. Has anyone had a good experience with these clearing their HPV? Also has the vaccine helped as well? Any advice or experiences people might want to share would be so great xx
Good luck with all your treatments and Iām wishing everyone the most positive journey possible with this sometimes difficult diagnosis xx
Dear all,
Saw a lovely gynae who said it was really hard to say whether ahcc or papillocare worked particularly well because the data they released was not easy to make informed scientific judgments on. Ive decided to just really hope the trial in liverpool is successfull and am not given a placebo! Will keep you posted and lets keep supporting each other here xxx
Your post was the first time i had heard about Papilocare. I went straight on to do a search on it and found that the results are better for clearing HPV as opposed to no treatment. I spoke to my partner but he is a bit dubious about getting things off the internet. I believe thus product may be available from retailers such as Boots or Holland and Barratt which gives me confidence.
Hello Papilocare is very safe is a Spanish product and has EU certified it will do you no harm my gynecologist told me.
It does seem to have some good results for HPV clearance and also the clearance of some abnormalities on CIN 1 . I get it from Spanish Pharmacy online or Amazon
Thank you for the reassurance on Papilocare. It might work, it may not (although according to statistics published online it is more likely than not to clear HPV). It gives me peace of mind to think i am perhaps doing something positive in clearing HPV.
I feel bad now - I think these things get seriously marketed but there is not neccessarily the evidence behind their claims that they suggest or theyād be more widely prescribed. By all means give it a go but please donāt do so on my mentioning it - the dr I have spoken to was quite cynical 
x
Sorry that read a bit miserably - didnt mean it to. By all means give it a go! Have found out today I have ain2 ie anal cell changes. Only found out as was looking into something else and turns out is HPV related to. The āgoodā news is they are referring me to a hospital that does cervical and anal checks at the same time so will be there monitored annuall for the next five years apparentlyā¦ in east london.
I wish there was a doctor of HPV not just a gynae or an anal specialist or a GP. I always hear the same things: āeveryone gets hpvā, and just think āwell not everyone gets high risk, that doesnt shift for years and years and in their cervix and now bum.ā 
I am being a miserable git I know but I feel a bit like everyone thinks am making a fuss but if I hadnt mentioned checking for HPV and the fact I had it cervically no one would have asked when doing the other check. I just wish there was more of a coordinated response and less of a ādont worry dearā attitude sometimes. Rant over. Sorry for being mardy gitā¦.
