I have been HPV positive for a while. I've read that at my age 49 it is hard to clear the virus.
If I have treatment for abnormal cells won't they always come back because of the HPV?
HPV is very frustrating because - apart from not smoking - there is very little you can actually do about it. Most people catch it within 5 years of being sexually active and either clear or surpress the virus within a couple of years. Most people who have HPV never have abnormal cells. It is harder when older because your immune system becomes less efficient but not impossible. I am a similar age to you and my story is as follows: borderline changes and HPV negative in 2013, normal smear 2016, CIN3 removed after high grade smear 2019. Under the old testing system, they did not test me for HPV in 2019 as a high grade smear is assumed to be positive. This means that at some time over the 6 years I have contracted/reactivated HPV which has hung around long enough to cause CIN3. The good news is that I was HPV negative last month so it is possible to clear it even when older.
Women who have treatment for abnormal cells are at a higher risk of reoccurrence than someone who has never needed treatment. It's frustrating, but all you can do is try to lead a healthy lifestyle to give your immune system the best chance of doing it's job
Thank you for replying. I am such a worrier a d just convinced that every time I go for a smear the HPV would have made the cells get worse.
Hi everyone, I'm confused, so if you have low grade changes can they eventually change to high grade ? I thought that they normally went on their own, I had low grade changes 16 years ago those days you were just re-tested in 6 months, mine were clear when re-tested and I have had clear results since until my mist recent one which was low grade in January, how quickly do low grade change to high grade ? Xx
A study published in 2017 followed a large cohort of women every few years and found that after 6 years, 7% of women who were CIN1 had progressed to CIN2. All the women were HPV+. No women in the study who were HPV neg with CIN1 progressed to CIN2.
Odds are hugely in favour of CIN1 regressing or not getting any worse even if HPV persists.
Jx (I like stats)
Thanks Julia, I think I probably had the virus the whole16 years but as smears wouldn't have tested for HPV it wouldn't have shown up, I think it has laid doormant as I haven't had a different partner in that time, I have had a really stressful 6 months and I think that is what has made it come back. Also most people's immune systems are meant to fight it off, I have never smoked and rarely get colds so I just think that some people are more prone to persistent HPV than others xx
