cervical cancer

[Jolt]

However, even though the HPV vaccine hurts to get, it is no where near as bad a tetanus shot! Those suckers hurt for days!

Yes, they do! I find the flu shot just as bad if not slightly worse, as well. Feels like the aftereffects of a good punch to the arm.

[damsel]

I know this thread was a few weeks ago now, but i've just read it with interest and have wanted to have a little complain to someone about HPV and the cervical cancer vaccine for a while now. At 25 I've just been diagnosed with HPV (one of the visible genital wart strains) after only ever sleeping with the one guy recently and on only two occasions (ie he was the first guy i slept with). I know it is a very common virus, but it doesn't take away the embarrassment that i feel now. I have enough issues with relationships and I know it shouldn't, but having HPV is going to make me think twice about getting into another relationship with the fear of passing it on to someone i care about.
I thought i was pretty well educated on STDs, but had never been educated about HPV. Why isn't HPV as widely 'advertised' as a prevalant STD as much as other STDs are? Maybe it is elswhere but not where i come from. Further to that, the cervical cancer vaccine has only recently been launched in Australia but very little of the advertising material actually says what it is vaccinating against - not cancer itself but a few strains of a common STD - HPV- that can cause cancer. This is really frustrating becasue i wonder how many other women/girls out there were like me - not even considering getting the vaccine because i didn't think it was necessary (mostly because of no history of it in the family). If the vaccine was/is advertised properly for what it does & how common HPV is, rather than avoiding what i can only gather is either a) a tabu subject (ie HPV), b) that doctors think that everyone knows about HPV or c) leaving it up to women to traul the internet or book in to see a doctor to get more info, then more women/girls might consider getting the vaccine. It wasn't until i was diagnosed with HPV that i started researching the virus that I found out what the vaccine actaually does. The doctor who diagnosed it mentioned that i was elegable for the vaccine but didn't even go into any detail beyond that.

Sorry for the rant, but thanks for listening
Damsel

[HillSlugger]

I know it is a very common virus, but it doesn't take away the embarrassment that i feel now. I have enough issues with relationships and I know it shouldn't, but having HPV is going to make me think twice about getting into another relationship with the fear of passing it on to someone i care about.

Please try to get over being embarrassed; there's really no need for that. It's unfortunate, but you didn't do anything wrong. Sure, caution may be warranted but please don't let this keep you from enjoying life.

In the US there's a drug that a person can take to reduce the chance of passing along the infection. I've seen it advertised on TV but I don't know what it's called. Please talk to your doctor about this and about how to move forward with your life with confidence.

Take care, Nicole

[madisongrrl]

Here are a few good sources of information

http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/sex...th/std/hpv.htm