GF has developed these. Believe it was due to the virus being present in her for a long time, and not contracted from me.
1 Any tips on treatment for her? The warts are small but doc. wants to freeze them or use chemicals. In addition she’s gone for a smear and waiting for results.
2 I’m 99% sure I didn’t have the causing virus before, and pretty sure I haven’t picked it up from GF now. Will get it checked out but can someone confirm that this is NOT on the list of infections that can cause you to fail your health check or even get kicked out of Taiwan?
A friend’s (ex-)wife had them, and cryotherapy (freezing them off) was what her doctor used. BTW, one thing he was screaming about when he found out about her condition was that, in the U.S., there’s a strong correlation between having genital warts and having AIDS (primarily among gay men – his (ex-)wife got it from a bi guy she was fooling around with). No idea if the same correlation holds here, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you both to get tested for the whole slough of STDs. Anonymously, since some of them could lead to your being deported.
Some of the HPV (human papilloma virii) strains that cause warts are also linked to causing cervical and penile cancer, BTW.
Finally, the “search” function is your friend. Upper right corner of the page under the banner ads, between “FAQ” and “Donors”.
Usually the ones that cause cancer don’t cause warts, but you can be infected with more than one type. I believe that, in the States routine screening for high-risk HPV (the kind that causes cancer) is recommended for women over 30.
GF has now been to 3 different doctors. Only the first one was sure it was genital warts; other two not sure. The things which might be warts are very small apparently. The first doc. wanted to freeze them off; one of the others gave her tablets and cream for inflammation/infection and soreness.
Where’s the best place to get a proper diagnosis and treatment? She’s been to gynaecological clinics so far – should she go to one of these clinics in a big hospital instead? How about a VD clinic? Can they offer treatment or just diagnosis? (Anyone know of a VD clinic in T’aichung?)
Aldara aka Imiquimod cream is one solution for genital warts. It’s expensive(around 4000NT for a box) but is maybe less painful than dry ice or laser surgery. Boxes come with 12 sachets. A sachet is to be applied every second day before going to sleep. Unfortunately I’m on treatment for particular virus right now and I’m extremely cautious. So I guess this serves as a warning to anyone reading.
The warts may not disappear for up to 8 weeks though according to the 3M English instructions. But then it is likely they will disappear after 4 weeks. The seemingly flippant circumcision commment of one poster makes more sense now.
The creams are supposed to be very effective, although they are generally used for external warts only. If she has had a PAP done, then this will test for cervical cancer, which can be caused by certain types of warts (although very rare).
As for yourself, if you have had unprotected sex, it’s very likely you’ve contracted HPV as well. Often it can take months before warts appear, if they do at all. Your immune system plays a large part in the occurance and reoccurance of them.
Anyone else out there actually had firsthand experience using the creams? As I’m curious as to how long it took the warts to disappear because one doctor seems overeager to do laser surgery-I only started the treatment a couple of weeks ago and the instructions say it may take up to 10 weeks for the warts to disappear.