Real People Stories – Vladislava
A long story about my HPV health. Now I’m healthy. Let’s see what happens next.
Hello girls! Today, we will touch on a difficult STD topic. A topic that inspires fear in every girl/woman. It becomes scary when an HPV diagnosis is on the report, especially if the doctor does not explain anything else.
How it all began?
For a long time I heard from doctors: “You have erosion.” They took smears for cytology, and nothing went further than that.
One day, I came to a regular residential complex with complaints of a burning sensation (as it later turned out, it was cystitis, but they didn’t even take OAM from me, and I suffered for a long time). As always, they took a smear for cytology and scheduled my first colposcopy because… The doctor didn’t like my cervix.
About erosion
Doctors, without performing a biopsy and colposcopy, do not have the right to make such a STD diagnosis because only these interventions can determine ectopia, dysplasia and true erosion (temporary damage, scabs)
First colposcopy
The essence of the procedure is that the STD doctor examines how the cells behave under a microscope after applying Lugol and acetic acid. If the cervix is healthy, the doctor applies acetic acid, white spots will not appear, and when the doctor applies Lugol, the entire cervix will be brown. If it is not healthy, then in places where there is pathology, the cells will not be coloured.
All these tests showed that I have a pathology because the cervix’s colouring is uneven. There were areas of white colour and iodine-negative areas. This became the reason to take a biopsy from these areas. However, the doctor did not take it because I had a cough.
Second colposcopy
I got to the second colposcopy in about six months. Everything again indicated that an HPV biopsy was required, and… a piece was torn off from me. The feeling was not pleasant because there was no pain relief.
Biopsy result
I came to the doctor. She tells me: “You have a precancerous condition.” Just like that, she just said about it, as if she had ARVI, and didn’t explain anything else. The next step was for me to get a test for HPV (oncogenic type 21) to prescribe the right treatment. As a result of the biopsy, it was said that I had CIN 2 (grade 2 dysplasia).
I am vaccinated (Cervarix) against two highly oncogenic types (16 and 18). I didn’t know then that the virus has more than 170 types (strains). And I thought that if there is a vaccination, then this is a 100% guarantee that HPV can no longer live in you. The STD test result was negative, meaning none of the 21 virus types were found.
Further developments
I showed the doctor the result. I got a prescription for pills.
- Some antibiotics (unfortunately, I forgot which one)
- Groprinosin is an immunostimulating drug with an antiviral effect.
Indications: immunodeficiency conditions caused by STD viral infections in patients with normal and weakened immune systems, including diseases caused by Herpes simplex virus, types 1 and 2 and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.
Show quote
- Viferon is an immunomodulatory drug with an antiviral effect. NOT proven to be effective.
Indications: ARVI, including influenza, incl. complicated by STD bacterial infection, pneumonia (bacterial, viral, chlamydial), infectious and inflammatory diseases of newborns, chronic viral hepatitis B, C, D, infectious and inflammatory diseases of the urogenital tract, primary or recurrent herpetic infection of the skin and mucous membranes.
How did Instagram help you understand the essence of what was happening?
Could you suspect that this kind of social network will help you understand what’s what? Me, not. However, at that time, I was already subscribed to one doctor. I decided to try using hashtags (#cervical dysplasia, #HPV, #colposcopy, and others) to find information and doctors who talk about it. And I found it. I could figure everything out and understand everything unclear to me.
What a miracle that there is the Internet and Instagram when HPV test doctors don’t want to tell you anything.
Doubts
After reading what doctors said on Instagram (many doctors said the same thing), I began to have huge doubts about the correctness of the treatment prescribed to me.
Data
- Treatment for HPV is not with any antiviral or immunomodulators. Our immune system will cope with the virus itself after some time. (Why did they prescribe it to me? If the virus was not detected!!!!) .
- There are no drugs to treat dysplasia. Grade 1 dysplasia requires observation and examination. It will most likely go away on its own. Grade 2 dysplasia most often does not go away on its own and requires surgical intervention. Dysplasia of the 3rd degree requires surgical intervention only.
Going to another gynaecologist
Since I doubted the prescribed treatment, I decided to get a second opinion. This woman laughed when she saw the prescriptions based on the test results and prescribed the same thing herself.
I still took all these pills (I think it was probably in vain), thinking that these two gynaecologists might be right. After all, their prescriptions were, in principle, similar. The illiteracy of this doctor became clear to me a little later when she suggested that I cauterize the 2nd-degree dysplasia with Solkovagin.
A drug for the local treatment of benign lesions of the superficial tissues of the cervix
Indications: benign lesions of the superficial tissues of the cervix: cervical ectopia; transformation zone; Nabothian cysts (after opening); polyps of the cervical canal (in the absence of endometrial pathology); postoperative granulomas
Contraindications for use: malignant changes in the cervix (suspicion of malignancy); cellular dysplasia; pregnancy; hypersensitivity to the components of the drug.
My diagnosis, according to the instructions for use, is a contraindication. What did I tell the doctor? They answered me: “Are you a doctor? No. I remember what your cervix looked like. There are no signs of dysplasia. She said this based on an examination she did a few days ago. All this put me off. And I ran away from her as fast as I could.
Where did you run away to?
At work, we have voluntary STD health insurance policies under which we can receive free treatment in a good hospital in Yekaterinburg. I chose a doctor, came, and told him everything.
Later, I had a video colposcopy, and I saw my cervix. All the signs of dysplasia were visible – you could see where it had turned white and where it had not. The network of capillaries characteristic of dysplasia was also visible, resembling a lush tree crown. They took a second biopsy. This time, the procedure was comfortable and painless. They numbed it before tearing off a piece, so I didn’t notice anything. The STD diagnosis was confirmed; only the examined “pieces of me” turned out to be CIN 1 + ectopia (a variant of the norm. This is what was probably called EROSION in adolescence). The doctors decided on laser vaporization.
Dressed in disposable clothes. They also gave me local anaesthesia. We put on glasses. I lay down, and away we go. I was very worried, but throughout the entire intervention, the doctor commented on her every action. This made it easier. The procedure itself was almost painless. The pain was nagging, like during menstruation. There was no smell of a burnt pig or smoke, as many people write on the Internet (because there was some apparatus that sucked out this air). About 30-40 minutes passed when I entered the operating room. During this time, I changed clothes, talked with the doctor, got ready, and then the intervention. They gave me recommendations and sent me home.
Healing
At first, there was a watery discharge, but there weren’t many. After some time, I had to come back so that the HPV doctor could treat it again and see how it was healing. Sexual rest had to be observed for a month. Two months later, I came for an appointment to see how it had healed.
I am healthy!
A routine examination showed that my neck was pink, beautiful and healthy. There were no STD scars left. This was important for me because I had not given birth yet. Everything has healed well. In a couple of months, we need to do liquid cytology.
I will update my review if anything changes.
Thank you for stopping by and reading to the end.
Health to you and your family.