HPV and Anal Cancer

• By Bymyside247
• Posted July 1, 2009 at 2:19 pm
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lagirl1966: You have a reason to be aware, yes, but not to be scarred so-to-speak. I know it is hard not to let fear run away with your emotions; I am guilty of allowing this to happen and just yesterday actually, lol.

Yes, HPV is said to cause 90% of all anal cancers. You can have HPV in more areas than just the cervix but for whatever rediculous reason, the doctors appreciate it more on the cervix than the anus, vulva (which includes the inner and outer labia, clitoris, and outside the vaginal canal), orally, and is also responsible for some lung cancers. You do not need to have anal sex to get anal HPV or cancer.

So, have you had a colonoscopy or are they just saying you have IBS? While I understand that IBS exists, I believe that a colonoscopy should be performed to rule out anything major.

Please, if you can quit smoking, this would be so wonderful for your health. I know it's hard; I quite about 4 years ago. HPV is stronger with nicotine.

It is fabulous that you are taking the multi-vitamin, keep that up. Consider as well, vitamin C and D3.

Best wishes to you.

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• By lagirl1966
• Posted July 1, 2009 at 3:11 pm
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Hi Bymyside,
Thanks for your reply. This did not make me feel very good. I had a colonoscopy 4 years ago. That is when I was diagnosed with IBS-D. Diarreah prominent. I have to take medication to control the diarreah or it would be here everyday. But the med dosent always work. Should I have another colonoscopy do you think??
I wish I could quit smoking but I can't. I have so much stress in my life. Mostly financial stress. Im only living on $66 a week and sometimes it dosent even come in. I cant tell you how far behind I am in bills. Smoking helps calm me down and the times that I have tried to quit I end up with NON STOP severe withdrawl headaches. I am already experiencing bad headaches every day from something. I dont know what. Now on top of all my other problems I have to worry about this now to.
What will the other vitamins do for the HPV?? If they will provide extra help, I will take them to. If I can afford them.
Thanks for your advice.
Trish

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• By pepsicolarocks
• Posted July 2, 2009 at 5:46 pm
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Lagirl.

If you are living on such a fixed income, how on earth can you afford cigarettes, in the first place?? Sorry, not trying to come off as being brash, but there seems to be some misplaced priorities, here. Don't you agree? I'm a smoker, so don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the fact that you smoke, I'm only questioning how you can afford such an expensive habit as cigarette smoking. I'm trying the electronic cigarette. The initial purchase price should range somewhere between $70.00 and $100.00 and comes with niccotine drops. You should definitely check it out!

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• By Bymyside247
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 4:30 am
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Trish, it sounds like you are in a predicament. I truly wish that there were something that you could do to quit smoking. I know it is hard. Your medical insurance, even if it is state provided should pay for you to quit.

Why are you so concerned with anal or colorectal cancer? Are you having blood in your stools? Please, don't get me wrong, I don't know much about these cancers, but I do know that one of the main symptoms is blood in the stools. I also know that the symptoms of these cancers are over-looked and thought to be caused by hemmrhiods, which is very sad.

When you had your previous colonoscopy did they remove any polyps or find anything of concern? If not, I would try to relax a bit. High resolution anoscopies are much better for diagnosing anal cancer by the way. You can also get an anal pap to find out if you have HPV in the anal area. you can get a velscope from your dentist (if he provides the service) to find out if you have any detectable oral changes.

The best thing that you can do for yourself is educate yourself and keep taking vitamins and eating cruciferous veggies as they contain DIM which is clinically proven to help the body rid itsself of dysplasia and also dormatize the HPV.

I too am not trying to sound brash, but I too wish that you would choose your health over those darn cigs! Your health should be taking priority. Your headaches will subside and your doc can help you with them as well as with your stress. Your finances will be a little better and that would relieve some stress. So quitting sounds so important in your life right now. In the end, I am sure that you have heard this many times and would rather not hear it anymore :o)

Will you keep us posted? :o)

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• By lagirl1966
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 11:00 am
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Hi pepsicolarocks and bymyside,
It did kind of feel like you were lecturing me about the smoking, but thats ok I hear it all the time. I have started to cut down. I think that is the only way I will stay quit. This way, I wont have the headaches. It will take time, but I will do it. The main reason why I haven't quit is because of my weight. I am extremely over weight and I am trying to get it off because I was just diagnosed with diabetes. My dad passed away from this, so I want to reverse it so badly and I know I can if I lose the weight. I hope you understand now a little more.
I have never had blood in my stools. My stools are very screwed up due to ibs. I have constant diarreah. Don't know if that makes any sense to you. When I had the colonoscopy 4 years ago, there were a couple pollyps but they were very small and nothing to worry about. This was before I was diagnosed with hpv. And my last pap was fairly normal. I go in again in august for another pap. So what do you think? SHould I have cause to worry?
I cant eat veggies cause I have gastroparesis and they aren't allowed. It could cause damage. So I drink V8 juice because it is liquid.
I am so screwed up.
Thanks for responding.
Trish

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• By flowershoplady
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 11:09 am
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hey there, lagirl. it sounds like you're tackling several health issues....and you should feel good that you're taking steps to deal with them. it's not easy to make changes, but you can do it! i don't think you need to be scared about the potential of anal cancer....yes, there's an increased risk since you have hpv, but many many women have hpv, including high risk hpv, and they don't develop anal cancer. it's much less likely than cervical cancer/dysplasia. hopefully your doctor can help you figure out ways to get yourself on the right path with your weight loss, controlling your diabetes, stopping smoking, getting the hpv infection cleared. one step at a time. stay on the path....it may take some time....but keep at it.

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• By yellow33
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 11:37 am
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Flowershop lady I felt I could breathe again after reading your message. I feel too that it is good to be aware but again it is not as likely to develop in other areas as it is in the cervix, look at the statistics of anal cancer worldwide compared to cervical cancer. I was not sure of the signs of anal cancer but will look for signs of blood to ensure not missing anything important. I am waiting to go back in August for a smear after having cin 1 removed by lletz in Feb. Can you answer a question for me - i remember reading you had a hysterectomy - does this rule out any further problems from hpv if cervix is removed also. I feel if I have ongoing problems over the next 10 years I will do this also- currently aged 36

Thanks again

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• By flowershoplady
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 12:01 pm
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no, having a hysterectomy does not prevent hpv related gynecologic diseases from occurring! hpv infection and dysplasia/cancer can still occur, and is most common on the vaginal cuff which is where the cervix used to be prior to hysterectomy, and can also occur on the vaginal walls (as well as vulva). hysterectomy is appropriate for some women when other treatment is no longer possible or appropriate, but there are other procedures that can be done for dysplasia before this major surgery is needed. vaginal dysplasia is not common, but it's also not rare.

i'm surprised that you had surgery for CIN1. most doctors, at least in the US, would take a watch and wait approach because most women will clear CIN1 on their own. hopefully your next exam will show everything 'normal'!

and, yes, there are many things we all need to be aware of....risks for hpv related diseases amongst them, but let's not also forget things like regular breast check ups and mammograms, etc.!

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• By Bymyside247
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 1:31 pm
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Trish, I am so sorry that I made you feel lectured at :o( That certainly was not my intention; although, I understand why you came away with that feeling.
I think you cutting back on your smoking as you can is great. The only reason I was able to quit was because I was pregnant and I just refused to start after I was done being pregnant. IT WAS HARD!!!- so please know I understand your struggle. My vice right now is junk food! So, I think a lot of us have our personal struggles. I also understand the struggle between quitting the smoking and then putting on weight. With you having the diabetes you truly must feel in a catch 22.

I agree with everything flowershoplady said :o) She is so right about change taking time; so be encouraged that you know you are taking steps.

That is unfortunate that you cannot take joy in eating the yummy veggies, but once again, you sound like you have found a way to tackle that, and hey, V8 juice isn't all too bad. :o)

So, you say they removed a couple of polyps but they were nothing of concern. I take that as they were not precancerous which is fabulous! I was just in to see my gastroenterologist's office and I grabbed a paper that he wrote about IBS. He was talking to me about some drops that I could take to help ease the pain in the abdominal area. I don't remember what they were! He said they are safe enough for a baby and you just place a couple drops in your mouth and it helps to numb the gastro track. Would you like me to find out what they were? I think I have a prescription for them that I have not yet filled so I can see what it is from that. Let me know if you are interested.

I don't know how it works after having a colonoscopy; how many years they like you to wait after finding nothing of real concern. My feeling is, if your insurance will pay for it, it has been 4 years and I am all for the preventative care, so I don't see why another colonoscopy after 4 years isn't possible or wouldn't be permitted.

Will you keep in touch to let us know how everything is going?

Just keep pluggin away, that is the best that any of us can do.

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• By Dragonfly23
• Posted July 5, 2009 at 9:37 am
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Trish, While I do not have IBS, I did have a reaction to the gluteraldehyde solution they use to clean the colonoscopy scopes which resulted in a severe inflammatory colitis. Unfortunatley the treatment for this is steroids, and with HPV, steroids was the last thing I was about to take as it depresses the immune system. I struggled with this for months sometimes being in the bathroom 15 to 20 time a day. I can empathize with what your IBS must be like.

Having had HPV induced anal cancer in the past, and receiving a diagnosis of anotoher invasive anal cancer just two weeks ago your concern for anal cancer is understandable - it is a risk everyone with HPV could possibly face.

Something which I haven't seen in the response posts is that you mentioned taking prenatal vitamins. Are you pregnant? Immunosuppression from pregnancy can result in dormant HPV becoming active and all the more reason to be vigilent about follow ups.

Unfortunately it is almost impossible to find someone to do an anal pap with HPV testing. This is a real issue for me in particular because patients should not have to go years (as has been the case for some people) searching and finding a doc to do this simple test. Also, one of the symptoms which often gets attributed to hemorrhoids is intense itching around the perianal and anal area. I guess hemorrhoids are the easiest thing for a doc to attribute it to rather than spend a little time looking deeper into the patients history and making the correlation. Also, far too many physicians simply are ignorant of the ramifications of HPV regarding anything but the cervix.

Having had HPV involve my cervix, vagina, vulva and anus I can state that in each area, the intense itching is what always signaled me that a new HPV lesion was about to show up.

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• By lagirl1966
• Posted July 5, 2009 at 11:42 am
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Hi bymyside,
It is ok about the lecture. I am used to it from my doctors. But I am over 200 pounds right now, and I have to get it off. So far, I have lost 13 pounds. I am more concerned about the diabetes. My dad passed away in 2005 from complications of diabetes and I am determined not to have that happen to me. I have a 16 year old son to be around for. But these past 5 years haven't been to fun for him watching how sick I have been. He feels bad for me. But you can't really do anything about all my health problems.
I wish I had another vice for stopping smoking but I don't. Now I have to be on 4 different diets for the conditions and it is not easy. 1. Gastroparesis (no veggies or red meat and NO FIBER) 2. IBS-D ( no greasy or fried foods) 3. Fructose intollorace (no fruits and no fructose corn syrup) 4. Diabetes (low carb foods) which is so hard to do. I am having a hard time going without my sweets. I love chocolate and it is driving me nuts.
Thats ok about the drops. I am really hesitant to try anything knowing it might make me even sicker.
I am looking for a new GI doctor. The one I had didn't care at all. very lousy bedside manner and it added and worsened my depression. I am trying to find a different one.
Thanks for your concern.
Take care!
Trish

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• By lagirl1966
• Posted July 5, 2009 at 11:48 am
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Hi dragonfly,
Do you still have the colitis? It must be horrible. I know the ibs is. I am also sorry that you had the anal cancer in the past. Is is gone now? I hope so.
NO! I am not pregnant thank goodness!! I have been alone for 10 years so it is not possible. My obgyn told me to take the pre natal to make the hpv better. The folic acid in it will do that he said. So hopefully, it is working.
By the way, I do have anal itching, but only once in a while. It usually happens when I have a flareup of diarreah, or if I am sweating really bad down there, and I usually do in the summer time being so heavy. I never had that before I gained the weight. So I know it will hopefully go away. And it is also a symptom of ibs to.
So that is the bad side of it. Although, I have never had bleeding through there and I know that is a sign.
Thanks for replying
Take care,
Trish

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• By Dragonfly23
• Posted July 6, 2009 at 6:28 pm
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lagirl, As I believe i mentioned in my earlier post I am currently dealing with a recurrence of invasive anal cancer and will be going through radiation and chemo yet again!

I still deal occasionally with the residual symptoms of the colitis. Since I could not take the steroids because of the HPV my old boss who was my previous radiation oncologist recommended Paregoric. This is an "old" drug, been around a long time. They used to use it for teething babies amongst other things. One of the things it does is to help bind you up. I got a script for this (though I had to wait as it isn't something the pharmacy typically stocks) but it was worth the wait. This may be something you want to discuss with your doctor. So many doctors don't even know about these good old meds that they used to use back in the day and still work. Aside from teething babies, it is used for diarrhea specifically that is why I thought perhaps this might be an option for you.

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