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HPV shot?
I turn 26 within the next year and at my last doctor appt, my doc strongly suggested I get the hpv shot. I do not currently have hpv and am married and thought there was no reason for me to get the shot. Then I heard some stories of ppl get divorced or widowed and not being protected from hpv. That got me thinking and I talked to my doctor about it, read about all the side effects and decided to get the shot before I turn 26 and am unable to get it. Also my insurance covered it completely so after reading what seemed like minimal side effects, I decided to go through with it.
Now, after my first shot, I am having second thoughts and am thinking of not going through with the second and 3rd shot, especially after reading this: truthaboutgardasil.org I also have a friend who swears she got hpv after getting the shot and another who blames the shot on not being able to have children.
Please help educate me, Im just not sure what information is correct or not.
Re: HPV shot?
I would go through with the other two shots since you got the first. That friend who swears she got HPV after getting the shot I think is incorrect. HPV can lay dormant in your body for many years and can appear at any time. If she found out she has it after getting the shot it's probably because she actually contracted it before her shot and it didn't appear until recently. The HPV vaccine will also not affect your fertility. I am not a medical expert by any means but this is the information I know from my doctor when I went through this.
she didn't say that her friend still got HPV, she said that her friend blames her inability to have children on the HPV shot.
OP-i'd discuss your concerns with your dr before making a decision. i had HPV but opted not to get the shot. HPV generally goes away on its own for most people (not all, but most). i opted not to get the shot though due to financial reasons and the fact that i probably wouldn't be able to finish the shots before my 26th birthday. everything cleared up on it's own though, even before my colposcopy a few months after being DX'd with HPV.
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I have disagree with the above post. I think it was a mistake to get the HPV shot in the first place, but now that you have taken the first dose, i think you should talk to your doctor about not wanting to take the next two. Although i think you should speak to a medical expert that is not your doctor as well bc i'm pretty sure your doctor makes some money by giving you the shot so his advise is bias (i know this bc my doctor was trying to pressure me to get the shot and when i flat out refused, he was very pushy. Usually he is not like this and when i looked at the cost of the shot and the total, it looked like he would make at least $200 from giving me the shot).
The shot had not been properly tested and does not even protect you from all types of HPV and booster shot MAY be needed later. The fact that the pharmaceutical company can't determine IF a booster shoot is needed or not is a red flag that this is not tested properly. Always remember that pharmaceutical companies don't care about you, thier main motive is profit. HPV can be prevented by having smart sex, using protection and knowing the history of your partner. HPV is not like hepatitis, where you can get it from drinking bad water, hpv is preventable without putting unnecessary chemicals in your body.
Excuse me for the rant, i just hate how girls everywhere are getting this shot without doing the proper research.
Mmm yes proper research and bashing the pharmaceutical companies...Right moving on from that post. I am surprised that your doctor is recommending the vaccine as you are 26 and married. If you tested all the women in the US and staggeringly high number ( I believe my doc said 90%+?) would have antibodies to one strain of the virus or another, meaning that they had been exposed to it at one point. The vaccine covers the strains ( I forget the exact number) that cause 95% of cases of HPV.
Regarding this person's complaint that "they don't even know if the boosters are required yet" you should really study the immune system and immunology in depth in order to understand why this may or may not be the case. The human body is so complex that making generalized statements and throwing blame around like that is just silly. I will say this though, I started the series before becoming sexually active, but lucky me, my partner must have had a strain not covered or the vaccine didn't work. Either way, I am glad that my insurance covered the shots for me, but if I were in your situation (married, 26, free of HPV) I probably wouldn't even consider getting the shots. Not a medical professional, but those are my 2 cents.
Actually, one of the problems with HPV is that it can effect a large area of skin that will NOT be covered by a condom. So while a condom can be helpful in preventing a lot of different things, it will not necessarily protect you from HPV.
My understanding is that HPV doesn't ever go away. The abnormal cells that it can cause on your cervix can go away on their own but the HPV itself doesn't go away. I could be wrong though, that's just what I remember but it has been a few years since I went through this. I do agree with consulting your doctor as he/she can give you the best answer.
This! Condoms cannot always protect you from this. That is why it is fairly common among woman. A lot of men have it but they are just carriers with no symptoms and no risk of cervical cancer, obviously.
Edit: Sorry, I meant to quote Kate9999 and respond to her above response.
well, if the abnormal cells go away then what is left of the HPV, if it doesn't go away?
all i know is that i was DX'd with HPV but waited about 5 mos for my colposcopy. when they called with the results (negative) they explained that often times HPV clears up on its own, which had likely been what had happened in my case. most of my friends have had it as well, and all of them were also told that their HPV cleared up. it's so common to have anymore.
if i recall correctly, i believe my dr was supportive of the shot at the time, but felt that since i had been and would continue to be in a serious relationship with the same person that it wasn't all that necessary to get done.
so if someone claims that dr's "push" for the shot because they get kick backs (which, btw, are not allowed anymore), i'd say i'm skeptical of that statement since i've never had a dr "push" the shot on me.
Good luck in your decision. I can understand why you are confused on what you should do. I was not married when I received the vaccination so I did not have to think about it too much. It sounds like though you are concerned with the unforseen circumstances that could happen in your life. Might be better to be make yourself feel better and get it "just in case" but that is a personal decision.
Really? You are married and getting the HPV shot? I can see purchasing life insurance or having a will in case something happens in the future, but protecting yourself against an STD from someone other than you DH? That would never ever cross my mind. What did your DH say about it?
I got the shot when I was 17 ... and I don't have HPV ... The only side affect I had was sore arms, but I also had a total of 4 shots that day, hpv being one, and I went to cheer practice later that night (and I was a base and had to lift a girl heavier than me into the air)
But aside from HPV right or wrong, only you and DH can decide that... I don't regret getting it and the only side affect I had was the sore arms...
Good Luck!!
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Re: pushy doctors.
It's not a kick-back, but it's more $$$ they can bill your insurance. But I'm not against the shot at all if you are not married, younger, etc.
I've not studied the HPV virus specifically, but with viruses in general, once they infect they can go into a lytic or lysogenic cycle (not all viruses can do both fyi). In the lytic cycle i.e. rhinovirus or cold, it infects host cells, pirates their machinery, makes many many more of themselves and lyses the cell releasing all of its offspring to go and do the same to neighboring cells. Viruses that go into a lysogenic cycle infect the cell and insert their genetic material into your chromosomal DNA. They can just lie dormant there or they can start a lytic cycle. An example of this would be herpes: it lies dormant (lysogenic) but every once in a while it goes into a lytic phase when you have your breakouts. I believe that HPV functions this way.
I would talk with your doctor about the potential side effects of only getting one of the three shots before making any decisions.
I'm not going to judge the decision to wait until now to consider getting the shot, as I'm in a similar boat (25, not exposed, married -- only now does my insurance cover the stupid thing) but am considering getting it. It seems silly from the outside, as DH is the only sexual partner I've ever had, but what if, heaven forbid, something happens to him and I end up with other partners down the line? It's not something I like to think about, but I feel like it would be penny-wise, pound-foolish to put it off just because I don't like thinking about it.
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I had HPV after being with the same partner for 3 years, I had been having regular annual exams and was told the same as PP's mentioned: it is a virus and can stay dormant for a long period of time. Dr even said that my mom could have passed it to me at birth and it was just showing up. I had 3 colposcopy's and then had to go in for surgey to have a cone biopsy of my cervix done because I had progressed to severe abnormal cells. During this whole time I was getting the HPV shot, after I had the third in the series I had my first normal pap in 2 years. So in that aspect it worked well for me.
That was 3 years ago and DH and I are now TTC and it is not going so hot. I am not going to blame it on the shot since we have not been to a dr to check counts, levels etc. We are going on our HM in February and decided that if we are pregnant by then we will go get things checked out.
So I say get the shot...you can never be too sure and even though you are married HPV could still show up.
First of all I would like to thank JustAName for her lovely description of how viruses work.
Second your doctor does not get a kick back for giving you a shot- he gets paid as part of your visit if he gives you a shot, but definitely not $200. He would get paid the same for giving you a tetanus booster which I am sure he doesn't push. There is no reason for anyone to push vaccines other than concern for your general health.
There has been years of rigorous testing for the hPV vaccine (as with other vaccines) before they are allowed to give it to the general population. As the packaging states the HPV vaccine (of which there are actually several kinds) covers types 6, 11, 16 and 18. These are the types which most commonly cause genital warts and cause cervical cancer. The CDC would never have allowed it on the market if there was concern it could cause trouble with conceiving or any other serious problem.
Keep in mind that I have met and cared for young women who have had cervical dysplasia due to HPV (which is the precursor to cancer) who have ended up needing LEEPs (a surgery to remove the layers of the cervix which are dysplastic so they won't go on to develop disseminated cancer) and now have either lost pregnancies or have to have their cervix sewn shut to maintain a pregnancy because of it. I have also been in on surgeries of women who have so many warts that they needed to have them surgically cauterized (burned off), knowing they will most likely come back. These are not the norm, but I would not wish this on my worst enemy.
Always take medical advice from a non-professional with a grain of salt. It is terrible that your friend is having problems conceiving, but that means she is also looking for something to blame. There are many many reasons why people have trouble conceiving.
As for your friend who said she got HPV after getting the shot- she did not get it from the shot. As I said above it only covers certain strains so it is possible that she contracted a strain not covered, or she had already been infected and they had not picked it up until after she had been vaccinated. (HPV testing of a pap smear has not been standardized). Or she was exposed from a partner while in the process of receiving the vaccination before developing immunity. Hopefully she will be ok, but it is better that she has protected herself from further insult by being vaccinated against other strains.
As for the issue about needing boosters, the immune system is extremely complex. Your immunity can wear off, especially from a vaccine because it is not like being exposed to the live virus. You need a tetanus booster every 10 years, they also recommend boosters for the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine in elderly . Medicine is a continuously evolving science.
On a more personal note, I was in your exact situation a year ago. I am negative for HPV and I just recently got married. My husband and I clearly have no plans of cheating on each other or getting divorced, but I am a the type of person who would want to be prepared for the worst case scenario. Heaven forbid something happen to my husband and I am in the dating pool again I would not wanted to have missed the opportunity to protect myself (with little cost to me). I got the vaccine as did several of my friends who have gotten married recently. I do not regret my decision at all.
I had talked about this with several doctors and one pediatrician said to me she old her sister to get it and explained her reasoning as are you willing to risk your life? I am going to be a doctor in a few months and will most assuredly be recommending this to my patients.
Ultimately this is your decision, though I would strongly recommend talking with your doctor before completely discontinuing it. Good luck with your decision and always do your own research instead of just listening to family/friends about medical advice. This is your only body so you need to take care of it in the way that you feel is best.