Leep Procedure and Gardasil?

Question

I had a leep procedure a few months ago to remove abnormal cells. My gyno says it was not HPV because the paps and the coloscopy did not show up with HPV. Of course as a female you always think the worst, so I still worry it could be HPV and just not showing up.

Since I had the leep procedure, I should be clear of any abnormal cells. Has anyone been in the same situation as myself? I want to get the HPV vaccine, but I am not sure if it is safe. I will talk to my gyno, but I would like to see if there are any females who have been thru the same thing and can give me advice. Thank you!

IF YOU NEVER HAD THE LEEP OR HPV OR AN ABNORMAL PAP or can relate- please save your conservative responses for someone else. I don't want criticisms of Gardasil. So please save ignorant "Gardasil is the devil" comments.

Answer 1

I had a Leep procedure done about a year and a half ago to remove cancerous cells on my cervix.

I STILL plan on getting the vaccine, but I'll probably wait a few more months. I just want to see how other people react to it before I get it. Many doctors (including my doctor) suggest ALL women get the vaccine, even if they have HPV, like me.

The vaccine protects against 4 kinds of HPV. Most people don't have ALL four types of HPV that the vaccine protects against. So, if a women has 1 kind of HPV that the vaccine covers and she gets the vaccine, theoretically it should prevent her from getting the other 3 kinds she doesn't already have. Texas has already made it mandatory for young girls to get the vaccine and I've read 18 other states are considering making it mandatory too.

It probably wouldn't hurt to get the vaccine. It's always better to be safe then sorry! Good luck!

Answer 2

I had both done. The vaccine is perfectly harmless, atleast it was for me. I haven't had any problems and I just had my follow up from my LEEP procedure and my gyno told me that everything looked great. So, the Gardasil didn't effect the abnormal cell growth or anything.
If you do have HPV, just know that the shot does not protect you from the strain(s) that you already have.
Also, the commercial for Gardasil does a pretty good job of advertising so I hope everyone knows the ACTUAL percentages: yes, 70% of cervical cancer cases are from HPV, BUT only 1% or less of the population who have these high risk strains of HPV will actually progress into full blow cervical cancer. Plus, if you look at the numbers, thats 70% of those who actually have cervical cancer, which is not a huge number. My gyno wanted to make that PERFECTLY clear because the commercial has a tendency to freak everyone out when they really shouldn't be freaking out. Yes, it sucks knowing that you could possibly get cervical cancer, but the way my gyno put it is people have had this and have been living with this virus for years and you are pretty much considered to be normal if you have it. The only reason why it has been becoming such a huge media topic is because there is finally a vaccine to help prevent the high risk strains. If you live a healthy lifestyle, eat right, exercise, take your vitamins, practice safe sex, and have your annual or semi-annual check-ups, you are guaranteed to be perfectly fine. The virus sometimes acts like chicken pox, you have it and then it goes into remission. So, for those of you who have it, if you are reading this, don't get down. You aren't a horrible person, you aren't dirty, nor are you a 'slut'. You are normal. This isn't a normal STI or STD. You get it from SKIN CONTACT. You don't have to have sex to transmit it. So, just relax. Take care of yourselves. Be happy! You are all beautiful people. Sorry for the tangent, but I just felt a need to express the real facts because I have heard people who don't understand the virus make some very negative commentary when they really should do their research before passing judgment on others and making those who have the virus feel down on theirselves. Hope this helps. Take care!

Answer 3

I had the exact same procedure, only I have also had a cold cone and an ECC (no idea what that means, but the cold cone removed a little bit of my cervix). Like you, none of my paps showed HPV, but I am still a little paranoid about it. I have never had any test come back showing HPV and all of my recent tests have come back clear without any abnormal cells at all.

I have just recently asked my doc about the Gardasil vaccine, to see what her opinion was on whether or not I should go ahead and get it, even though I have already had all these issues previously, and the tests never showed any HPV. She says to me that it is always better to be safe than sorry. I am actually scheduled to get my vaccine this Thursday.

I would talk to my doc and see what he or she has to say about your particular situation, as they may have some different advice for you than they would for someone who has never had a LEEP procedure. Of course you are going to want the doc's advice because what you get from some of the people on here is gong to be just stupidity, instead of serious answers. Some people just never learn to grow up. And I know that all these advertisments for this vaccine say "You could be one less," but like you, I know how scary it can be to be one of the ones that may be affected instead of the ones that aren't. My only other advice is to ignore the stupidity you will most definitely get as responses on here as well.

Good luck, I know how you feel.

Answer 4

HPV is a tricky virus to detect - most cervical dysplasia (abnormal cells that show up on a pap and are removed with LEEP, etc) are probably due to a high-risk strain of HPV. But...this isn't a big deal, and this is the very reason you get pap smears.

HPV requires decades to cause cervical cancer. The vast majority of men and women infected with a given strain eradicate it within a couple years. In those few women who have immune systems unable to eradicate a particular high-risk strain, cervical cancer can develop after a decade or two. The dysplasia comes first, so removing it removes the problem before it starts.

As for the vaccine: get it. It covers the two most common high-risk strains (account for 70% of cervical cancer) and the two most common low-risk wart-causing strains (90% of genital warts). If your dysplasia was due to one of the two strains include in the vaccine protection, you'll still have better protection against the other, as well as the wart-causing varieties.

The first answer in this thread is misguided at best and needs to look up "placebo" again for his/her future reference.

Answer 5

i have the hpv that caused mild dysplasia. and with me after the did teh byopsy the froze my cervix. if im not mistaken teh leep is where they cut off the neck of the cervixz [ im not sure}. which if they do you wont be able to have children. so if i was you i was ask about haveing the cervix froze. they did mine 10 yers ago and im now healthy. i had to return for paps every 3 monhsfor a while after wards but every thing is fine after they did it. not i go every yer fo paps and they are normal. so check out what your options are with your doc. and get it taken care of now dont wait. the longer you wait teh worse it will be. take care and good luck. im sure every thing will be fine. it was for me.and i was scared also and that is normal. but your doing the right thing by getting it caught in early stages. be sure to ask about haveing your cervix froze.

Answer 6

All I know is that this Gardasil hype is a bunch of crap. It doesn't protect you from cancer or all types of viruses SO if you get the vaccine, you're not even fully protected. Their whole campaign is "you COULD be one less" How about they stop trying to instill fear in our society to make money off a placebo shot? Think about it. If you still got cancer they would say "Well Gardasil probably protected you from SOME viruses, but not this one in particular" Seriously now. Declare your health. We speak particles into existence. A little T.D. Jakes here- Life and Death is in the power of the tongue.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

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Answer 9

there are some 80 know versions of HPV. If you are worried about HPV, take neem leaf or bark capsules, turmeric capsules and milk thistle. there is not room here for me to tell you how it all works, but it does. :-)