HPV, Mirena

[LillianVerner]

I was recently diagnosed with HPV and Chlamydia. Now I'm not one to take things at face value so I asked as many questions as I could think, of but the nurse on the phone was rather rude so I'll ask here. I asked the nurse if I had HPV, and she told me I HAD been exposed to a strain (one that must not cause warts because I havent experienced any and my obgyn didnt notice any in the exam). I told her i was aware that Chlamydia, along with Gonorrhea can cause an abnormal pap and the appearance of low grade dysplasia. she said "Well that may very well be true, but you need to come in for a colposcopy to be sure it isn't something cancerous". So here's my question. Does a pap smear diagnose Dysplasia? And does having Dysplasia mean that I absolutely 100% have HPV? Or do nurses assume when they see dysplasia that it is automatically HPV?

[Hollyv]

A Pap smear can be normal or maybe different grades of abnormal, the lowest is ASCUS and it means Atypical cells of Undetermined Significance which means they are just not sure if it is normal or not. A Pap test is a screening test (usually done every 1-3 years) and then the colposcopy is a diagnostic test where they visually look at the cervix and then take biopsies to determine if there is any abnormality. Chlamydia can cause a Pap to appear mildly abnormal and so can any minor infection or inflammation. If your Pap came back as LSIL which means Low Squamous Intraepithelial lesion this often means HPV (not always but in approx 80% of cases) and often clears up within a number of months. Pap smears are not 100% accurate so it also could appear to be mildly abnormal when it is actually normal—there are 4-5 million abnormal Paps a years and only 11,000 cases of cervical cancer. HPV is very common and cervical cancer is very, very rare (and takes 10-20 years to progress even in the rare cases, usually in women in their late 40’s that have not had a Pap in 5 years or more). You might want to wait until the Chlamydia has cleared up with antibiotics and then have a repeat Pap smear in 6 months before having an invasive procedure such as a colposcopy. The only way to truly diagnose dysplasia is with a colposcopy. Pap smear results also mean different things at different ages; below 21, below 30 and then 30 and older. How old are you?

[chrisncak]

Holly, have you seen any evidence that shows inflammatory influences from IUDs leading to ASCUS?

[SkaterDave]

Unfortunately, hollyv hasn't posted here in years.

[Griever3000]

Usually there is another poster here that goes by the name "Holly" shes good with pap and female issues that deal with dysplasia.

However until she decided to reply t your thread ill give you my 2 cents.

Pap smears from my understanding do diagnose dysplasia which are any abnormal changes in the cervix, a coloscopy helps further to see if there is anything that really is dangerous in your cervix. Having a positive HPV test or an abormal pap smear does not mean at all that you have HPV. Some hormonal changes or age can cause dysplasia. So relax and take it one step at a time.

I would see a gynocologist and on the side take care of the chlamydia with antibiotics quick. Good luck