Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

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Thelma
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 8:51 pm

Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by Thelma »

Nice, eh?

Is it just me that's plagued with various strains of the HPV virus? I've got the world's vilest feet and a huuuuuge wart on one finger. I have also had abnormal smears for as long as I've been immuno-suppressed, which is basically ten years. The warts are actually better than they were - I did have about ten on my fingers but am down to just one now.

Having seen a dermatologist (granted not for a few years) I know they're basically untreatable :( and my gynae appointments tell me I've nothing to worry about, but they'll keep me on their books until I achieve the impossible and have 2 consecutive normal smears.

Does anyone have any tips for getting rid/coping? The wart tends to bleed from time to time as it gets caught on things when I'm busy. Plasters aren't practical for all the time. My feet hurt a lot.

I know none of it's serious, but it does all bother me at least a bit from time to time.
Transplanted 31st July 2012 - Vasculitis survivor
AmandaClare
Posts: 658
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 1:58 pm
Location: London

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by AmandaClare »

I have some of that - my hands are never quite free of warts and I've got chronic verrucae. No abnormal smears yet, thank goodness.

Lots of sympathy and no solutions from me I'm afraid. Could you see a chiropodist about your feet regularly, to cut the verrucae back?

x
Alports Syndrome
Dialysis 1986, aged 14
Transplant 1988, still going strong!
Baby boy 2010
Thelma
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 8:51 pm

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by Thelma »

I probably could see a chiropodist. I have an involuted toenail as well which causes a lot of pain, but you know what it's like with the zillions of appointments... sometimes I just can't face any more. I want to get my eye squint sorted too, but just can't be doing with all the faff of more hospital appointments.
Transplanted 31st July 2012 - Vasculitis survivor
AmandaClare
Posts: 658
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 1:58 pm
Location: London

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by AmandaClare »

Very well put about appointments. I neglect my eyes, hearing aids and other routine things because there just isn't the time or energy for more medical trips. Even put off getting my hair done because it feels like another thing being done to me.
Alports Syndrome
Dialysis 1986, aged 14
Transplant 1988, still going strong!
Baby boy 2010
webster
Posts: 103
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:34 am

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by webster »

I suffered lots of warts on my fingers/hands years ago. My grandmother told me an old fashioned remedy, 'wee' on them. I didnt do that, but when my children where babies and wore terry's nappies I would rinse them before washing and my warts just disappered and to this day never had anymore. It must of been the acid in the urine that burnt them off!!!

Sometime old wives tales work!!
Jessica
Posts: 53
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2011 6:02 am
Location: North East England

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by Jessica »

Hi

My daughter also has warts on her hands, legs and toes and 2 huge verrucas. Theyre really not very nice and yes shes been told that theres not a lot they can do apart from freeeze the warts off, which she doesnt want to do - painful. Plus it would take for ever due to the amount that shes got and yes, in addition to all her other appointmentsit becomes to much.

She goes to the chiropodist but doesnt make much differance. So any good tips would be a great idea.

Will tell her about the WEE!!!!!!!!!

X
Thelma
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 8:51 pm

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by Thelma »

I went through months and months of freezing on the warts on my fingers. It just hurt a lot and didn't do any good. Apart from one, they just cleared up in their own time at random.

Now you mention it, I also neglect getting my hair done. To keep on top of all appointments is a full time job!
Transplanted 31st July 2012 - Vasculitis survivor
sporti
Posts: 355
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 7:51 pm

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by sporti »

Try duct tape for your verruca. I know it sounds crazy but for some reason it appears to work. I keep getting veruccas ever since been on steroids and the freezing method sometimes works but the duct tape seems to be the most successful. Must be something to do with no light or air getting to them?? Another one is lemon oil.
ccwright
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:42 pm

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by ccwright »

Thelma, i have had these on and off for 25 years.

Sometimes they go of their own accord.

Once however, i did go to the London School of Chiropody as the were all over my feet. One of the older ladies there said she hadn't seen anything like it since the war!

They actually wrote me up in a Chiropodist magazine.

The feet aren't bad now but unfortunately my right hand is very bad. I have tried an immense number of treatments, all to no avail i'm afraid.

I hope yours just go as they often seem to.

Chris
dkjane
Posts: 309
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:20 pm
Location: USA

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by dkjane »

http://www.wikihow.com/Freeze-a-Wart-Wi ... d-Nitrogen

Do not do this yourself!!!!!!

However, since my transplant, I have had warts removed by this method..it is quick and effective!
Have had 3 fatty tumors removed too..all with a large dose of antibiotic as precaution!

Have tested positive once for the "nasty" HPVs...they left the body after 3 month.
Gyn. said they can stay much longer.
I am just wondering if I have had the CMV virus by now. 5 y. after transplant???
Prickly
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:09 pm

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by Prickly »

I've had a significant number of warts since childhood. They were all over my hands.

I have the most horrible memories of sitting on bench in our garden (as the fresh air prevented me from fainting so easily) as my father would literally scour them with a pumice stone. After this he would paint on 'Compound W' and this would leave a white emulsion over the wart until the process was repeated the following night. This was very distressing and eventually I managed to get my mum to have me referred to the hospital.

At hospital I had the larger warts removed using liquid nitrogen. When applied it feels very cold, to the point of burning, and then a blister appeared under the wart. When the blister bursts, the wart was meant to 'drop off'. The reality is that I now have scars just as big as the warts....indeed it shows the footprint of the wart as the liquid nitrogen didn't go deep enough to remove the 'roots'. I now have some very unattractive scars instead of those warts.

Apart from this, I have literally thousands of tiny warts all under the surface of the palms of both my hands. These have never gone away and I've ow had them for over 25 years.

I've had on abnormal smear because of the HPV virus. Not sure if it helps but at my last smear a few weeks ago, the nurse asked me for consent for an additional part of the smear test. She explained that if they see 'signs' of abnormality in your smear then they then test it further because not all strains of the HPV virus are relevant to cervical cancer. It means that even if your smear first seems abnormal, it may avoid you needing to go and get a second smear done to eliminate this.

Michele x
Prickly
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:09 pm

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by Prickly »

Here is the specific info taken from the www.patient.co.uk website that relates to the new changes to the smear test.

Regards
Michele x


The future of cervical screening
The Sentinel Implementation Project is being run by scientists interested in the usefulness of HPV testing on LBC samples taken for routine cervical screening. It is being carried out at 6 centres in England. HPV tests are being done on two groups of women:

Women who have a borderline or mild dyskaryosis result on cervical screening. This is being called HPV triage. The idea is to reduce the number of repeat tests a woman needs to have, and to reduce the anxiety of being called for colposcopy unnecessarily. Both of these cause women a lot of worry. Only about 1 in 5 of these women ends up needing treatment for abnormal cells. The idea is to test these women for HPV. If a woman does not have a high-risk strain of HPV (that is, a strain proven to be associated with the development of cervical cancer), she is very unlikely to need treatment. These women could continue with routine screening. Women found to have high-risk strains of HPV would have immediate colposcopy.
Women who have had treatment for CIN at colposcopy. Here the HPV testing would be a test for cure. After treatment, a repeat cervical screen would be performed, and tested for abnormal cells (as routine) and HPV. If both tests were negative (ie, no abnormal cells and no HPV), women could return to the normal screening programme (instead of needing yearly smears for 10 years).
The separate leaflets (mentioned above) dealing with cervical cancer and HPV immunisation provide more information.
Thelma
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 8:51 pm

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by Thelma »

I had a letter this week saying pretty much that ^. I'm going to have a blood test for "hpv" (all of them?) in six months, with a view to hopefully being discharged!! I seriously seriously hope I can be... after all it's coming up for eleven years of this conservative approach, and while it doesn't cause me anxiety, it really bloody gets on my nerves!
Transplanted 31st July 2012 - Vasculitis survivor
Muscler
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:53 pm

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by Muscler »

Hi, I was searching for info and came across this old conversation.

Has anyone had genital warts after transplant? I think I have one and don't know whether just to go to the sti clinic. Or what? My dermatology appt isn't till June next year. I've only been intimate with very long-term partner.

I get other warts, currently a few on my knee and hands. If it's what I think will it be as stubborn as those ones?

Not sexy. Thanks for any info.
Chris Wright
Posts: 138
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2006 9:21 pm

Re: Warts, verrucae and abnormal smears

Post by Chris Wright »

I posted above about my warts a few years ago.

This is a catch up.

There is a treatment called DCP:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10468802

which is not widely available in the UK, even though the drug is very cheap, i think it's the cost of training that might be an issue.

For those who can get referred to King's Hospital in Denmark Hill, they do it there. You have to be referred to the normal dermatology clinic first, and they will then refer you on. It cleared a huge number of warts of mine quite quickly and painlessly. It may work on genital warts, worth a try maybe!

Having done six sessions of DCP, i then went on to some sessions of bleomycin:

http://journalssc.com/en/articles/14673.html

This is a drug that is normally used to treat cancers, so it is pretty specialist stuff. It did involve a little discomfort, but took away a large number of the remaining ones.

Having had my feet full of them and about 12 to 15 on my hands, i am now down to 3 or 4 on my hands, none on my feet, and feel much more comfortable.

My guess is that neither your GP's, nor your renal unit knows much about these treatments, so if you can find them near you, get yourself referred.

I hope this is of help.

Chris
Transplanted Sept 1981

Still enjoying life like a 21 year old, or younger!
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