u/Janus_700

This really pisses me off
.. Why wait until people keep spreading dangerous strains of HPV and not lower the chance from the start?? 😤 I wasn’t really aware of the HPV health risks only until I became 22 y.o… if you don’t educate yourself, no one will do it for you

Hello,
My hair doesn’t look good after two days if I don’t use detox shampoo, since i have to constantly remove the build up of minoxidil and my scalp is very oily. I use Avalon Organics Thickening Biotin shampoo, because it has very good ingredients for my transplanted hair and it gives a moderate cleansing.

It’s important to note that in every wash, I use Dove Intensive Shampoo after a regular/detox shampoo as my “conditioner”, and it works wonders because of the silicones in it (can’t achieve such good results with lightweight leave-in conditioner)

I wanted to share my experience because reading posts here helped me a lot during some really dark months.

Last June, I noticed a few very small whitish bumps around my anus. I honestly didn’t think much of them and kept shaving and irritating the area. Over time, three of them grew larger and became noticeable. About two months ago, I completely freaked out.

A dermatologist diagnosed them as genital warts caused by HPV. Two weeks ago I had cryotherapy done and started using Aldara (imiquimod 5%) cream. The larger warts are already shrinking, which gives me hope. There are still a few smaller ones that weren’t fully frozen because the dermatologist didn’t notice them properly, so I’ll probably get another treatment session at my next appointment.

Before all this, I was sexually active and honestly didn’t think much about HPV. In my mind, being sexually active made me feel wanted and gave me a sense of self-worth, especially because I’m gay and live alone. When I first noticed the warts around December 2025, I stopped all sexual and intimate activity completely.

Since then, I’ve gone through months of anxiety, isolation, shame, and fear. Learning that HPV can take years for the immune system to suppress made me feel trapped and hopeless at times. What confused me even more is that I got the Gardasil 9 vaccine when I was 22, but I didn’t complete all the shots before becoming sexually active, so maybe that played a role. Or maybe there’s no way to know exactly where the virus came from.

For a while, I felt defeated and worthless.

But strangely… this experience also became a gift in some ways.

I’m 27, healthy, don’t smoke, rarely eat fast food, work out 4 times a week, and eat well. Recently I also started taking multivitamins, eating more vegetables like bell peppers, and I’m planning to try AHCC mushroom supplements because I’ve read they may support the immune system.

More importantly, this experience forced me to confront my mental health and my relationship with myself.

After all the negative thoughts and scary stories I read online, I realized I have to embrace the healing journey instead of fighting myself every day. Years ago I read The Secret, and while I know not everyone believes in that kind of thinking, I do believe life sometimes pushes us through hardships so we can grow into a better version of ourselves.

I’m not extremely religious, but this period strengthened my belief in hope, goodness, God, and in becoming more intentional about life. Maybe this is the universe pushing me toward seeking a deeper monogamous relationship with real emotional connection instead of chasing validation through sex.

Once the warts are fully gone and hopefully don’t recur, I want to allow myself another year focused on healing and giving my immune system time to fully suppress the virus before entering a monogamous relationship. Instead of seeing that as “lost time,” I’m trying to see it as a period of growth, self-respect, and becoming the kind of partner I would want to be with myself.

I’m still healing physically and mentally, but I’m beginning to understand that my self-worth does not come from external validation.

To anyone struggling with HPV right now: you are not alone, and your life is absolutely not over.

I hope you all embrace your healing journey too.