Although Alexa Ray Joel did not specifically name the boyfriend who gave her an STD, it is pretty easy to figure out who it is because she let on piece of important information slip out during an interview with XO Jane. She said she was living with the guy who gave it to her. The only person she has lived with is Jimmy Riot. They met when she was 19 and he was 34 and were together for 5 years. When he left her she also attempted suicide. For those of you interested in dating Alexa in the future she says that she has no symptoms and that he gave her the HPV virus which is common, and there are usually no symptoms, but every once in awhile you can get a bad case and end up getting some nasty looking things in the genital area. After living with a musician for five years who was always on the road I think she can probably consider herself thankful she did not get something much worse.
Tempted to look up what "nasty looking things in the genital area" are, but... I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteThis is why the vaccination is so important, glad that now they recommend it for boys also.
ReplyDeleteNow if that gel for HIV that works on the Herp also, granted it's only 60 % affective for the Herp but thats better than nothing.
I read about it in the N.Y. Times, I think the company is Giliad ...trying to remember...they have been using it in Africa because HIV among straight women is epidemic .
For HIV its a pill but that form didn't work on the Herp, the Gel applied to the genital area is the effective one. Now they need approval in this country. It shouldn't be long.
I hate to comment here, but I thought most women had the HPV virus and as far as I know NOONE has ever experienced "nasty things down there". Sounds like she may have caught something else that starts with "H".
ReplyDeleteTMI Alexa, TMI
ReplyDeleteHPV is crazy common, and doesn't tend to have symptoms, but it can lead to fertility problems and cancer.
ReplyDeleteHPV is NOT the herp, and considering it often causes cervical cancer, I fail to see how she should consider herself thankful. Catch something that causes cancer of the penis Enty and then we'll talk, mkay?
ReplyDeleteYour body will often naturally clear up the hpv virus. It is extremely common, so much so that I think it causes more fear than good in screening for it with every pap smear. If that is all she got, no biggie. She strikes me as desperate and dumb in that picture, so I wouldn't be surprised if she were making a mountain out of a molehill for some spotlight time
ReplyDeleteEnty, HPV doesn't cause "nasty looking things in the genital area". Do a little research.
ReplyDeleteHuge numbers of people have HPV, which is why the vaccine that Michele Bachmann fears is being recommended. Men often carry the virus without symptoms. It seems likely that if you live with someone for five years, you're going to have HPV if they do. Is she claiming that he was tested for HPV and then concealed his positive status from her? That's weird. What man is ever tested for HPV?
ReplyDelete@Barton:
ReplyDeleteNone are tested. In fact NO ONE is or ever has been tested. I believe HPV and other viruses that you live with has been around for decades, but the pharmaceutical companies needed to make it an issue and put out this vaccine, which if I'm not mistaken only prevents certain strands of the virus therefore renders the vaccine useless for the most part.
My sister has HPV and she just had pre-cancerous cells after 2 abnormal paps... Very scary. I don't know much about the vaccine, but if it helps prevent the spread of HPV, I hope it becomes very common.
ReplyDeleteUh people, HPV can cause genital warts. So yah, there can be nasty little things down there.
ReplyDeleteHPV gave me cancer. Sometimes it's innocuous and sometimes it hits you hard.
I got HPV and the nasty genital warts that come along with it from my first husband. And I was a virgin when we met. Unfortunately, he was a carrier for that and Herpes. Just about ruined my life at the age of 20. Had to have surgery twice to get rid of them, have a ridiculously high chance of getting cervical cancer as well. I only had one bad Herpes outbreak and then never had another one. Some of y'all are pretty uninformed and should not make comments about diseases you know nothing about. I did get my 13 year old daughter the HPV shots, but my son was already sexually active so it was too late for him. He is the condom king knowing what happened to me. I would not wish my experience on anyone.
ReplyDelete@*girl -- thaaaaank you! HPV can cause some nasty genital or throat warts. A lot of people can be asymptomatic and it clears up on it's own in less than 2 years for a lot of people, but if you get the nasty strain...it can be a huge ordeal.
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of misinformation, too.
ReplyDeletePap smears are useful because they identify cervical cancer and precancerous changes in the cervical cells.
It is a simple test that can be performed when you have your yearly pelvic exam. It can detect cervical cancer and pre-cervical changes at an early stage when they are most treatable. That is always a good thing. I don't see how pap smears generate hysteria around HPV.
I was able to get the vaccine. I am happy I did.
ReplyDelete@MISCH-Does this HIV gel work on cold sores too? I have a terrible time with them on my lips/nose.
HPV is the cause of much distress in this world. Maybe Alexa was hoping to publicize the dangers of the virus and it got spun in a self-pitying way? It makes her sound accusatory and petulant, but that could just be how the reporters wrote it up.
ReplyDeleteOn an inappropriate note, I once was looking for the famous 19th century illustration of "syphilis," showing a skeleton that held a mask in front of its face in such a way that the skeleton appeared to be a beautiful young woman (but in fact was the scourge of London and Paris). So I typed "syphilis" into Google and did an image search. The results knocked me off my chair! Don't do it! Don't look up parasites, genital lesions, herpes, or any STD or disease of the genitals with your "safe" filter off. Learn from my errors.
Lauren, don't know because it's not approved here yet.
ReplyDeleteI rarely get a cold sore only when I'm really run down but ABREVA zaps it quickly...much cheaper at Costco.
Lauren-
ReplyDeleteDo you take Lysine? If not,start taking at least 2000 mg of Lysine supplements daily.
You get a wart on your junk and THEN you go ask the Dr. WTH???
ReplyDeleteMen are allowed to receive a small bottle of podophyllin (sp?) and apply it themselves.
For women it can involve a very painful freezing-off procedure.
But the situation appears to eventually go away very often, EVEN if subsequent partners have had the warts before.
Barton Fink - thanks, of course I had to look LOL If that doesn't make a person want to be celebate then I don't know what will
ReplyDeleteWhen I was stationed in a foreign country the first thing they did was make us watch an STD slide slow and the HPV ones were absolutely horrific.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand, while there are MANY strains of HPV, they all fall into one of two types: the less dangerous type that causes genital warts or the more dangerous type that has no visible symptoms, but causes cervical displasia - this is the condition that leads to pre-cancerous and cancerous cells. As someone who has had two colposcopies to biopsy abnormal cells, it isn't something to just shrug off, but at the same time, 90% of the women I know have also experienced it, so it's extremely common.
ReplyDeleteAgreed there are various types of HPV and it is actually VERY common. My doc told me it was rampant on campus when I went to University and blamed the football players ;) Told me I had a very mild case (cough*footballplayer*cough*) and I've since had two LEEP surgeries to remove pre-cancerous cells from my cervix...more preventative than anything. Anyway, I've never had any "bumps" or "warts" and am otherwise symptom free. Just not a big deal.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I'll have any future child get the vaccine or not....it has apparently had nasty side effects in some subjects, including paralysis.
As others have already mentioned, the HPV vaccine only protects against some strains of HPV.
ReplyDeleteGood for Alexa for being honest about this. Most people -- some of them through no fault of their own because of an unfaithful partner -- wind up with a STD at some point in their lives. And often these STDs can lead to some serious problems if left untreated, so it's not something to ignore.
Alexa is really lucky that's all she got from her boyfriend! Not to minimize her upset, but thank god she's not HIV+ as a result of his cheating.
Exactly! I personally made the choice not to get myself or my daughter vaccinated. I, too have heard some "nasty" side affects to it.
ReplyDeleteMy paternal grandmother passed away in 1956 from cervical cancer before Merck gave it a name and offered a vaccine. My mother, my sisters and myself have all had issues with cancer, pre-cancer cells/displasia. I continue to get my yearly checkups (which in my opinion is the best method so far to deal with this issue).
@MISCH- I have never had much success with abreva. I think half of it is a mental thing. I will get a flare up about 6 times a year. I have switched to tea tree oil and aloe vera gel.
ReplyDeleteand @Taylor- Lysine has actually made the outbreaks worse before.
I had a doctor prescribe me Valtrex. Yes, that Valtrex, and it does seem to help with the severity of them. I always keep a cold sore kit in my purse, because you just never know. I picked up the virus in pre school. Nice huh?
Either way, I have the worst strain of it that my doctor or anyone else I know has ever seen. They suck and manage to ruin my life...and there is nothing I can do about it.
I read a study a few years ago that said that most drug companies were actually actively trying to not find a cure or a medicine that would eliminate them because they make so much money "treating" them. Sad huh?
Lauren - you didn't "read a study". You read anti-medical propaganda. The urban legend that doctors don't want to find a cure for various diseases is enthusiastically promoted by the companies peddling snake oil cures. They have a financial interest in persuading you to put your hopes in their products, instead of getting the best treatment currently available.
ReplyDeleteThink about it. Doctors and researchers get cancer and other horrible diseases, and their loved ones do, too. Do you REALLY think they'd stand by and watch them suffer instead of trying to use their knowledge to try to find a cure, or at least a treatment?
It is amazing how much incorrect information there s out there about both HPV and the HOV vaccine.
ReplyDeleteI am not going to go into it all (I worked in a capacity on the trials for the vaccine so I know a lot) but I will give a brief synopsis:
There are over 114 strains of HPV
4 of those strains, thus far, have been identified as those that may lead to cancer.
One of the four strains that may lead to cancer, one, is responsible for the majority of HPV cancers.
The vaccine protects against some strains of HPV.
The vaccine only protects against 2 of the 4 HPV strains associated with cancer, one of those is the strain that leads to most HPV related cancers.
HPV is transferred from skin to skin. It is not only a sexually transmitted disease.
A condom may not protect you.
Women may get cancer from HPV, men are carriers and may get warts (this may change as we all know cancers mutate, who knows?)
Many of the strains are harmless and will go away on their won but others may cause cancer. I am not sure if they can or will identify the strain if you have one pap with abnormal cells. I am not sure if they can tell you it is one of the bad strains until you already have cancer. That is the reason yearly paps and aggressive treatment of abnormal cells is so important.
You cannot totally rely in vaccine or condoms.
I suppose you could both be tested but i a it sure of the incubation period. I have heard that a person can carry it for three years and be asymptomatic, however that is an unsubstantiated rumor.
When i started research on this over a decade ago it scared me to death. I had never even heard of this disease and I thought condoms were essentially vaginal armor. Not so much.
(sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors)
I wondered what happened to Jane Pratt from Sassy! She has a website. Thanks Enty for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteMost women will get one or more types of "high-risk" (potentially cancer-causing) HPV at least once in their lives. The body's immune system usually fights off the infection, and most women with HPV never suffer from any problems as a result.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thehpvtest.com/about-hpv/cervical-cancer-faqs/?LanguageCheck=1
I couldn't believe she revealed this, honestly.
ReplyDeleteOT: I didn't realize Jane Pratt had a website either!? I just read a hilarious post called "Dogs Make You Stupid" on there.