Healing HPV/Cervical Dysplasia Naturally
Preface: If you don’t already know, my husband and I travel full time in our truck camper across the United States. We almost never go to the doctor’s office – only if we have an emergency and then it’s usually urgent care wherever we are. Our health insurance is only accepted in Maryland. We had just come “home” to Maryland after a 4 month trip to the Southwest.
2 months before the next road trip
In March 2021, I went in for a routine pap smear with my doctor under the University of Maryland Medical System. I don’t have a great relationship with any doctors because I’ve switched health insurances twice in the five years I lived in Maryland and only go once a year for my well woman exam. The results of the pap came back abnormal (see photos below) and was listed as:
HPV MRNA E6-E7 detected
EPITHELIAL CELL ABNORMALITY
ATYPICAL SQUAMOUS CELLS
A nurse called me to *very briefly* explain that I had human papilloma virus (HPV) and that I needed to come in for a colposcopy (biopsy of the cervix).
I knew I had gotten the Gardasil HPV vaccine when I was younger, but I didn’t know what HPV was, if it could be cured or how I had gotten it if I was vaccinated. A lot of questions were unanswered, I made an appointment and hung up.
I went two months before having the biopsy done, this is when Tyler and I got married in Florida.
In May 2021, I went in for my colposcopy with Dr. Frinjari out of Baltimore, Maryland. He took two samples of my cervix and sent them off to the lab. Soon enough, I received the results to my phone app and received a call from his office. This is what they read:
Biopsy A –
SQUAMOUS MUCOSA WITH LOW GRADE SQUAMOUS INTRAEPITHELIAL LESION (LSIL/CIN1)
Testing for HPV mRNA E6/E7 was positive.
Biopsy B –
CERVICAL MUCOSA AT TRANSFORMATION ZONE EXHIBITING HIGH GRADE SQAMOUS INTRAEPITHEIAL LESION (CIN3)
Strong positive staining with the CIN3.
What does this mean? Once you are HPV positive, they determine which level of cervical dysplasia (aka pre-cancerous cells) you are, that scale is CIN1, CIN2, CIN3, then carcinoma in situ. I was told by my care team that CIN3 is very rare for a 27 year old, otherwise healthy woman and that you don’t usually develop CIN3 for 10 years after you are diagnosed with HPV the first time. If you are diagnosed with HPV and do nothing, then it can progress from there. I was told that it would be just a couple years before I would have cervical cancer and worst-case scenario would need a hysterectomy.
But wait! There’s a really fast and easy cure to all of this! Just cut out the bad cells. That procedure is called a LEEP (Loop electrosurgical excision procedure). The nurse explaining my results to me informed me that it is a ten-minute, outpatient procedure and there are basically no risks. It’s “so common we do it all the time.”
Paper cuts make me nauseous, so I did a ton of research on what the risks actually were and same with the benefits. I read a handful of books and stayed up night after night learning everything I could. This is what I learned:
- Thousands of women are scarred, physically and mentally, from the procedure and their voices are not heard by their doctors. Some never heal.
- CIN pre-cancerous cells can re grow after the procedure. If you have the LEEP done 3 times, you typically have a hysterectomy.
- Removing pieces of your cervix directly affect if you will be able to conceive/carry a child.
- You can heal it yourself and get to the root of the problem instead of scrape it away.
To LEEP or Not to LEEP
Fast forward to my “pre procedure consult” with Dr Frinjari a couple of weeks later. I got the feeling he was in a rush. He needed me to sign the consent form and get out of there. I was really nervous to bring up any type of alternative healing methods. I went in with a plan which was to tell him I would not be having the procedure; I would change my diet and vitamin regime, wait 6 months and then come back and have another colposcopy (biopsy) and hopefully get his blessing. He said to me “this isn’t something you can heal on your own. You can’t just take vitamin D and it will go away.” He said he will not be doing another biopsy on me and that I can go see another doctor. He gave me a referral to a gynecologic oncologist (cancer doctor – nice).
I walked out feeling good that I stuck to my beliefs, but also really shitty and scared. So I made an appointment at the oncologist’s office.
Long story short: the oncologist was the nicest doctor I had ever met, I felt safe with her and like she understood my concerns. She did not examine me herself, but only got my records from Dr Frinjari’s biopsy. She hesitantly said I could wait 6 months and then come back to her. So, I made an appointment for a LEEP/colposcopy in 6 months where she would first do the biopsy and determine if I needed the procedure right then.
We left for our road trip with plans that I would fly back to Maryland for my procedure. From May to the end of October, I put myself on a very intense, strict and expensive vitamin regime. I took bits and pieces from what I had self-taught myself in my research and came up with my dosages. I also switched to a 100% organic diet, started meditating and added more variety of vegetables and fruits – no meat.
Long long story short:
A few days before I would fly from Las Vegas to Maryland, the hospital sent me a quote for the procedure of anywhere from $6,000 – $9,000. We were not expecting that and decided to have another colposcopy, out of pocket, done locally in Vegas.
She took one look at my cervix and said, “there’s no signs of pre-cancerous cells here.” See abbreviated results in photos below.
Wait what. None?
She did two biopsies, in the same areas that Dr Frinjari did. They came back normal.
Imagine my relief!!!
But now I really have a lot of questions….
Did I cure myself?
Did I never have CIN3?
Did my biopsy get mixed up with someone else’s?
Would the doctor in Maryland still do the LEEP if I went?
Did the Maryland medical system just want to take advantage of me?
Either way, shame on Dr Frinjari for telling me there was no way out of it.
I really don’t know. I want to believe that I healed myself in that short 5 ½ months because both my original pap and biopsy came back positive. But anyway, I went through a whirlwind of stress and anxiety and a ton of money spent but I would do it all again for the chance that I would heal naturally.
What Worked For Me
If you’re battling with an HPV/cervical dysplasia diagnosis and want to escape the LEEP procedure, you need to put your immune system on overdrive! Here is my exact regime (not medical advice):
It should be noted that I was 27 years old, had just had the most stressful year of my life, was pescatarian for 5 years, exercised a couple times a week at most, and did not have any preexisting conditions.
1. I got off the birth control pill immediately. It’s arguably one of the worst things you can do for your reproductive health.
2. Switch as many fruits, vegetables and other food items to organic. Absolutely no alcohol, no sugary drinks. Cancer thrives on sugar.
3. Try looking up “healing meditations” on Spotify, YouTube, or Insight Timer app. I also did a sleep or healing meditation a few times a week using Insights Timer (highly recommend this app).
4. Vitamins: (dollar amount is per bottle)
Upon waking up –
AHCC (2 pills) no food for 15 minutes (this brand specifically, a crazy expensive miracle mushroom blend that literally kills cancer cells) $70
With breakfast –
Green tea supplement 500mg (antioxidant) $18
B12/Methyl Folate (NOT FOLIC ACID) 1000mcg/800mcg (cervical health hero) $26
Lemon balm 500mg (stress/anxiety reducer) $19
Vitamin C 1000mg (antioxidant) $19
Astragalus 500mg (stress/anxiety reducer) $9
Vitamin D 3000 IU (immune system booster) $11
With dinner –
Multivitamin 1 dose (have with your fattiest meal and not with your other B12) $20
Turmeric with BioPerine 2 pills 1500mg (calms inflammation) $21
Indole 3 Carbinol (I3C) 200mg (antioxidant, cellular support, liver support, cancer prevention, an amazing supplement that is basically equivalent to eating 50 heads of broccoli and cauliflower a day or something crazy like that) $30
Vitamin E 400 IU (with fattiest meal, important to have “mixed tocopherols”) (antioxidant) $14
Probiotic (gut/immune health) $27
Before bed, at least 2 hours after last meal –
AHCC 2 pills
5. I would also try to eat 3 Brazil nuts per day for selenium and a bag of carrots a day for vitamin A (that lasted 1 month..)
6. I never missed more than 1 day of vitamins in this 5 ½ month period, I didn’t drink any alcohol at all, I tried to stay positive and I reduced all stress with the help of my husband.
7. Books I Read:
Beyond The Pill by Dr. Jolene Brighten
Painting a Target on HPV by Dr Nicholas LeRoy ***Highly recommend!!
The Anti HPV Diet by Sara Ashley
If I had CIN1, I probably would have only purchased the Papillex all in one pill, but because of the severity, I wanted to go full strength on all supplements.
Any questions or comments, feel free to reach out! I’m most active on Instagram @outdoorsbae.