Warts

[Hm15]

Hi

I wondered if anyone had any success getting rid of warts and whether anyone had found them to get better once they started treatment and if so which treatment they are on.

Thanks!

[annmcgowan]

Hi I had a wart on my finger. My GP used cryotherapy which worked. It did take a long time because of my CLL.Ann

[Shedman in reply to annmcgowan]

My understanding of cryo for warts is that it does one of two things..1. Damage.. which damage to a bunch of cells attracts the attentions of a variety of lymphocytes to clean up the damaged cells.. maybe more..

2. Sometimes, to blister clean under the entire wart, removing in entirety regardless of immune health.

My bias: a friend with a variety of warts and verrucae.. nothing touched them.. seemed to have lasted a decade.. sadly the GPs variously kept saying, “oh, they should clear up in a few years..” - entirely failing to grasp that they had NOT cleared up in a few years.. that there was an immune problem.

Subsequently, double supplementation of retinyl esters (vitamin A - as opposed to beta carotene, which is not vitamin A) .. saw improved night vision.. and all of the warts and verrucae suddenly clearing up within a year.

How to tell you are vitamin A deficient? Look for symptoms: dry eye; issues/artefacts of night vision; skin issues.. Else get a test.

Eat liver: 100g = 7 days supply of vitamin A

Supplement: standard formula ACE+selenium.

[annmcgowan in reply to Shedman]

Hi thanks for the reply. In my case there was only 1 wort and cryotherapy worked without any damage at all. My treatment was recommended by my haematologist. If I had been experiencing many warts that would have been a different problem.Good luck

Ann

[Shedman in reply to annmcgowan]

We have a misunderstanding; cryotherapy freezes tissues.If cryotherapy is carried out at relevant freezing temperature, it does damage to tissues. That is how it works. That is how it worked for you.

My missive was to explain how cryo works and to add a dimension of the immune system - the relevance of healthy vitamin A level in seeking clear up of warts.

Your cryo treatment worked in the standard way that cryo works:

..either.. (as stated) ..by blistering tissue under the entire wart (lifts wart away from healthy flesh), or, by the damage to tissue attracting suitable immune response (clearing up damaged cells and latching on to wart virus cells).

[annmcgowan in reply to Shedman]

Hi response to your question was to share my treatment of warts as you requested in your post. I am not an expert on cryotherapy. There may well be tissue damage to my finger but I am not aware of it. Good luck with the warts.

Ann

[Shedman in reply to annmcgowan]

Apologies. My reply could have gone to the poster, but I opted to reply/contribute in the threaded sense.. and my post was to clarify how cryo treatment works for warts for anyone reading the thread.

— your reply was good and I added to same thread —

The summary being: catch them early (shallow/superficial) and cryo can sometimes blister tissue right underneath them, lifting them clean off.. (no immune response required).. later and deeper (or under a finger nail) and cryo is used both to see some wart tissue freeze-killed, but also to trigger some immune activity.. that it may be helpful to also look at vitamin A level.

[Notmuchenergy in reply to Shedman]

This is very interesting. I have several facial warts. One fairly big one on my cheek for the last 4 years. Cryotherapy didn’t help. Also very dry eyes and poor night vision. I’m a pescatarian so don’t eat meat but I’ll try a supplement

[Shedman in reply to Notmuchenergy]

Hi. Those are major vitamin A deficiency symptoms.

- dry eyes

- poor night vision

- slow healing warts (and, elsewhere in your posts, slow to resolve colds..)

[trouble with CLL, is that immune compromise is our problem, so it is easy to put poor immune response solely down to CLL.]

Based on those symptoms, your primary care doctor should be able to justify a vitamin A blood test, even in the UK .. and they can, with a single injection, correct most of your deficiency.. there is then about a 1 month or so lag time, before the corrected vitamin A level yields many health improvements.

I have looked at every one of your posts..

I have looked at your profile..

My best guess is that you are in your late 60s or 70s and likely are in the UK..

Your profile is here and can be edited:

healthunlocked.com/user/Not...

..including your approximate age and country are helpful to people giving replies.

Vitamin A (Retinyl ester) — whilst I am certain that you should see your primary care doctor to test for and correct your vitamin A level urgently..

..just to say that *in the UK* Sainsburys sell a very good value vitamin ACE+selenium supplement (the standard formula for vitA supplement) — this is proper vitamin A — beta-carotene (in most multi-vitamins) is not vitamin A and will take far far longer to make a difference, if it makes any difference..

Else, you get a similar good value ACE+selenium from independent pharmacies. There is no need to buy some fancy high price brand.

But, even if you take the supplement at 2 pills (2x daily recommended allowance) per day, a significant deficiency will take a long time to correct, say 4-6 months..

Cod liver oil is another route to getting vitamin A, but the dose level is less certain than a tablet.

[Notmuchenergy in reply to Shedman]

Thanks for the information. I will see if I can get a blood test for vit A deficiency. I probably need a full blood count as well as not had one for nearly a year now. The optician said my corneas are really suffering as my eyes are so dry even with a really good quality eye drops. Let’s hope it is a vit A deficiency and I can get it sorted. I am in the U.K.

[Shedman in reply to Notmuchenergy]

Sadly, opticians are failing their profession repeatedly.. they seem to enjoy selling eye drops and, I suspect, rarely sell vitamin A, nor refer customers/patients to their primary care for obvious vitamin A deficiency (VAD) — Whilst some suffer dry eye for other reasons (aircon set too dry; with too much VDU work; in a dry climate; ..), combine it with night vision problems, and the diagnosis is easy.. VAD.I’d buy some ACE+selenium and start taking them straight away (given the rather clear deficiency, I’d start at two per day, with breakfast and dinner) ..but a doctor can resolve the deficiency more quickly with an injection;

The reason that colourful fruit+veg and more multi vitamins don’t always help resolve vitA deficiency, is that beta-carotene (pre-vitA) requires energetic biochemistry to cleave the molecule to make retinyl ester.. where a person has “Notmuchenergy” = chronic fatigue issues, they also lack the spare energy for energetic biochem.

Take care. One to resolve soonest.

[Notmuchenergy in reply to Shedman]

Thanks. Will def try and get it sorted. If I can’t get blood test, I will take supplement anyway. We have a very good local health shop so will look in there

[AussieNeil Partner Founder Admin]

Warts are very common and can worsen when you are immune compromised. I presume you mean the Human Papilloma Virus variety you tend to get on your hands? As you have gathered, they can fade away over time, but that's less likely when your CLL is suppressing your immune system. See: mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...

I found the best approach is to very slowly strip back the warty dead skin layers. You don't want to have the site being moist and at risk of infection after treatment. A salacylic acid topical treatment worked for me when I had the worst flare up ever, just after diagnosis, when my immunity took a dive. They've been gone now for 10 years.

Neil

[Shedman in reply to AussieNeil]

It is worth knowing that wart virus is contagious; scratchIng a wart with a healthy fingernail can result in a wart under that fingernail.. One benefit of the (at times painful) salicylic acid approach (various pharmacy treatment products main ingredient is salicylic acid), is keeping the wart surface treated, containing transmission of virus.

My guess is that Neil would have used a scalpel to safely scrape the skin layers..

It takes persistence to clear warts — cryo treatment does rapid magic only when a wart is new/shallow/superficial.

[AussieNeil Partner Founder Admin in reply to Shedman]

I used a nail file.

[cllady01 Former Volunteer]

These two sites are interesting in that there are many varieties of warts. The common wart is addressed by Mayo and said to be caused by HPV

Both sites sight weakened immune systems and both suggest possible reasons to treat and treatments.

usdermatologypartners.com/b...

This Dermatology site addresses the variety: usdermatologypartners.com/b...

I know you have asked about CLL treatment doing the treatment. Sorry, I haven't heard of that being so--but, stay tuned there may be a report of a member giving you an idea.

[Ellieoak]

I know that you will find this funny but it is true. I once worked for a Podiatrist and when we had children come in with warts he would cut a potato in half, rub it on the wart, then he sent the child home to bury the potatoes in the yard. He would tell the child when the potatoes starts to rot your wart will be gone. Parents would call 2-3 months later to say the warts are gone.

Was it the child believed the doctor

Or was it the potatoes? Stay safe Anna

[opal11uk]

Hi, firstly let me say I do not have CLL but am on this site for the benefit of my hubby who does, but I found your post and the answers on here very interesting. I am 77 years old and as a child suffered from warts whilst in junior school, so under 11, I had these all over the back of my knuckles on one hand and had them 'frozen' off with what they then called dry ice. In my 50's I had Herpes D in my eye, very very painful, had treatment under the hospital and told it was from the cold virus not Chicken pox, that it was a cold sore in the eye, since then I have had it about 3 times and cannot have a cataract removed for fear the virus could again occur and that in turn I could loose the eye (this was from the specialist), I have now developed what I think are warts on my scalp and also a couple on my body, add to this that for a good while I have had a nail fungus on one foot and I am beginning to think that my whole body is just full of virus lol, I would add to this that both my Mother and maternal grandmother suffered from the cold virus on their lips/mouths, always got cold sores and of course as I was such a lovely baby were forever kissing me and there I think lies the problem. I have thought about asking my GP for a course of antiviral medication but I am a heart patient and on other drugs so hesitate. Anyway, thats my story on warts, I will read the articles mentioned and see if there is anything there that can help me. ps had a cancerous growth removed from my face last year and asked the plastic surgeon about the warts, he said this and other growths were a result of having red hair!!!!! Interesting fact, my GP also said they would clear up after a period of years so apparently there is a cycle for some reason.

[AntonMB]

I had an issue with recalcitrant plantar warts for about 3 years. I started with a couple of warts which I tried treating with 26% Salicylic Acid which was prescribed by my GP with no success after over a year. Following FCR Chemotherapy for my CLL the warts spread and I ended up with multiple warts across both hands and one foot.

I was eventually seen by a GP Dermatologist and requested cryotherapy, which was a huge mistake in my case. My skin blistered really badly and due to the intense pain, I went to casualty. The casualty doctor sent me to the specialist burns unit, where the blisters were lanced by the doctor and required repeat visits to the burns unit for specialist dressings for several weeks, upon healing the warts returned.

I was eventually seen by a specialist Dermatologist who told me the final option available was for surgical removal of the warts, but with no guarantee they would not return.

Following much googling I started taking a Spirulina Supplement daily, which I had read was linked to reduction in warts in some cases. Within about 4 to 6 weeks the majority of my warts had gone or reduced. I was discharged by the Dermatologist without the need to resort to surgery. I understand the Spirulina and wart reduction may be coincidental but I continue to take a Spirulina supplement and have no ongoing issues with warts about two years on.

[mickimauser11]

I would rather see a dermatologist especially With CLL

[blowinginthewind]

Duct tape put over them and left there, replaced when it needs replacing - will take months but works. My daughter's dermatologist recommended it to my husband when he took daughter for appointment. I don't know where you, but in UK at present, cryotherapy isn't allowed because it is an aerosol. I have a verruca on the tip on toe, duct tape won't stick, and podiatrist can't spray it.

[IanredUK]

I had a wart/verucca on the bottom of my foot for many years, this became three and clustered. I have tried cryo twice and several times duct tape. Nothing worked. Two years ago I had a course of microwave treatment. Very painful for a few seconds given 6 times in a session. After 6 sessions over a period a a few months the warts had gone. They have not returned.

[Frodo21]

Yes my daughter had every treatment the dr gave no good. Then tried herbal treatment Thuja. Warts went and have never returned. Hope that helps

[Paint-arty]

Whilst on w&w I had a total of 52 warts on both my hands. They were very painful as they were also on the tips of my fingers and around my cuticles. I was forever catching them on things.I tried over the counter occlusal preparations withput success. My doctor prescribed a cream, which came in tiny sachets the size of a postage stamp. They imoroved the situation and some warts disppeared. However, about a week after the treatment finished the warts returned.

A year later l had autoimmune haemolytic anaemia. After a year of treatment with steroids the AIHA still existed so l was given 6 cycles of chemotherapy (R-CHP).

I pleased to say not only did it stop the AIHA but l was delighted to see all thewarts disappearing.

That was 12 years ago and the warts have never returned.

[Big_Dee]

Hello Hm15

I do not have warts anymore. When I did, I used Compond W with is basically phosphoric acid. I have also used wet battery acid which is sulfuric acid. Be careful. Blessings.