abnormal cells, Help!

[Carly89]

I had a smear about 4 weeks ago, the results came back abnormal and that i have HPV which can contribute to developing cervical cancer. I am booked for a colposcopy next week..
This then got me thinking about the pains, pulling and twinges ive been experiencing over my cycles, the odd periods and unusual clots I have been experiencing. I am worried there could be something more to it. I wanted to know if anyone has ever had Cysts or similar, and if you can explain the pain? I am booked in the doctors Friday, but i am at a loss of what to say. I clam up at the doctors and can become quite anxious. Any advice would be greatly appreciated x

 

[KatD]

Hey! About 4 years ago I had a papsmeer which showed that I had SIN3. I had to go for the same procedure and had to get three shots of the HPV vaccine. I went through a world of emotions...I never had any symptoms, it was only because my friend went for a smeer that I tagged along and figured why not get one too. Boy, what a wake up call. 3 months after my op I had another smeer which indicated that the cancer cells were back...knowing what I went through the first time nearly gave me a heart attack. It was horrible. Thankfully, by God's mercy alone, I never had a third smeer like that. I go for a smeer every 6 months now as a precaution and the vaccine helped with the HPV. BIG hugs to you sweetie xxx wishing you nothing but health and happiness

 

[JD.Deedee]

Almost 99% of the causes of cervical cancer is hpv but that doesn't mean you'll get it as it takes years to develop from the moment you're infected and usually it clears on its own. That they check for hpv is relatively new because sometimes people just have abnormal cells but might not have hpv and therefore don't need unnecessary further tests and certain types of hpv are more high risk than others. It's actually weird because certain ethnicities have different strains of what is high risk to them. So the vaccine just protects against the strains that are high risk to most of us. It's not common in the UK to get vaccinated after treatment as far as I'm aware. What will happen at the colp department is that they want to see whether they can actually see the cells under the microscope and they likely want to take a biopsy, if you're scared and feel uncomfortable during procedures get some diazepam for the appointment and have an ibuprofen. Quite often they offer to remove the cells there and then especially if they can see them (for this too I advise the diazepam) so you can just have it done. They'll then check it and based on that they will write to you with your results and further action or no action required. I had cin 1 with focal cin 2, biopsy taken. No answer to whether I had hpv or not as they written to me post smear I had moderate dyskariosis and I've decided the wait and see approach. I get another smear in June and will see what will happen after. My last appointment the doctor believed it was going away on its own because I stopped smoking. If my next results advise treatment I will get diazepam and have them have gas and air ready but that's because it helps me in the event of a panic attack which I can have because of anaesthetic. You can also opt to wait for results and have a further appointment or choose to have the procedure under general anaesthetic when you're advised to have it done. Don't feel pressured you have to have anything done there and then, they will likely want to take biopsies right there and then just to examine what's going on as there's not enough on the smear to do so. Your symptoms will likely be totally unrelated and they will only look at your cervix so no scan of your womb and ovaries, go and see your gyno for that x

 

[Carly89]

Hey! About 4 years ago I had a papsmeer which showed that I had SIN3. I had to go for the same procedure and had to get three shots of the HPV vaccine. I went through a world of emotions...I never had any symptoms, it was only because my friend went for a smeer that I tagged along and figured why not get one too. Boy, what a wake up call. 3 months after my op I had another smeer which indicated that the cancer cells were back...knowing what I went through the first time nearly gave me a heart attack. It was horrible. Thankfully, by God's mercy alone, I never had a third smeer like that. I go for a smeer every 6 months now as a precaution and the vaccine helped with the HPV. BIG hugs to you sweetie xxx wishing you nothing but health and happiness

I'm not sure how it works here I don't think you get the vaccine after. I'm dreading it, but pleased that I booked and attended. Thank you for your account of procedure and your well wishes x

 

[Carly89]

Almost 99% of the causes of cervical cancer is hpv but that doesn't mean you'll get it as it takes years to develop from the moment you're infected and usually it clears on its own. That they check for hpv is relatively new because sometimes people just have abnormal cells but might not have hpv and therefore don't need unnecessary further tests and certain types of hpv are more high risk than others. It's actually weird because certain ethnicities have different strains of what is high risk to them. So the vaccine just protects against the strains that are high risk to most of us. It's not common in the UK to get vaccinated after treatment as far as I'm aware. What will happen at the colp department is that they want to see whether they can actually see the cells under the microscope and they likely want to take a biopsy, if you're scared and feel uncomfortable during procedures get some diazepam for the appointment and have an ibuprofen. Quite often they offer to remove the cells there and then especially if they can see them (for this too I advise the diazepam) so you can just have it done. They'll then check it and based on that they will write to you with your results and further action or no action required. I had cin 1 with focal cin 2, biopsy taken. No answer to whether I had hpv or not as they written to me post smear I had moderate dyskariosis and I've decided the wait and see approach. I get another smear in June and will see what will happen after. My last appointment the doctor believed it was going away on its own because I stopped smoking. If my next results advise treatment I will get diazepam and have them have gas and air ready but that's because it helps me in the event of a panic attack which I can have because of anaesthetic. You can also opt to wait for results and have a further appointment or choose to have the procedure under general anaesthetic when you're advised to have it done. Don't feel pressured you have to have anything done there and then, they will likely want to take biopsies right there and then just to examine what's going on as there's not enough on the smear to do so. Your symptoms will likely be totally unrelated and they will only look at your cervix so no scan of your womb and ovaries, go and see your gyno for that x

Wow you are extremely well informed! Thank you so much for your feedback. I suffer quite badly with anxiety, but as I say I have a docs appointment Friday so I'll ask about diazapan. I'm not sure I have a gyno? That's what I'm trying to tell the doctor Friday that I've been experiencing pains etc and feel I need scanning for cysts x

 

[JD.Deedee]

Just explain about your results and you're feeling very anxious and you'd like some diazepam to help you relax. It works quite a while so you can easily take it 1-2 hours in advance so it proper kicked in at the appointment. It helps you stay calm(I've got it for dental appointments but not used it yet myself). And ask a referral to the gynaecologist. I found that sometimes just telling them what you want helps getting you somewhere much quicker than probing them for it. Probably cause they're not keen to refer to easily. Hope all is well x

 

[Carly89]

Just explain about your results and you're feeling very anxious and you'd like some diazepam to help you relax. It works quite a while so you can easily take it 1-2 hours in advance so it proper kicked in at the appointment. It helps you stay calm(I've got it for dental appointments but not used it yet myself). And ask a referral to the gynaecologist. I found that sometimes just telling them what you want helps getting you somewhere much quicker than probing them for it. Probably cause they're not keen to refer to easily. Hope all is well x

Thank you very much for your help. I will let you know how it goes x

 

[mylullaby]

I had abnormal cells and a colposcopy while pregnant. Pretty much just a smear test but even more undignified and with a camera! I had follow ups after I had my baby and at the most recent one they carried out a loop excision to remove the cells from my cervix. It wasn't the most pleasant experience of my life, but it wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. There was no pain but I did shake a bit (involuntarily which is apparently a side effect of the anaesthetic). None of the procedures were actually as bad as I had feared, so my advice to you is to try to stay as calm as you possibly can (although I realise that's easier said than done). The nurses are experienced and caring and will answer any questions, no matter how silly they might seem, so just keep talking to them and they'll look after you. Doesn't take long. X

 

[Carly89]

I had abnormal cells and a colposcopy while pregnant. Pretty much just a smear test but even more undignified and with a camera! I had follow ups after I had my baby and at the most recent one they carried out a loop excision to remove the cells from my cervix. It wasn't the most pleasant experience of my life, but it wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. There was no pain but I did shake a bit (involuntarily which is apparently a side effect of the anaesthetic). None of the procedures were actually as bad as I had feared, so my advice to you is to try to stay as calm as you possibly can (although I realise that's easier said than done). The nurses are experienced and caring and will answer any questions, no matter how silly they might seem, so just keep talking to them and they'll look after you. Doesn't take long. X

Thank you for the insight, you've put me at ease a bit xx