do i have this right about smear tests?

I agree with you 100%.

m if you have genuinely informed yourself of the procedure, the risks etc and chosen otherwise it should be respected. Rather than seen as an affront to womanhood or whatever the aggressive typing is about.

I have a friend who is a virgin in their late 50s, not just sex but all sexual contact. Poor soul was hounded into having one, she tried to move GP practice and they wouldn’t let her register without scheduling.

even as she was screaming the place down, the nurse couldn’t understand why it wasn’t working, just absolute nonsense.

I had to have someone else in with me. I would hyperventilate and it would be so painful. I’ve been like this from age 17 to 45. Then she suggested I inserted it myself. Then it was just the pain of the actual taking of the cells which I can just about cope with. I may not be in your league for the pain but it was pain nonetheless. And now it’s much better although if I could have gas and air it would be miles better (childbirth only bearable with that). A ‘tipped back womb’ isn’t much fun

still I’ve only got 3 more left now ;). Phew. Having done every 6 months for 5 years killed me when I was in my 20s. However without smear tests I may possibly actually be dead now. I actively encourage women to go. I was 23 when had pre cancerous cells. Imagine now, not being offered til I was 25. I may not be here to tell this tale …..

Was only trying to help.

Not sure if someone has said this but dormant also means undetectable on a smear test. That’s why you’re repeatedly tested.

This may help - I now insert the plastic thingy myself and all problems have stopped. Before that was so painful and drawn out. Maybe try that?

please go tho - a few minutes discomfort is worth it

I don't think the issue of informed consent has ever been of importance to GP surgeries, nurses or the general medical profession as a whole
As another poster pointed out, practices get financial incentives to get 80%of their women smeared and some women are thrown off the practice list or denied medication for other conditions, or even an appointment at all, unless she has a smear
It's not pointed out to the women their risk of developing this cancer is low, 0.65%according to CRUK, Or that even abnormal cells can revert to normal on their own
It's assumed they're too embarrassed to go and are told patronising oh we seen it all before, don't be silly of course it doesn't hurt. ... the list is endless
Maybe things are easier for refusers today and maybe more info about risks is given? I don't know. I opted out 7 years ago
Of course it's every woman's right to do as she sees fit, but I think women are treated appallingly over smears
Dutch and Finnish women have had the option of a self test kit for years now and their rates of this cancer are among the lowest in the world

Just really coming back to this.

I spoke to the nurse at my GP surgery and she confirmed that NI is NOT following this protocol at the minute.

All smear tests are being tested for HPV and cell changes, However in future she does see NI moving in line with the rest of UK and only preforming HPV checks on smear tests, but there has been no consultation or date set for this.

she did also say that that if and when this change takes place, she can ask for individual tests to be screened for both if the patient requests it.

I hope that makes sense!

If the HPV test was negative, there would have been nothing to cause cell changes in >99% of cases, so cytology is unnecessary.

HPV positive = cytology is performed
HPV negative = testing ends there, 3-5 year recall
HPV positive + cytology positive = colposcopy
HPV positive + cytology negative = 12 month rescreen for HPV, if positive again but cytology negative, another 12 month screen. If positive again at the 3rd rescreen, colposcopy regardless of cytology results.
Cell changes are sooo slow that women are safe to be on 3-5 year recall depending on their age as very little changes in the cells during this period so if they were negative 3 years ago and positive today, very little damage would have been done to the cells.

No, as HPV can lie dormant for many years so may not have been active in your body at the time of your last test, or it may have been acquired between your negative test and your positive one.

I tried asking about this but got no answers as I was negative for HPV years ago but had bad cells and had to go through a painful procedure having them removed. So the new way really confuses me. Did I not need the procedure before?

All of that information is widely available to all women though is a range of different formats; we have to take some level of responsibility to keep ourselves informed with regard to our own health and which screening programmes are available to us. I’ve never been for a screening or vaccine that I haven’t researched beforehand.

Here is a long article from a cervical cancer charity explaining all about home-testing for HPV.

Note that they point out this is the same test as is now being used on smear samples. But it's quicker, no pain, no embarrassment, no speculums, no taking up a nurse appointment... I don't understand why it's not rolled out yet given the pressure on NHS staff time and shortage of people, as well as all the other reasons.

https://www.jostrust.org.uk/about-us/news-and-blog/blog/what-hpv-self-sampling

@mauvish
What you say is not accurate. You said that I would not have had an HPV test without the smear.

I would have sought an HPV test but without the trauma of a smear: self-administered tests are available and I would have done one of those. I said that in my original post had you read to the bottom of it.

I maintain that I did not give informed consent to my most recent smear.

The NHS has been trialling these self-tests for women who have been avoiding smears. I hope it isn't long before they are rolled out more widely. The ridiculous level of attempted-guilting and emotional blackmailing to try to force women to have smears should have been stopped many years ago. Now there is a viable alternative to invasive smears there can be no more excuses for it.

I was very upset when I received the result from my last smear test: they said they had destroyed the sample without looking at it as I didn't have HPV. I hadn't been told that this had changed and I feel like my consent had been obtained under false pretences.It was not a pleasant experience, having taken 2 people and 3 attempts.

Flowers

@HappyHolidai I completely understand and I felt like this too after my last one. I was really frustrated I'd gone through all that for the sample to not even be tested.

I think that you need to rephrase this in your mind. Your samples WERE tested; they were tested for HPV, and since that was not found, it wasn't thought necessary to do more tests. Without going for the smear, you wouldn't have had that test for HPV, and if that had instead been positive, you wouldn't have needed another examination at that point, there would have been MORE tests carried out on your sample.

Re getting a speculum and looking at your cervix now I've done literally thousands of speculum examinations over the years so I know where and how to a cervix, and what they look like. I don't think it would be at all easy to do so on yourself. The other thing to bear in mind is that CIN changes the changes in the cells that can turn into cancer -- are microscopic and INSIDE the cells. You don't see them from the outside nor with the naked eye. If you could, then it wouldn't be necessary to analyse any samples in the first place.

Have you been to a GUM clinic? We can manage patients for genital dermatology also 🙂

Well done OP, don’t even know you but very proud. It’s something that’s very easy to put off to the bottom of the list.

be kind to yourself over the weekend. You definitely deserve it x

I'm sorry it was so painful OP but well done for going through with it! Here's hoping you can find something that will help soon :)