Just a reminder to book your smears.

[gemloving]

It's unpleasant but very important so if you have avoided booking or just forgot: call your GP and book your appointment

@WhathaveIdoneagain

Have you checked if there is a sexual health clinic nearby:

www.nhs.uk/service-search/sexual-health/find-a-sexual-health-clinic

I just checked Superdrug and they do sell the home HPV tests - thanks for that info @Vasectomyreversalhopeful

They cost £48 with results in 7 days. However they do say “the HPV test does not replace the need for regular smear tests”.

What is the difference other than cells from cervix versus vaginal cells? How can you tell if your GP does any testing other than HPV at your specific GP practice?

I will never have another smear at a GP again.

Actually it was @BooksAndHooks who mentioned Superdrug- thank you.

So Sorry to hear about your illness MissWooster

I meant @MrsWooster - so sorry to hear about your illness.

I had my second smear at 28 and I was found to have abnormal cells, after colposcopy I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Fortunately I was an early stage but I still had to have a total hysterectomy. That hurts much more then a smear!

Hit send too early! If you struggle having smears, please do talk to gynaecology. They will try to help you as best as they can.

Nope, sorry, not doing it. I don't have past trauma to deal with but I do find them painful. More important, I can't afford private cancer treatment and there's little chance of getting decent or timely care on the NHS where I live. So if I'm unlucky ( I am pretty low risk) I can choose between having a smear and knowing relatively early that I'm probably going to die, or not having one and finding out later. It doesn't seem worth the hassle to have the bad news early.

No thank you. The practice nurse at my surgery is a vile woman who caused me excruciating pain last time. I’m certainly not going back to her if I have to cover my nose and mouth with a bloody mask.

Last time I had one it really hurt and I had blood in my underwear afterwards. I didn’t tell her it hurt at the time because I wanted to get it over with but as a sexual assault survivor I found it really upsetting.

I have wondered about the usefulness of a smear like @poshme says. I have had the same partner for a decade now and had 3 smear tests in that time all hpv negative. I understand that HPV can be dormant but can it really be dormant so long? I asked the nurse last time if it would be worth me paying to get vaccinated against hpv (just old enough to have not got it in school). And she told me she’d seen lots of women who had been vaccinated but still got HPV so she didn’t see the point in the vaccine which was a bit concerning coming from a nurse!

For those asking, my understanding is that if you test positive for HPV then they will do additional tests on your sample for abnormal cells. So if you get a smear rather than home tests that’s the difference. We used to test for abnormal cells in every sample but it gave to many false positives.

I didn’t know you could test for HPV at home though. I might just do that going forward and then book a smear if I ever test positive

And I am really surprised that the risk assessment of missing asmear vs general anaesthetic a doctor decided for someone upthread that a general anaesthetic was worth the risk in a symptomless person. I also couldn’t imagine anything more triggering than the thought of someone doing a smear on me whilst I was unconscious.

@gemloving Thank you. I will check it out.