Does everyone hate smear tests as much as me?

[procrastinatinglemon]

I know we all dislike them but I'm trying to work out if I'm being immature and over the top about this. Last one I cried because it hurt but also because I just felt so vulnerable.
I experienced some low level sexual abuse as a child and I'm not sure if this is why I hate it so much or if everyone does and I'm normal! I can't relax when they say to, it's impossible.

Go to my body back if you can, my consultant works for them and she is absolutely incredible . Absolutely superb service .

Diazepam can also be a huge help .

Failing that, my GP was brilliant - she said she'd had trauma specific training for pelvic exams etc and she was superb . Talked me through the whole thing and never told me to relax (as that's a trigger for me) - and made sure I had a nurse to stand at my head end as well for support . They also intentionally booked me in for a long appt at the end of the day and gave me a cup of tea after, and phoned the next day to make sure I was OK . Worth asking surgery if they know who would be best - or family planning clinic even .

This is nothing to do with being immature. Some women sail through and others find it excruciating, due to how their cervix lies, previous surgery or bad experiences. Smear tests are very important and you must keep going but please don’t be hard on yourself for finding it unpleasant. Mention to the nurse that you are nervous and ask for the smallest possible speculum.

You are not being immature and over the top. And the abuse you received as a child will absolutely be contributing to how upsetting and painful you find it.

I can't say I love them but for me they are indeed mildly incomfortable. HCP have commented on how relaxed I am. Which either is a warning to you all to not have 3DC in quick succession (!) or a sign that I'm pretty unusual to be so relaxed about it.

I stopped having any several years ago. I've always struggled with them (tilted cervix) and my fear and anxiety has grown and grown. I have 3 DC so no issue with a hundred people staring down my vagina but even during labour exams I had gas and air to help. After my last child I had a smear from a nurse who was like something from the 1950s who told me to pull myself together, which exacerbated it. I asked my gp for help which ended up with me having a smear with a gynae at hospital and me in stirrups making it a thousand times more traumatic. I've had diazapam, even drank alcohol prior and lastly CBT and given a speculum to take home to practise with. Nothing gets me past it so I've just stopped despite my knowing that I could die as a result. The only thing that had worked has been gas and air and they will not allow that. No history of abuse, just an utter freak out that I can't get on top of. Get fed up of all the flippant just get it done, doesn't hurt, it's only a moment statements that are easy to chuck about. I will just have to take my chances.

I opted out. It was such a relief to know I won't get the letters any more.

Ditto.

I know I should, but I don't go, haven't been for over a decade...I hate it, I also have awkward bits and needed a hospital trip to get anaesthetised to get coil in and then it was painful after so ended up having it taken out. Before that I used to go but every time it comes back with abnormal or inconclusive so have to keep going back...and nothing ever happens, so just don't bother now.

to those of you that have opted out, please reconsider if you can. I had hpv discovered on mine, the following year I had severe cell changes and had a colposcopy to remove them, after the biopsy it was discovered they were cancer but thankfully a tiny amount which was all removed and no other treatment needed, just a colposcopy twice a year. Not fun at all but I dread to think what the outcome would have been if I didn’t have regular smear tests.

I find them really painful tbh and my cervix is always difficult to reach. The fact they're so painful and drawn out makes me even more nervous and then emotional. I think it's normal

Do you think I/they did it on a whim?

I suspect it's understandably from your past trauma. Do tell the nurse that you are worried about it and they should be extra nice to you.

I've had a ridiculous amount of speculum examinations due to 5 years of ivf and lots of infertility investigations, so I'm just used to them now. I used to be really paranoid about someone looking there so intently, sometimes with a lamp shining in, but they really do it so often that they really don't care what you look like. You can probably ask for a chaperone if you'd like one.

I've received a smear test letter recently and have hidden it away, but I really should sort out my shit and book it in. It really could save your life.

Absolutely not, and I appreciate they are tough for lots of people which is why I said “please reconsider if you can” however I stand by what I said.

You can buy the HPV test from Superdrug iirc.

Yep. I had one good one, done by a lovely private doctor as part of an employment package. She was so gentle it didn’t hurt at all!

NHS nurses can be quite brutal with it, I don’t know why 😔

Now they don't look at the cells, just do an HPV test, there seems to be no point on a smear test. You can get a home self-test for HPV. There was a trial in the NHS of those and I don't know why they've not been rolled out more widely.

I don’t think the at home one test accuracy has been fully established yet. I do hope they move to them in future though if they can guarantee accuracy.

The added bonus of a smear test is the nurse can do a visual inspection of your cervix, which may identify polyps for example, which need a referral for removal. Surprisingly common and often with no symptoms.
Practice nurse.

Yes and it makes me emosh

They don't bother me at all and it's never ever hurt for me 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

I know that lots of people really don't have the same experience as me though for many many reasons.

They don't really bother me. But I'm lucky enough to not find them painful, and also fortunate to have not had any past trauma that might affect things.

I hated them before I had to go through years of infertility investigations and then lots of IVF - now after all that I found them a bearable. Nothing compares to IVF Transfers when they make you have a full bladder so you are trying not to wet yourself whilst they are messing about down there

I’ve only ever had two.
The last one the doctor left the room with me, naked from the waist down with the speculum inside me. No screen round me, no blinds on the windows tho I was on first floor with no overlooking windows. I felt so vulnerable, faced away from the door so couldn’t have seen anyone who walked in and she was gone for ages with no explanation. Never again.

I feel the same way as you. double appointments and a phone call appt with the nurse who will perform the test prior to the appointment seems to help.

However, it's just traumatic, painful and just horrible and I feel awful the rest of the day

Please just get them done , I know it's not nice but they can prevent nasty things. I've gone from normal result to cin3 in 3 years. I've had a Colposcopy and cold coagulation treatment 2 days ago. if I would have skipped it I wonder what might have happened.

Don't bother me at all. The scraping of the cells part makes me feel slightly icky but that's it. The only time it did bother me (and it wasn't for a smear test) was during my miscarriage when the gynaecologist was scraping blood clots out of my cervix. The pain wasn't too bad due to the pain relief but it was more the fact that I was in an outpatient ward with the curtain pulled round one side and a screen on the other side whilst the Gynae was scraping everything out. It was the people in the room just going about having normal every day conversations to each other that made it seem so surreal.