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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

SMEAR TEST :-GO GO GO

60 replies

PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange · 07/04/2015 00:20

i will admit I was petrified on having this test, does it hurt. It is my fango and I didn't want to have it on display. Any how MN members convinced me that it was a good idea.

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3027385/Tragedy-mother-three-scared-smear-test-dies-cervical-cancer-just-28.html

Please go and have this test

OP posts:
weebarra · 07/04/2015 08:04

I've had smear tests and I've had treatment for cancer and I know which I'd rather have.

meglet · 07/04/2015 08:12

my regular smears led to a colposcopy, CIN III, 2 LLETZ treatments , a couple of years of good results then another dodgy colposcopy and a hysterectomy at the age of 35.

All better than cancer. I hated smears and needed diazepam for the first couple of colposcopys. I was low risk too, still had a near miss.

bumbleymummy · 07/04/2015 08:26

MrsTerryPratchett from your lin

"However, because the urine test has not been proven to work as a screening tool, it is not available routinely on the NHS."

It sounds like a good idea in theory but iirc it only detects certain strains of HPV. I do think it's a good idea to try to develop a less invasive test though. Let's see what comes of it!

hackmum · 07/04/2015 08:33

Thanks for the link, carabos - I've read Margaret McCartney's book on screening, and it's quite thought-provoking. I can see the argument for cervical cancer screening but I think fear-mongering doesn't help.

Articles like the Mail one are just designed to generate hysteria. Cervical cancer is extremely rare amongst young women. This chart gives the incidence by age:

www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/cervix/incidence/

ClumsyNinja · 07/04/2015 08:54

If you happily have sex why is an 'intimate' medical examination to be shunned?

I've been having smears since being a teenager and they're no biggy. It's over with in a few minutes, quicker than a trip to the dentist. Wink

WhereTheFuckIsMyFuckingCoat · 07/04/2015 09:00

I'm with you, weebarra.

PeachyPants · 07/04/2015 09:06

Rates of cervical cancer in young women may be low but that may be due in large part to effective screening programmes. I don't think the DM story is designed to generate hysteria unless you think there is some sinister conspiracy and the daily mail are in the employ of the companies that sell testing equipment, I think it's just a 'good' human interest story.

NoPsipsinaChocolateOrange · 07/04/2015 09:09

I haven't been for a couple of years since ds3 was born, mainly because it blooming hurt last time they did it. She is quite a scary practice nurse and sort of jabbed at it and made me bleed.

So I don't want her to do it but I'm not sure how to request that without sounding unpleasant.

NoPsipsinaChocolateOrange · 07/04/2015 09:11

Btw if you just don't have sex any more, does that negate your risk or is it dependent on the sex you have already had in the past? (that sounds wrong but ykwim)

bumbleymummy · 07/04/2015 09:17

Psipsina - you may have already been exposed to HPV in the past (most people have) so even if you're not currently having sex you could still develop cervical cell changes.

PeachyPants · 07/04/2015 09:18

NoPsipsinaChocolateOrange As I understand a majority of cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV infection so there will be some correlation between numbers of sexual partners and risk but anyone may have been infected from a previous partner and the infection lying dormant. On the issue of the scary nurse please don't let worry about sounding unpleasant put you off having a smear, just ask for someone else to do it or see if there is a screening programme elsewhere that you can access.

meglet · 07/04/2015 09:21

nopsip it's dependent on what has happened in the past. as far as I understand it only takes one incident of unprotected sex and there's your risk.

it's not accumulative like sun bathing.

WhereTheFuckIsMyFuckingCoat · 07/04/2015 09:25

Although it must depend on the cause of the changes, because even though I've had 2 x CIN III plus lletz etc, every hpv test I've ever had has come back neg.

hackmum · 07/04/2015 09:28

PeachyPants: "Rates of cervical cancer in young women may be low but that may be due in large part to effective screening programmes. I don't think the DM story is designed to generate hysteria unless you think there is some sinister conspiracy and the daily mail are in the employ of the companies that sell testing equipment, I think it's just a 'good' human interest story."

Let's take the first part of that first. Rates of cervical cancer in young women are not low as the result of effective screening programmes - women under 25 are not screened for cervical cancer in England. The low rates are simply because younger women are less at risk.

Is the DM story designed to generate hysteria? Well, of course it is. The DM loves stories that frighten people and make them anxious - that's a large part of their raison d'être. They also love stories that make the NHS look bad. (In this case, the young woman was eligible for screening but chose not to attend, but that doesn't stop them giving prominence to the family's misplaced call for younger women to be screened.)

Let's be clear: there is no reason at all for the DM to feature this story. All over the country young women and men are dying of terrible illnesses. Why single out this one death over all the others?

Snowberry86 · 07/04/2015 09:28

Anyone who is too scared to go and has a genuine phobia please see your GP for support with this.

2years ago I was too terrified to go to a dentist or have a blood test, never mind have a smear test. I was referred for a course of CBT and after the first session went for a dental check up. This revealed I needed 5 teeth out and so I had full on melt down. 6 months of CBT and I went and had the teeth out. Did it my way-a full GA in hospital but given that I had couldn't even walk into a hospital a few months earlier it was a huge achievement.

2 years later I am having fertility investigations. So far 4 blood tests, 2 smear tests and an internal ultrasound and although I still get anxious I am able to go through whatever is needed to be able to have a baby.

CBT can honestly work miracles with phobias and anxiety. Please try it and then book your smear test when you feel ready!

PeachyPants · 07/04/2015 09:36

hackmum I know the under 25's aren't part of the standard screening programme, but I was interpreting 'young' to include women much older than that, the woman in the article that the thread was about was 28. The Daily Mail have featured this because it is a good human interest story and because she and her family were willing to pose for photos and give interviews, I don't accept the Mail has any hidden agenda with regards to screening.

Sorehead · 07/04/2015 09:41

NoPsipsinaChocolateOrange if you don't want it done by your practice nurse, you can go to a family planning/ sexual health clinic instead. In my area there are regular drop in clinics, some women only.

NoPsipsinaChocolateOrange · 07/04/2015 09:42

Thanks, I will give that a try. I always hate sitting waiting there though as I'm sure everyone wonders what disease you've got! It may be better than being stabbed at though.

Jollyphonics · 07/04/2015 09:49

I'm a GP and I have a few patients who have to have their smear tests done under a general anaesthetic. It's not ideal of course, because GAs carry risk, but it's preferable to them not having a smear at all. So that is an option for anyone who's truly terrified.

Meow75 · 07/04/2015 10:13

NoPsips I went our local Sexual Health Clinic to have my contraceptive implant changed. Not everyone is there because they need treatment for an infection.

When I was there, a young woman was there with her mum, to seek advice regarding a termination, chatting away about it. I thought it was quite an ... enlightened (I don't know if that's what I really mean)

The days of it just being "The Clap Clinic" are gone.

Rightokthen · 07/04/2015 10:15

Also they test for the virus now as well as the cells . If you have the virus you need to go back more often

HiImBarryScott · 07/04/2015 10:32

I had been putting my smear off for about 5 years. I hate having internal examinations and after a traumatic birth with DC3 I just couldn't bear the thought of someone poking about down there. I am also a woose with pain and the sensation of it makes me want to pass out.

Went last week and it was absolutely fine - nowhere near what I'd built it up in my head to be. So glad I've done it.

bumbleymummy · 07/04/2015 10:37

Righto - I think that's only been introduced in certain areas.

BeatriceBumble · 07/04/2015 10:42

Not another smear test thread. Yawn. Have one. Don't have one. Daily Fail hysteria again. I do loathe the twee "get your smear tests ladies - it might save your life!"

Please let WOMEN make up their own minds. I don't need prompting. Any one here not heard of a smear test and where to get one? Thought not.

ihavenonameonhere · 07/04/2015 10:43

I hate smears but after going for mine found out I had cin3. All fixed now but thank god I went!