to remind you all to go and get your smear tests done if they are due or overdue!

[RedCrimson]

8 years ago I had severe dyskaryosis (pre cancerous cells) and was bloody lucky I got it all taken away when I did.

I went for my yearly smear today and the nurse was new to cytology and I was the first smear she's ever done (supervised by my usual nurse).

So I just want to remind you to get yours done if it's due. I very much doubt I'd be here now if I hadn't have gotten the treatment when I did.

Thanks Bran I'll look into it. My understanding was (as I have been having clear smears for 15 years) that my risk of carrying a cancer causing HPV all that time without it showing up is really minimal.

I'm 48, I was called for one from 18 and didn't pluck up courage until I was 21. I had pre cancerous cells, had a cone biopsy and laser treatment. I doubt I'd be here now and my DCs certainly wouldn't. I also had a scare and colonoscopy (?!) at 39, I've pretty much spent my life having yearly smears! It's just one of those things.

I've been in a totally monogamous relationship for almost 20 years and have had many clear smear tests since the age of 18, going every time I was called. However, I had a borderline result a couple of years ago (hpv is not tested for in clear smears) which showed that I had hpv. I had to have a colposcopy but no treatment, just yearly smears which have been clear so far. Please don't assume that you don't have hpv because of a monogamous relationship and previous clear smears.

The NHS is considering moving to HPV testing as the primary screening tool.

FWIW, I have probably been at least a year late for every smear since I was about 30 (and I had plenty before then), except for the time I was 'got' by a locum nurse who was doing a blood pressure check, and I did not get cervical cancer. In fact, every one has come back clear.

I thought I had better put that in for a bit of balance, otherwise the people reading this who are scared of getting a test in case they have cancer, will be thinking that they will very likely have to go for further treatment, from reading this thread. It seems that everyone who was late for a test got cancer .

I don't know if you used to be called earlier if there was a reason to be.

I know my mum had her first smear test when she was 18 and that would have been 1987. However she did have my sister a year earlier so I'm not sure if that would mean she was called in for one earlier than most.

In the 80s they definitely did them much earlier, often as soon as women became sexually active (e.g. my friend had one when aged 16 on visiting a family planning clinic for the pill). After 2003, they didn't randomly screen everyone until they were 25.

Nobody got 'called in' in the 1980s.

Well not literally "called in" obviously. I was sent a letter for a smear when I was 20. I hadn't previously had a smear so I wasn't being recalled.

How often are you mean to have smear tests? I haven't had one for a good while ...

Every 3 years from until you are 50, then every 5 years.

(25 doesn't divide by 3 )

Mary, I got no letters. It probably depended on your GP.

Mary, I got no letters. It probably depended on your GP.

I don't think so. Anyway, there was definitely a national screening programme in the late 80s.

I'd be dead were it not for smear testing in all likelihood. I was diagnosed with CC in 2009 and had a hysterectomy and months of chemo. i'd had one very small mid-cycle bleed and was otherwise totally symptom free.

its very much a choice. and a conscious decision not to get a test is fine, and i always support peoples choices medically (as someone who doesn't vaccinate i'd be a bit of a hypocrite otherwise!) but i think most women just dont get round to it, or are scared and thats a shame. the whole jade goody thing was in the news at the time i was ill, and for a time numbers of take up on the test went up. but now it seems to have dropped again.

I had mine today

FFS this again

Women are capable of reminding themselves if it's important to them.

I have them but I'm not sure if I will continue due to the risk factors which can outweigh the benefits. We are all told they are lifesavers but you don't really get told the whole truth do you?

I read that Jade Goody had an abnormal smear but ignored the requests to go in for a colp.

scienceblogs.com/culturedish/2009/02/28/a-nation-obsessed-with-jade-go/

As far as I was aware they'd send letters when you went on the pill presuming you were having sex. I definitely got letters in the 80s.

Thanks Bran I'll look into it. My understanding was (as I have been having clear smears for 15 years) that my risk of carrying a cancer causing HPV all that time without it showing up is really minimal.

I was diagnosed with cc despite being in a monogamous relationship for almost as long, and with all previous smears 25 years worth being perfectly clear.

Because the smear caught it early I didn't need chemo. I "only" needed a radical hysterectomy with a few extra bits removed. I had no symptoms. Where would I be now 3 years later if I hadn't gone for that smear?

Of course it's a choice but I think keeping the subject active, means more people might be encouraged, who might not otherwise not get round to it either through fear or apathy.

oh yes, Jade Goody absolutely had abnormal smears and then ignored the results and that will have contributed to her death, but surely that just shows that apathy and a 'it wont happen to me' attitude isn't the way to go about things? As i said, if you make an informed decision to not get the test, that is entirely your choice and prerogative as a woman, but thats a very different scenario from women who just put it off and put it off or dont go due to fear.

Nobody got 'called in' in the 1980s. You booked your own smear test, like an adult, when you became sexually active

Not true where I lived (London). I was repeatedly sent letters in the second half of the 80s, asking me to have a smear done. I ignored the letters as I was still a virgin (and embarrassed to admit this).

Come to think of it, I lived in other places after that and do not recall receiving letters calling me for smears so perhaps that London practice was just very hot on calling in their female patients for smears.

I didn't have a smear test until I had children in my 30s.

I had my first one in 1984 when I went on the pill. This also required a full internal, (following a cancer/pill scare in the media) - never had one since. At that time, they were still debating how often you should have a smear test and less enlightened doctors would only do them every 5 years.

I had my second in 1988 when I had moved to the other side of the country. That GP sent me a recall letter after 3 years which by then was established as good practice. After that, the centralised recall system gradually came in.

I put mine off for 3 years because I was scared. Had it recently and was clear but it didnt hurt at all. I dont even know why i was so scared tbh but you are right it is very important

I have them but I'm not sure if I will continue due to the risk factors which can outweigh the benefits. We are all told they are lifesavers but you don't really get told the whole truth do you?

What risk factors? There are only benefits to spotting cancerous cells and I can't think of a single risk. In the old days it was a pretty grim and for some (like me) it was painful. These days with the little brush kit thingy it's so much better and doesn't hurt.

Personally I'm grateful for the reminder letters. With a busy life and two children with various appointments and obligations it's easy to forget. I booked mine after spotting my reminder letter when tidying the kitchen.

When should you have a smear after having a baby? I was having yearly smears due to an abnormal result when I was younger but missed the last one as I was pregnant.

Rather terrified about the first one post-birth...

Charlie I'm sorry you feel this way but from someone who lost their mum to cervical cancer as a child please reconsider. I'm still effected to this day by losing my mum. Because of your depression you believe they would be better off... They wouldn't trust me. They need you! You're hurting now but imagine the hurt they would go through lapping you. Please get the help you need xxx

Seaside- it has to be a minimum of 12 weeks post delivery.

I don't have these tests. I believe women are badly misled about the risks and that there is also an issue with informed consent. The test is a screening tool and its optional. Yet it isn't. No doesn't mean no. No means send endless letters titled FINAL REMINDER. No means being deregistered from your gp surgery in some cases. No means visiting your gp for a sore throat and having to argue to keep them out of your vagina. I won't even get started on the financial incentive to perform these tests.

I'm sick to death of the scare mongering. I'm sick of hearing the stories about how a smear test showed abnormal cells and if they hadn't have had it treated they wouldn't be here now. Most cells will return to normal. They don't know which will and which won't so they treat them all the same meaning the majority of people are undergoing painful treatment for no reason.

Cervical cancer is very rare. Unnecessary treatment for abnormal cells is very high.

What risk factors?

Well, many minor abnormalities will go away on their own, so there is a lot of cases where people are treated or have a colp when they don't really need it and that can increase the risk of prem labour, and infertility (I think?). The chances of these abnormal cells turning into cancer are very slim and we will all have cell changes at some point in our lives.

I had a biopsy for abnormal cells, didn't actually have any it turns out. However, the anxiety was awful. I was a nervous wreck. It is thought that being on birth control can lead to false positive tests for example.

To save one life from cervical screening you will have to screen 1000 women for 35 years.

So there are risks.