To consider opting out of cervical screening?

[justcurious40]

I am very fortunate to have just received normal results for my latest smear test.

However, the weeks I spent waiting for the results were hard as I suffer badly from health anxiety.

I am nearly 42 and have been having smears since the age of 19, so I now have 24 years of smear tests behind me without ever having an abnormal result.

It is my understanding that something like 98% of cervical cancers are caused by hpv, which is sexually transmitted. As I have been with my husband since 1999 and am 100% sure he is faithful, would it be unreasonable to opt out of the screening after so many clear tests with no hpv detected?

I think some Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands use hpy screening as their primary test and only offer smears to women who are positive. So I am thinking of having a private hpv test and, if that is negative, opting out of the screening.

Before anyone says it, I know that cancer and cancer treatment would be a damn sight more horrific than having the screening and being anxious waiting for results. I'm just questioning the need for screening under these circumstances. Thanks for reading.

Terfinator

You are factually incorrect.

It is more difficult for a smear test to pick up adenocarcinoma of the cervix because of the location of the cells, but it is incorrect to say it cannot pick it up. Smears may also pick up the disease earlier in its staging (than a symptom based diagnosis) which can massively impact recovery statistics.

@Motoko, how very brave of you to share, I hope your story encourages more women to come forward and have a smear test.
I'm so sorry, sending love and strength.😥

I also had CIN3 picked up following a smear but I'm pretty sure they didn't also test for HPV at the time and this was in 2013.

After the procedure I then had another smear and a HPV test which came back negative.

It has been playing on my mind for the past 5 years as I've even had a couple of doctors tell me that cervical changes/cancer is caused by HPV and when I queried the fact that I didn't have it, they said my body must've cleared it after the procedure, but that is wrong isn't it?!

I've since had two normal smears and two HPV tests, both negative. But I've always wondered what caused those changes and if it wasn't HPV, then what was it and might it come back again?

I will pay to have private smears every year if need be because it really scares me....

Its your life, up to you but I think you would be crazy not to take advantage of the screening!!! This week a school mum friend who is 47 was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer, she had missed a few smears. She has 4 children one disabled.

"I had cervical cancer and was also HPV negative. The doctor explained to me that although I am negative now, that does not mean that I wasn't positive at some point in my life and that my previous exposure COULD have been the cause of my cancer, but there was no way to truly know"

"Most people are HPV positive at some point but the immune system kicks in and fights it off and HPV will go negative again"

I've just found these two quotes from another forum, are they factually correct? If so, it may explain why I and others had abnormal changes and then a negative HPV after they were removed and retested?

Are there any doctors on here who could clarify please?

It is more difficult for a smear test to pick up adenocarcinoma of the cervix because of the location of the cells, but it is incorrect to say it cannot pick it up

What does difficult mean? How often does it pick it up?

www.jostrust.org.uk/node/2527

There is a lot of contradicting information on this thread

I really recommend Margaret McCartneys book The patient paradox.

Oblomov i too find them incredibly painful It feels like razor blades.

Ive not been sexually active for years and it may be part of the reason why i find it painful

Im four months overdue for a smear at present.

My personal advice would be not to skip the testing. While I appreciate you love and trust your husband to be faithful, I did also. Here in the US, after birth of DS, my OBGYN said the new guidelines were for PAPs every 3 years if no abnormal results, having had normal results since I was 16 so about 18 years of clear tests. Luckily due to a series of life circumstances I didn't end up skipping any. Good thing because then found out STBX was cheating, followed a year later by an abnormal pap - here they look at the cells and automatically test for HPV if the cells are abnormal (even if the changes are of no significance). this was followed by surgery to remove an inch square chunk of my cervix that had precancerous cells. 8 months on, I still have lingering issues from the procedure, but would rather have that than cancer. (i asked the obgyn and his view was that under the circumstances i was exposed very recently - i had not had sex with anyone else in more than 10 years).

@Greyponcho - FYI, i had a normal pap in all years prior and then an abnormal PAP in 2017, with eventual CIN III diagnosis from my surgery. So that's bollocks that it doesn't grow that fast, maybe unusual but not never. I was told if I even waited a few months to remove them I risked the final development into cancer. If I had waited the guideline 3 years since my last normal pap, i have no doubt the next time i would have had cancer.

I'm one of the ones thats never had a smear test sadly, and I really wish I had the courage to go. But after having been raped by my first boyfriend, it terrifies me at the thought of letting someone I don't know go down there. I struggled enough at the start of my relationship with my new boyfriend to have sex with him at all. But I trust him, I don't have trust for someone who despite being a doctor is still a stranger to me. Eventually will get over it but not right now.

I had my first smear test back in June. I was 27 at the time and have 2 children so definitely should have have one before now but it was never really picked up on and I didn't pursue it myself down to fear which I know is silly.

The results came back abnormal just as I found out I was pregnant and I have since had 3 colposcopy's (during my pregnancy) to monitor how much the cells change before they will do something after I deliver my baby. I'm absolutely terrified but also thankful I have the smear when I didn't because if things are changing enough for me to be monitored so much in such a short space of time what would have happened if I I hadn't of been checked out.

Years ago I had some abnormal smears and the stress that went with it was awful. At the time I was desperate to get it sorted and was glad I had gone for the smear test. But then I started to notice something, nearly every woman I knew had a similar abnormal result and follow up treatment. I began to feel that something was off and started to look into things. I struggled with the idea that women's bodies were so faulty that nearly every woman I knew had "pre cancer" at some point.

I was horrified to discover that "abnormal" results can be caused by tampons, stress, thrush, smoking, viruses, sex and alcohol. I was furious that I had been referred for treatment and been unnecessarily terrified and traumatized when a follow up smear would probably have shown it was gone. I was furious to discover the actual risk of getting cervical cancer is incredibly rare and my "abnormalities" were probably caused by shagging, wine and stress.

@myadviceisdontskippaps that was the information given to me by healthcare professionals

Yes, you would be unreasonable. Some women do not have the luxury of free smear tests.

Which has absolutely nothing to do with OP and doesn't make her unreasonable not to have one. It is a totally irrelevant factor here. She doesn't have the luxury of a free, more accurate HPV test either but there are women having those!