To be paranoid about cervical cancer?

[Jessy111]

I have posted in health but received no replies so posting here for traffic, sorry

I'm probably going to sound barking mad, but I've developed a worry about cervical / ovarian cancer and I'm driving myself nuts.

I'm 7 weeks postpartum and my bleeding hasn't stopped at 6 weeks as expected and it's been very stop start and unpredictable. I've had abdominal cramp, constant sharp twinges in my pelvis where i presume my ovaries are and occasional lower back pain and pain in my legs. I'm also absolutely exhausted/fatigued. Recent urine test has ruled out a UTI.

I've never had a smear test by the way. I'm 25 and was pregnant when I was invited for my first one. I can't have this for at least another 5 weeks.

I was in hospital for a fortnight after I delivered for birth related complications (I developed sepsis so had to stay in) and whilst I was admitted I was having regular blood tests. What I'm wondering is whether something sinister like cancer would have been detetced with me having all these blood tests?

Have spoken to GP about bleeding and she said if it doesn't subside within another week tell her and she will order a scan, so I am seeking medical advice IRL, but the fear of CC has come over me today out of the blue and I can't shake it.

Am I being ridiculous? I'm prepared to accept I likely have a degree of health anxiety after my recent hospital stay.

To the very best of my knowledge, bleeding is not a common symptom of ovarian cancer.

It seems more likely that the bleeding is post partum than due to cervical cancer.

I'm not a health professional, I should emphasise.

If follow up with the gp.

*I'd

I agree, much more likely that there is a small amount of retained placenta or another pregnancy related reason for the bleeding. I really wouldn’t worry about cervical cancer in this scenario

I didn’t have a smear test until I was almost 26 because I was also pregnant when they called me for my first one. I was worried as hell like you are now, the smear test scared the shit out of me and I was eagerly awaiting bad results.

It was all fine, no cancer. Also bleeding for more than 6 weeks can happen, it happened to me with 2/4 of my children. Chances are yours will be fine too.

The twinges and cramps may well just be your uterus returning to normal size etc.

Maybe a health professional could chime in.

Thanks for the replies, I feel and sound like a royal plonker don't I.

I have huge anxiety after a recent episode of poor health, so now I'm hypervigilant about every little twinge or anything that doesn't fall in line with being totally normal.

I've been analysing my fatigue and feeling of being run down, adding it to the prolonged bleeding and pains then coming up with this lunacy

The only thing my GP did highlight with my latest blood test was an elevated white blood count and said they probably need repeating. I've had swollen glands and a sore throat recently so I put the white cell count down to having just a bit of a bug.

You don't; I can understand health anxiety .. at all let alone after an episode like that.
Birth is also traumatic in various ways.

Please share your worries with your doctor, I’ve had a number of episodes of health anxiety and they’ve always been very understanding and have carried out tests asap .

I was open about the anxiety at my 6 week check up and GP was brilliant, she's prescribed sertraline which I'm yet to start taking (fear of side effects etc)

Thank you, I felt like a right nutter reading my post back to myself after I posted

I'm currently doing NCT at the moment and last week was told that cramping/period pains are normal in the first 2 months as it's your uterus going back to a normal size.

When we all asked about bleeding we were told it is very personal. Sole people bleed for 'around' 6 weeks, for some it's just a normal period length, for my friend it was 2 days.

@jessy111, I’m glad they were sympathetic. I had a cancer scare and was going frantic about it (couldn’t sleep, terrible panics etc), I went to the specialist about the lump and confided how scared I was it was cancer. He said “well, it could be but if it is we need to get in and deal with it.” I felt sommuch better having shared my fear and having it acknowledged by an expert. Fortunately it wasn’t - but knowing that it was being dealt with was so reassuring.
Good luck and congrats x

Lochia can last a fair bit of time, and it can take a while for your body to feel relatively normal again following pregnancy and birth; it might be natural but it's still a huge ordeal. 7 weeks is not long at all, and the exhaustion of looking after a newborn possibly isn't helping. Please be kind to yourself and don't feel silly about talking to your health visitor or your GP again.

I think the health anxiety definitely pushes me to catastrophise about the worst possible scenario, which to most people in terms of their health is cancer isn't it? A more rational explanation would be the things mentioned on this thread - so thank you for your level headed suggestions.

I've got a telephone appointment on 1st of next month to get booked in for CBT which I'm hoping to find beneficial.

Fleetheart I'm glad your lump turned out to be ok, how frightening. I would go to pieces in that situation without a doubt. Very pleased you had a positive outcome x

Just in case it helps, I kept bleeding on and off after 7 weeks until around 10 weeks, and I understand that isn't unusual!

Absolutely seek help for your anxiety. I had a terrible episode of healthy anxiety due to a traumatic birth, I started to recover around nine months later. I'd managed to get a private referral as I was terrified I had cancer but saw a fantastic doctor who reassured me and got great support from friends and family. My husband also put a ban on Google and restricted the WiFi, every day he'd come home and I'd diagnosed myself with something else so he took action!
There is light though, those hormones post baby are evil at times. Wishing you all the best.

Reassured to hear I'm not alone with the postpartum bleeding that doesn't stop at 6 weeks!

It's definitely the traumatic birth and subsequent hospitalization for sepsis that has interfered with my rationale. I'm not usually like this, I'm quite calm and composed in general. I don't recognise myself at the moment.

I'm glad you got the help you needed Putapeony, having a difficult birth can definitely shift things mentally can't it. Hope you're ok now and have managed to put the trauma behind you, as much as possible that is.

I'm optimistic about the CBT and am looking forward to starting that.

Health anxiety is a nightmare especially when you don't feel at all well physically. I end up attributing every little ailment to something terminal and then tell myself I can't be wrong because I actually feel physically shit.

My immune system is a bit rubbish at the mo as I needed a blood transfusion the day after our baby was born, then the sepsis knocked me for six and I haven't felt at all healthy since, so the rational side of my brain is telling me I'm just a bit run down and it will pass.

This sounds like health anxiety. I can understand that. There are lots of reasons for bleeding to continue a bit longer PP and cervical cancer is definitely not one of the likely ones.

Good luck with the CBT OP. I definitely found the hormone shift Post partum made my mental health and anxiety much worse.

Thank you home, fingers crossed it will help. I've just subscribed to a brilliant channel on YouTube called 'the anxiety guy' who suffered from hypochondria/health anxiety for years and overcame it. His videos are fab and quite grounding.

If the CBT fails I have the sertraline to fall back on but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, I would probably end up here again panicking about the side effects

Jessy, I bled for nearly 3 months after my first dc was born. Eventually I got referred for a scan, and they found nothing - coincidentally, my bleeding stopped around the same time. So yes, do talk to your gp about your fears, but just wanted to give you another example of how bleeding can go on for a while, but not for sinister reasons.

Thank you marsh, it's definitely reassured me to hear that I'm not the only one who's surpassed the expected 6 weeks PP bleeding.

Glad it all turned out normal for you

I'll let my GP know if it hasn't stopped again by next week, hopefully it will have done but it not at least I know it's unlikely to be anything sinister

Thanks lovely, I honestly found getting outside really helped me and to just be in the moment as I felt I was missing out on my son because I was so wrapped up in myself dying. At one point I stopped sleeping because I'd convinced myself that's when it would happen. I laugh at myself now. Funnily enough my son turns one next week, all of our friends with children of similar age are so emotional and I'm like yipee! As I feel great now. Just rest assured its actually so normal to feel like this and it's not talked about openly enough.