To never have another smear test again.

[Whiskyinajar]

Today I went for my first smear test in a decade ....I've never found them easy and today was no exception. In fact today the smear test couldn't be done as I was in so much pain and it was so uncomfortable that the nurse could not even open the speculum. She did say that she could just about visualise my cervix and the visually it looked healthy.

I'm 55 and I've been through several smear tests, I've never found them easy. I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and I have vaginismus hence all smear tests being horrific..

I left the health centre today feeling a failure which I know isn't a logical feeling, I know I am not a failure and that the issue is psychosexual.

However in terms of risk factors I am low risk. I've only ever had two sexual partners and I am a non smoker and always have been.

I'm going to write to my GP and tell her I am opting out of further smear tests.

The nurse today said they would refer me to gynaecology as they may have more success. Tbh I will not allow anyone near me with a speculum ever again unless they sedate me first.

I'm also looking a self testing kits which the NHS don't recommend, however I know in North London there is a current study looking at self testing kits and that these are used successfully in parts of Europe.

Tempted to order one and just share the result with my GP.

Help! Anyone else been in this situation.

Please consider the gynae referral. We have a local gynae service for difficult smears - you may have one too. Ultimately though, it is your decision and yours alone.

Just re read and obviously I've mistyped the number!

[quote colouringindoors]Left lateral position

www.jostrust.org.uk/about-us/news-and-blog/blog/left-lateral-position-%E2%80%93-better-option-patients[/quote]
Thank you for the link @colouringindoors - very interesting and makes sense, especially for a tilted cervix.

I don't mean that in a nasty way. I mean that it is your body and no one has the right to tell you what you have to allow.

Women should be treated like grown ups.

We should be given accurate information about our personal risk of developing cervical cancer and accurate information about both benefits and risks of the current cervical screening programme, including risks to our mental health.

It's not OK to make all women subject themselves to an invasive vaginal test when their sample will not even be looked at if they don't also test positive for HPV.

Women psych themselves up for weeks and months and years for this test and ask their GP for prescriptions of tranquilisers in order to cope with it. I don't think that's right or proportionate.

Last time I had mine done the nurse asked if I wanted to do it myself with her guidance, as for some women this is easier. I didn't want to do that so cannot say what it would be like, but maybe this is something you could ask for?

Had problem with smear for 1st time at 55, nurse and a doctor tried, referred me to hospital as they have adequate chair/stirrups used smaller equipment and was easily done without pain. They have told me to ask to be referred to hospital for my next smear test instead of drs.

Yes OP, I find smears unbearable. They couldn't do the last one even though I went back on a different day to try again. Absolute nightmare.

The way the nurses handle it doesn't help either. The general implication is that you're frigid or hysterical. I have an intramural fibroid and the pain of a smear is unbelivable.

Thanks for the thread. Lots of useful info here and I'll be seeing about a HPV test.

I find it gobsmacking that for data collection, you are not allowed to collect anything above and beyond essential data due to GDPR, yet the NHS is collecting cells from vaginas via invasive methods as an extra just in case a pre-test ie HPV test is positive.

Does the HPV vaccine mean that the smear test will die out then?

All these people saying a smear could have saved her life bollocks
Why the fuck are we not taking a simple HPV test
Then if going forward you need a smear fine.
What the fuck is wrong with the nhs.
They used to say, oh we will pick up on other things. Bollocks do they

If it was encouraged to have a simple test I can tell you there would be 100% uptake rather than the crap one there is now.

As per is the women’s fault for being traumatised by a smear

If men had to have smears and could now have a simple test - this conversation wouldn’t even be happening

Mine have never been fun, but I had one a few years ago and it felt as if I was being torn in two. I told the nurse to stop and she carried on and said ‘it’s not that painful’. I couldn’t get away from that bitch fast enough. When I moved areas and changed surgery I told the nurse what had happened and she was horrified. She was as slow and gentle as she could be, and really patient. It still hurt but was no where near as traumatic. My mum had cervical cancer so it’s something I will continue to do. I didn’t know about the sedative, I will ask next time.

OP, I understand completely why you don’t want to have them anymore. I’m sure you’ve thought about the risks, so if you can live with them then I agree no one should bully you into having a smear. I do think it might we worth discussing with your nurse or GP, just to see if there is more that can be done to support you though.

Interesting regarding the hospital referrals. I may ask for that. I’ve been avoiding my test for years as I find them unbearable 😔

What makes me angry is all these women avoiding the test - like me through trauma

Well we could easily be given a hpv test. If it came back positive then I would force myself to have futher examination perhaps under sedation

What a waste of people’s lives that the NHS doesn’t care about women enough.

Smear tests are more than 'a little uncomfortable' for me.
I absolutely dread them, and I must be way overdue as I can't remember when I last went.

@Whiskyinajar, I totally agree with @FatAnneTheDealer. Sounds like vaginal atrophy.
I’ve had smears for the past 30 years with no problem until I hit my 50’s. My last one felt like a knife was inserted and slashed around. The pain was horrendous and nothing like I’d experienced ever! I was actually traumatised for a few days because of the pain. I was prescribed vagifem and had two more failed appointments because I couldn’t cope with the pain.
I searched on MN and read loads of old threads about smears with vaginal atrophy and one suggestion was to ask for the small speculum. On my third appointment the doctor used the small size and although it was still painful, it was manageable. I’ve continued with vagifem. Well worth searching on the site to hear all about these issues.

I'm still not sure about the hpv test, am I right that the test is testing cervical cells, so if you do the commercial one you are still inserting a swab and have to access your cervix? Google isn't making it clear.

@CatsMother66
The point is. You don’t even need a fucking smear test and no one had told you

Mine started with laser treatment which hurt like hell.
The leaflet I'd been given said that a small percentage of women found the pain unacceptable, in which case it would be stopped.

They didn't stop. My goggles were full of tears, and I was pleading with them to stop.

My next smear, my gp said "christ! They've taken a lot!" and it hurt like a bitch too.
He told me that the neck of my womb is just hard scar tissue.. almost impossible to prise open.

It's disgraceful the way some of you are trying to coerce OP into having a smear with scare stories about friends/relatives who have cc.

Women should be able to make informed decisions and those decisions be respected.

This is so helpful! So if I get the hpv test kit (it's on for £48 on superdrug) I don't need a smear test unless the hpv test comes back positive?

Can I request a hpv test at my GP surgery instead of a smear test?

Sorry I’m really confused, can someone explain to me (really simply) what they’re doing now with the new cervical screening? Is it not just a check for HPV or is it still taking extra just in case as someone up thread described it? I thought they would only call me back for further screening if I was HPV +ive but didn’t read the leaflets in much detail

Also- sorry for all the questions but Google isn't be helpful!- is hpv test kit less evasive? What if you have no sexual partners?

@MarisPiper92 I am given gas and air at my local womens hospital. I am encouraged to breathe in so much I am totally spaced out.