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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask why you’ve missed/delayed/declined cervical screening?

936 replies

chickentikkawhatswrong · 19/02/2022 13:56

I see a lot of the campaigns on Facebook about women not going to smears or putting them off for too long.

However it’s generally stats and doesn’t seem to delve too far into the actual reasons?

If you are reluctant what holds you back from attending?

OP posts:
RedToothBrush · 19/02/2022 19:06

Everyone else who detests them or no longer wants one, email your surgery, tell them you no longer consent to smears and you will not have any more fear inducing letters.

I HAVE DONE THIS. THEY LIED AND IGNORED IT. THEY STILL PERSIST.

riotlady · 19/02/2022 19:06

I do have mine but I really really struggle with them- I was raped as a teenager so I struggle with flashbacks and dissociation and it really knocks me off kilter for about a week after with having nightmares and things. Im lucky that the nurse that does them at our GP is really lovely and although I’ve never told her what’s happened, I think she’s sussed it and made a note somewhere so she’s always very kind and gentle. My husband comes and holds my hand too. But if I had had a nurse that was any less sympathetic I wouldn’t have coped, so I completely understand how people have had bad experiences and refuse them.

ExtraOnion · 19/02/2022 19:07

I’ve not had one in 20 years … it’s painful.. I feel like my Vagina clamps shut at the thought of it.

Igloo79 · 19/02/2022 19:10

I'm frustrated at how many posters want to coerce me into accepting what would be, for me, sexual assault by penetration. Saying I'm stupid for not wanting it. Suggesting I need therapy to make me go through with it.

No. No. No.

Emo76 · 19/02/2022 19:11

Because since COVID it is near on impossible to book an appointment or discuss it with the receptionists at my surgery. I was given an appointment but at wrong time in my cycle, tried to rearrange and .... nothing....

But I will get it done

Liverpool52 · 19/02/2022 19:11

Mine are extremely painful and often lead to a couple of days bleeding. The last one took three nurses 35 minutes to find my cervix and instead of just taking the sample the nurse called in a younger nurse to use me as a teaching case, prolonging an already extremely painful procedure like I was some kind of show and tell not an actual living patient. Yes they need to learn but not by unnecessarily prolonging pain for a patient.

And then I got a letter saying the sample couldn't be tested because not enough cells were taken.

That was the final straw.

BrassicaBabe · 19/02/2022 19:12

Read most of the thread.

I paid for a home test HPV test this year.

I wish I could find better quality info out there. The NHS still seems to bang on about smear tests. It took me some digging to find out they don't do anything if the HPV is negative.

As an older women in a v trusting marriage I haven't been able to work out if a negative HPV is enough or because it can lay dormant I need to self test every year or so.

I wish the NHS was more transparent on many occasions

TheYellowOne · 19/02/2022 19:13

Because my GP isn't doing face to face appointments. I've had smears every 3 years since I was 19 (I'm now 46) and my last one was 3.5 years ago. Interestingly my GP hasn't sent out the usual reminder letter. Presumably because they aren't seeing patients face to face....

speakout · 19/02/2022 19:14

I haven't been invited for around 4 years, I thought they had been stopped because of covid.

NoSquirrels · 19/02/2022 19:14

It seems to me this is a campaign MNHQ could usefully get behind - petitioning to change the protocol to a non-invasive HPV test first, then call for smear if HPV+.

XenoBitch · 19/02/2022 19:14

@Igloo79

I'm frustrated at how many posters want to coerce me into accepting what would be, for me, sexual assault by penetration. Saying I'm stupid for not wanting it. Suggesting I need therapy to make me go through with it.

No. No. No.

I know. Or you need to be sedated, or even go under a GA to go through with it. That is the sort of things that should only be needed for treatment, not routine screening. If lots of women need medicating/therapy to go through routine screening then the problem is with the process of screening, not the women.
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 19/02/2022 19:17

@Fridafever

If that's all you're thinking, you need to learn to read better. You condescending arse.

I think that about covers it.

There's a few of those on this thread.

I have a fairly high pain threshold but during the last smear I had was so painful I was crying and it was rushed which made it worse (if the nurse had spent less time discussing my weight she could have taken more time with the smear). My next one is due in September but I doubt I'll have it this time. If I do I might look into having it done privately in the hope it's less rushed.

HarryBlackberry1 · 19/02/2022 19:22

I do get them, as my mum nearly died of cervical cancer. However, I absolute hate them. Painful, even with using the smallest speculum, and I always get cystitis afterwards. I have to literally psych myself up for months, and have to make sure it's during holidays as I know I'll end up with a UTI afterwards.

bitemyarsenic · 19/02/2022 19:24

@Porcupineintherough

Not all cases are related to HR HPV

No but the ones that aren't are only picked up later through symptoms. Because they only screen for HPV now and, if you are negative, no one is looking at the cells on your cervix.

No thats not correct. Its often picked up during a smear test or if a woman attends because of symptoms. When you go for a smear they take a sample for HPV and a sample for cell screening, to do this they need to look at the cervix. The sample is only tested if you are HPV positive I was sent for colposcopy because my cervix looked abnormal, HPV negative. Luckily all ok.
kjv1234 · 19/02/2022 19:24

I just kept forgetting to ring the drs. Finally did it last week though.

delilahbucket · 19/02/2022 19:24

I put my first one off because I didn't think I needed it due to my age, although I'd had a child.
I out my second off as I had serious pelvic issues and opening my legs was a real problem. When I eventually plucked up the courage to go, I got jabbed in the pubis symphysis which was highly inflamed at the time and it crippled me. This was because I couldn't out my ankles together and drop my knees so she tried to go in at a different angle. Obviously me crying out in agony made the nurse retract the speculum immediately. I then did the speculum myself and could open my legs far enough for her to then see to get the swab. I've done it myself ever since.
I was late in 2020 due to Covid. Fortunately my surgery prioritised this service and I was only about four months overdue.

Harveypuss · 19/02/2022 19:24

I had a smear done once and the nurse inserted the speculum into my vagina and forced the cervix open extremely quickly, rather than a gentle opening. I got such a shooting pain in my lower belly/pelvic area that I felt I'd been stabbed. I screamed out loud and was sick on the floor. I can't describe what a shock it was. It was awful.

I missed the next smear date as a result but did try again recently and the nurse was far more gentle and it was bearable. Still, painful but not absolute agony as before. I think I was just unlucky with a particularly rough handed nurse.

I will continue to get them done but I dread it.

ShiroMiso · 19/02/2022 19:24

I had my first one at 25 (almost 28 now so due again in September)

I didn't put it off but I was anxious about it and was on tenderhooks waiting for the results. I can easily see why that anxiety might prevent somebody from having theirs.

In my case my anxiety stemmed from the fact I didn't have the HPV vaccine when I was young, so I was worried the results would show something concerning as I wasn't protected iyswim.

All was fine and I would always ensure i was up to date with smears going forward.

BoredZelda · 19/02/2022 19:25
  • I think they start too late now. They should reduce the age to 20. They're painful and sometimes hard to get an appointment.*

According to the BMJ Cervical screening in women aged 20-24 has little or no impact on rates of invasive cervical cancer up to age 30. Some uncertainly still exists regarding its impact on advanced stage tumours in women under age 30. By contrast, screening older women leads to a substantial reduction in incidence of and mortality from cervical cancer. These data should help policy makers balance the impact of screening on cancer rates against its harms, such as overtreatment of lesions with little invasive potential.

20 is too young, arguably they should move it to 30.

I found it extremely upsetting that they’re thinking of putting it to 5 years. A friend of mine thought she was too young for a smear. Got cervical cancer and died at ages 28. Not long after jade goody did
Heartbreaking.

Any young person dying from cancer is heartbreaking, but according to the study carried out by the BMJ, it is very likely early screening wouldn’t have detected your friend’s cervical cancer until it was more advanced.

TwoDogs9 · 19/02/2022 19:26

Because I absolutely hate them. They are uncomfortable/painful and for some reason they always struggle to find my cervix and are routling around for ages and fetching different speculums etc I find them very embarrassing and the whole procedure is hideous. I haven’t had one for 6 years but I know I should. Maybe they’re not so bad after child birth?! Please tell me they’re not!

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 19/02/2022 19:27

@Iwasonline

A family member says she doesn't need a smear...she's never been sexually active. These are her reasons
It’s true that she wouldn’t need one though, isn’t it? I’ve read that cervical cancer is unknown in nuns. And an ex colleague who’d never had sex and hated the procedure so much that she’d tense right up and make it even more difficult, was told that she needn’t put herself through it again.

I dare say such cases are increasingly rare, though.

Jvg33 · 19/02/2022 19:27

I found it uncomfortable physically even after the birth of two children.

BOOTS52 · 19/02/2022 19:31

I really hate going but always do and always have over the years. I am overly sensitive to pain and I always ask them to use the smaller device as it does make a difference. But also the person doing the test makes a difference. I had one woman/nurse and it was horrific and I did bleed after but now have the same nurse and it is over before I know it and she is fantastic. Still tense up and feel as if would rather jump off a cliff but know how important it is to get these tests done. I know women who go to bleach their hair regularly at hairdressers and all sorts, but will not go for a smear test. 3 women I know and was shocked as it is just ridiculous as we all feel embarrassed and do not like it but then is done and over with.

XenoBitch · 19/02/2022 19:32

@BOOTS52

I really hate going but always do and always have over the years. I am overly sensitive to pain and I always ask them to use the smaller device as it does make a difference. But also the person doing the test makes a difference. I had one woman/nurse and it was horrific and I did bleed after but now have the same nurse and it is over before I know it and she is fantastic. Still tense up and feel as if would rather jump off a cliff but know how important it is to get these tests done. I know women who go to bleach their hair regularly at hairdressers and all sorts, but will not go for a smear test. 3 women I know and was shocked as it is just ridiculous as we all feel embarrassed and do not like it but then is done and over with.
Are you honestly drawing a comparison between getting your hair dyed, and having a smear?
stimpyyouidiot · 19/02/2022 19:33

Yes having your hair dyed is exactly the same as having someone shove a foreign object inside your body