AIBU - Smear test

[Dibble135]

A lot of money is being spent on a TV campaign encouraging women to go for smear tests.

Fortunately I am not one of those who are reluctant to attend but if I was, I think my experience of trying to get an appointment would cause me not to bother.

Just been to the GP surgery having taken time out of work to be told my appointment has been cancelled for what is now the third time.

No one bothered to tell me before I attended and no explanation as to why.

To add insult to injury, I had to yell my personal details across the counter because the receptionist did not get up from his computer to come and speak to me and I could see the lady I was booked in with having a coffee and a chat with her colleagues.

@cptartapp

Even if every smear you've ever had in your life has been HPV negative, it doesn't mean you're not carrying the virus. It lies dormant and can flare up after many years. You don't have to have had a new partner. Always worth a nurse visually inspecting your cervix too, which of course a swab alone can't do. Lack of staff in primary care. Many nurses leaving and retiring. Practice nurse.

If you test HPV positive, then clear it and test negative, can you then test HPV positive in the future if you never have a new partner? Assuming no cheating on their part etc.

Yes.

It is all womens health sadly! My baby is 10 weeks old, was told I'd have to wait until end of march for a telephone consultation to discuss getting a coil, then another 6-8 weeks after that for the procdeure! They made a big deal about contraception at our 6 week check and how fertile we are after birth yet don't actually prioritise it. Thankfully rang my local sexual health clinic and I'm having it done next week.

I wonder if having mobile testing units, similar to breast screening mobile units, would be beneficial?

Fortunately my GP could offer me a cervical screening appt within 2 weeks from when I called. I'd also received a letter and a text reminding me I was due a smear. But it completely depends on what the GP services are like where you live :(

I was diagnosed with CIN3 at 24 years old, no symptoms etc just went to my first smear test early and that was the result. It was horrendous and I had the cells removed under general aesthetic. It scares me to think what might have happened to me if I hadn't gone.

[quote ThinWomansBrain]@pawpaws2022 - have you checked with your local NHS sexual health clinic? I think some do them.[/quote]
Yep. It's at the hospital which never has parking and is something like 1-3 on the first Thursday of every month that doesn't end with a Y...

Well alas yes the experience is hardly one to encourage people. Thankfully hopefully needed only every few years.

I had my twins with me.
Nurse kindly offered to leave curtains open so they could see me.

Me: it's fine, I've turned them to face the wall for a reason (laugh). It's painful and awkward enough without being stared at my two year olds who didn't even come out that way.
Nurse: well I wouldn't say painful!!
Me: well I have to have it and I would so...
Nurse: well I have them too! And they not painful
Me: it's my body, I've never had one that doesn't hurt so...
Nurse: well I guess we have different pain thresholds!
Me: or, you know, different bodies??

She finally quit. It wasn't even like she was trying to reassure me, her tone was properly snarky. Hopefully it's clear and I won't need to see her for years.

Also had the same issue, am a year late from when I was meant to have it. Multiple cancellations on the day of.

I went recently to a sexual health clinic for contraception. The clinic was also an abortion clinic. The doctor there told me that many GPs had stopped offering contraceptive appts during covid, causing a backlog at her clinic, causing an increase in demand for abortions that could have been avoided. Apparently the waiting time was 20+ weeks which was too late for some women and they had to give birth. Guess women's health is just an afterthought.

@cptartapp , I read that the virus doesn't last past twenty years. I got fed up with the sheer incompetence of the nurse doing the test, rough, prolonged poking about, complaints that my cervix sloped backwards, actual pain, only to then be told that the result was inconclusive and to come back and do it again. Twice.
I decided, as I hadn't been sexually active for decades , to buy the HPV test from a private lab that covers all the strains. The test was negative, and I am now delisted from the smear test calls. If the test was done with anything like a better modicum of training I might go so an actual person could look at my cervix. But even when I did go I can't remember the nurse saying 'oh your cervix looks lovely and healthy/ looks like a piece of old cheese. It's the one size fits all campaigns that are such a waste of money. It would be far cheaper to let women test themselves for the virus and only go in for the positives.

The virus can lay dormant for decades.
Even if the nurse doesn't comment on the appearance of your cervix, a good nurse will be including and documenting visual inspection as part of her assessment. Not all cervical cancers are HPV related.
Sadly not all practice nurses are as proficient, and I agree there'd probably be better uptake with self swabbing.

I have vaginal atrophy which was diagnosed about a year ago. The thought of having a smear doesn’t appeal. I was called back in September and it’s the first time I’ve not gone for my appointment. I’m 47 and never had any abnormal results, but I do worry about not getting it done.

My plan is to get a home HPV test which will basically achieve same as the going for an invasive smear, it’s just the cost which is putting me off slightly…

I've never had a problem getting mine booked, they're pretty eager to get women in for them. They booked my last at the same time as babys jabs to make it more convenient for me.

I didn’t even get a letter sent out to book mine. I only remembered it was due because my DS was 12 weeks old when I had my last one so I thought to myself randomly ‘I had my smear done 3 years ago this month, need to book it’. Called the GP up to book it and the receptionist thought 2019 was two years ago… Had to remind her it’s now 2022 so definitely three years and only then did she book it in for me. Lucky I remembered really because the NHS clearly forgot.

Oh and to PP who suggested it’s pointless now because they only check if you have HPV, it really isn’t. HPV can lie dormant for many years like lots of other viruses so you can be negative for years then suddenly get a positive result despite having the same sexual partner.

I was phoned by the gp surgery! Out of the blue. I said yes because I don't want to die without having the chance to prepare my family properly. Life has changed drastically in the last few years and I can't not. I don't want to though, I really dont.

But you are not being unreasonable.

You should complain to the practice manager about the terrible treatment you have had at your surgery.

OP yanbu. I'm completely fed up of this narrative around smear tests, like if you don't have one YOU WILL DIE and that the only reason women don't go is because they're silly things embarrassed about their pubes. Rather than it being anything to do with: difficulty scheduling scarce in advance appointments with cycles including irregular cycles; pain (especially for women 40+ - this is not just 'discomfort'); prior trauma (1 in 3 etc). And that's before you even get to the treatment, which is lopping off bits of your cervix that may at some point in the future become cancerous, but probably won't, but that leaves you at with increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and preterm birth at some point in the future, regardless.

It's like this massive woman-blaming woman-maiming incompetent malfunctioning state machine that can't keep a diary, all wrapped up in stupid fucking cozy language about cheery nurses who apparently have "seen it all". Fuck off.

"She finally quit. It wasn't even like she was trying to reassure me, her tone was properly snarky. Hopefully it's clear and I won't need to see her for years."

You should make a complaint about her attitude.

Where do you get these private tests you do in the house for the virus?

@ClemFandangoo

In my opinion I think that campaign is not thought out well at all. The onus (and blame) is put squarely on women to just get it done. It’s as not simple as that. Many women will have been sexually assaulted or suffered child abuse and just saying ‘get it done’ without offering any reassurance is short sighted.

GP surgeries should be putting things in place to comfort and reassure women. Simply saying ‘suck it up and get it done’ is not helping.

Quelle surprise. Why blame the system that's failing women, when you can just blame women instead?

If they wanted to reach more women they would blame the system and then change it.

@Conc1

Where do you get these private tests you do in the house for the virus?

Superdrug is one.

Oh and to PP who suggested it’s pointless now because they only check if you have HPV, it really isn’t. HPV can lie dormant for many years like lots of other viruses so you can be negative for years then suddenly get a positive result despite having the same sexual partner.

It is pointless - and unethical - to subject women to an invasive procedure when you have no intention of using the sample and will bin most of them without ever looking at them.

It should be done with a swab test to monitor HPV status and then only women who test positive be asked to attend the invasive examination to provide a sample.

There is absolutely no basis for making women have an internal examination when all they actually need for a HPV test is a swab. That's a violation.

Finally got round to trying to book mine post baby (so way delayed) - our gp has only one nurse who does it 1.5 days a week and is booked up for months. Was told to contact the weekend service in a nearby town and even then have to wait a month for an appointment

It's like this massive woman-blaming woman-maiming incompetent malfunctioning state machine that can't keep a diary, all wrapped up in stupid fucking cozy language about cheery nurses who apparently have "seen it all". Fuck off.

Very much this. I've opted out of being harassed contacted about mine.

I completely agree that women's health is criminally neglected but condoms were available during in the pandemic and it's a massive shame people don't use them.

They seem to be 'last resort' - there should be a huge campaign to get both men and women to consider them as their first choice since they are the only form of contraception to prevent STIs and also non-hormonal.

It seems that GPs push every young girl on the pill or similar - potentially exposing her to HPV (and therefore cervical cancer) and every other STI under the sun and completely absolving the man of responsibility.

Absolutely does my head in. Not to mention the increased risk of breast cancer and PCOS, blood clotting.

Self-testing smears seem like an absolute no brainer - it's got to be cheaper as well!

Are there any organisations/charities that focus solely on women's health, does anyone know?

Just to add I've also had a clumsy, oafish man do my smears when I had abnormal cells come back, and now I absolutely hate them, to the point where I will be refusing vaginal exams for upcoming birth because I know it will make me so tense.