to decline cervical screening offer?

[Teacupsandtoast]

Just that really.

Is there a simple process for opting out or is there hoop jumping required? (Which often seems to be the case when it comes to withdrawing consent for anything)

A friend of mine died age 36 last year, it wasnt pleasant to watch. She never bothered having a smear and left several children motherless after suffering a long and painful death. However its your choice. Write a letter to your GP asking them not to bother inviting you for a smear... I doubt you will go through with it though.

I don't get this. I remember they'd swab your cervix and look for pre cancerous cells? Is it only hpv that causes these changes? What if you have cell changes and no hpv?

I rang my GP surgery and they passed a message on to the nurse who is in charge of sending them out. She must have taken me off the list as no further reminders have been sent out.

Not sure- it’s just really painful.
Anything going in there ranges from uncomfortable - extremely painful.
Cant put fingers up (even my own) can’t use tampons, PIV is uncomfortable or painful.
I have tried so many relaxation techniques but like I say, literally imagine someone is going to put something painful up there- it force something very large up there and keep going. That is literally what it feels like when they open the speculum. How can you relax when it feels like that? It’s like telling someone ‘I’m going to torture you now, but just relax’ ‘you have to be tortured every 3 years for the good of your health’
Honestly I don’t know why it’s like this for me. Upsets me so much. I’ve seen councillors and GP’s and been to nurses and sexual health clinics. No difference

That's ridiculous. She will remain entitled to treatment just like anyone else.

If you have ever taken a calculated risk with your body, and it went wrong for you, you would expect treatment. Stop trying to suggest OP should be punished for making choices about her body.

The more people ignore these optional tests the more likely they are to eventually be withdrawn. My mother died of cervical cancer. It's not a comfortable death.

I had the vaccine and they still found hpv.

They do still swab the same. I imagine it's quicker, easier or cheaper to test the sample for HPV as it is the cause for almost all (not all, but routine screening is all about reducing risk across the population rather than a specific diagnosis, I tihnk is the argument) cervical cancers. You're unlikely to have cell changes without also having HPV.

But because the test is done the same, they have the right cells they need to look for pre-cancerous ones if you do test positive.

Standalone HPV tests are just a vaginal swab so probably less awkward for people, but then if they tested positive you would need a further smear for cervical cells.

Wish this was true for me. I am under 30, fully vaccinated and still had abnormal cells caused by high risk hpv. Luckily mine were caught quickly and I could have cryotherapy rather than more intense lletz.

Op - completely get why you don't want to have it done, it's not the nicest. If you insist, please order a HPV home test kit every time you are due a screening. If it comes back positive, you can reconsider a smear. Superdrug does a kit for £48: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/hpv-test.html

Barbaric and invasive procedure. Christ!!

Just wanted to say I hope no-one interprets my post as so! I just wish my auntie had been screened. I miss her and I miss my cousin. Very personal choice to have the screen, as with all medical testing. Each to their own - just wanted to share my experience. Be well with whatever you choose OP.

👌

I don't understand why you'd not want a smear every 3 years, given the high statistics that show it can prevent cancer or alert you in the very early stages.

But, I do understand that there are situations which mean having a smear may be triggering. You say you weren't listened to during your labour (?) by your midwives, is this a reaction to that? A way of getting back control you might have felt you lost during that time? I could be completely wrong, of course, and this is not meant to sound at all condescending or rude, just wondering if this is a kind of PTSD type reaction

So you think being called a twat is a bit harsh, but in the same post call the op stupid.
In any other area of life how does this form of argument work out for you? Do people immediately agree with you and change their mind? Or do they dig their heels in and carry on their own way?

I'm not planning on having any atm. I was a virgin and married a virgin. Now divorced but not had sex with anyone else yet. They only look for the virus so I'm a definite no. Have had one -ve test since divorce. Unless I meet a new partner I don't see the point of having any more

Yes YABU

But that is your decision to make, if you have the capacity to decide then it's your decision (even if it would be considered by many others to be a bad decision)

Wouldn't you want to know if there were early changes in the cervical cells, which may lead to cancer down the line?

Not labour, pregnancy. Children are all mid-late primary and I have had smears since their birth, so not in response to any previous poor medical care

@Pinkpeony2 is it a physical issue? I described upthread how I have something similar - although your reaction sounds much more extreme.
Vulvadynia and associated conditions - I have a version called vestubulodynia - are woefully undiagnosed and not understood well by medical professionals.
The first time I plucked up the courage to see a GP about the pain I was and had always experienced she basically told me I just, as you described, ‘need to relax’. If I could go back in time and see her again I’d be tempted to slap her. I was only 19 years old, desperate to be able to have normal sex with my boyfriend at the time who was very understanding, and she made me feel like an idiot. It took a lot for me to make that, what at that age I obviously felt was an embarrassing trip to the doctors, and it was a complete slap in the face.
It wasn’t until 3 years later I had to see a GP again due to another unrelated issue down there - he needed to use a speculum to investigate and immediately realised I was in great discomfort and was like ‘is this usual for you?’ He was keen to know more and I burst into tears and he referred me to a gynaecologist straight away to have it investigated. I told him about the time I was told to ‘relax’ and he looked quite outraged and said ‘how are you supposed to relax if you’re in pain?’ He was a great GP.
Please don’t be fobbed off on this. I’m sure there is an explanation and things that can be done to help you. Sorry you’ve had no good support.

Once again, these kind of threads never go well.

To those who are asking the OP why she wants to opt out. Mind your own fucking business. Does the phrase "My body, my choice" not mean anything anymore?

I am opting out in the future too.

Come at me, bitches.

I hate having smears or mammograms because my mum and aunt both died of cancer and I have massive stress during and afterwards when waiting for the results. When I get the letter, I nearly pass out with stress over it.

However........a little bit slack when I was older, I am now hot on these procedures. I am straight in there when I get a letter. It is just a few minutes of my life, and is better than being diagnosed with late stage anything that could kill me.

Me being sick has a ripple effect on my family. It would deeply affect my parent and siblings, it would make my DH's life very difficult and it would greatly upset my DC if I wasn't here. It is my duty to get these tests.

Plus last smear said I do not have HPV and I don't have to have a smear for 5 years, or it may have even said 7.

I am over due one but have put it off as I had surgery last year and was swabbed for everything including cervical cancer (also had camera investigation), I will go soon but I didn’t feel there’s a rush.

No one enjoys having it done, I actually find it really uncomfortable due to a tilted cervix, I usually bleed afterwards. But I wouldn’t opt out of having them, I have dc who need me around and if I can detect cancer early then there’s more chance I will survive, many women have been saved through smear tests.

I couldn’t pass without commenting….

I’ve read through your posts and have seen that you have given no specific reason as to why you no longer want smears, other than you wish to make the choice not to have them.

I was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of 29. Short story - I had 5% survival odds.

The hardest bit wasn’t being told I had cancer, it wasn’t the hell of waiting to find out how far it had spread. It wasn’t the treatment. It wasn’t faking everything was ok….

The hardest bit was watching my 5 year old son sleep and wondering if he was going to have to grow up without me. Nothing is scarier than imaging a life for my son without me there by his side, being there for him when he needed me. That is the most heart wrenching part of my whole experience. I went as far as buying birthday cards for every birthday up until his 21st. I bought a congratulations on passing your driving test - which I wrote him a lecture on not speeding, drink driving and being careful. I wrote him a card congratulating him on his engagement with a message to his future fiancé. I wrote him a message about loving and respecting his partner and how important trust is in a relationship. I wrote a card for the birth of his first child and telling him how I felt when I became his mum.

As part of ongoing treatment I have to see my oncologist who has to do an internal examination every time I see him - smear tests are a walk in the park compared to those.

I was devastated that I had to have a full hysterectomy as I wanted to have more children. So much so I was actually considering risking not having it so I could have another baby.

It took a mother from my son’s school to message me that her friend had just passed away from cervical cancer leaving 4 children without a mum and she couldn’t forgive herself for not mentioning it to me.

I was heartbroken, I was desperate for more children, but I already had a baby that I needed to put first - because as parents that’s what we should do- put our children first.

It’s your life, your choice… but what would your children choose? Would they want you to risk whether or not they grow up with you there?

Thanks to having a smear, despite having 5% survival, I’m now 6 years clear and my son turns 13 in a couple of weeks. That box of birthday cards remains in the attic.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat yes we don’t get informed of private smear test results. It’s worth taking a copy in for your surgery to be added to your record, and then it can be coded for the CSA so they won’t call you unnecessarily.

Generally speaking nothing you have done privately is copied in to your GP unless you specifically allow it or request it (depending on the nature of the private consultation. Some will ask if you want your GP informed).

Knowing why kinda helps with answering the question though, no?