Panicking about smear results

[MummySS22]

Am I being unreasonable to be having a giant meltdown this morning?! I’ve been crying, shaking, yelling and just outright horrid because I am so so panicked. Am I overreacting just a bit. Is there cause for panic?
told my husband to F off because he’s making out like a drama queen and being OTT (he always does with everything, anymore laid back he’s be lying down)
ive got my smear tests results on my online portal from the surgery. It’s says-
HPV positive
high grade dyskaryosis
direct referral to colposcopy

I am in tears, I have extreme health anxiety and ocd and have done for many years. Immediately in my head I’m thinking “oh my god. I’ve got cancer”
now I know that’s not the case always and I’ve done a quick bit of research but perhaps my brain is not working due to the panic but can do mine explain to me in very simple terms what this actually means. I’d be so grateful.
thank you

It's natural to worry and fear the worst. I hope you can get the colposcopy soon. Uncertainty is so hard

I looked online for info and found this -

https://www.nhsinform.scot/tests-and-treatments/non-surgical-procedures/colposcopy/#:~:text=Approximately%201%20in%20100%20cervical,and%20you%20may%20need%20treatment.

The website says that -

About 4 out of 10 women who have a colposcopy have a normal result. A normal result means your cervix appears healthy and you have a low risk of developing cervical cancer before your next screening test. Depending on your age, you’ll be invited for a cervical screening appointment in 3 or 5 years

About 6 out of 10 women who have a colposcopy have abnormal cells in their cervix. This doesn’t mean they are cancerous cells, but they can sometimes develop into cancer if left untreated

Hope this is some help to you

(I'm not a bot, by the way, but didn't want to read and run and I didn't know the answer to your question)

Same (not an expert but wanted to find out for you). Here is a longer explanation, that says they are precancerous cells and almost all women will be successfully treated.

https://www.unidocs.co.uk/docs/cx/abnormal/english.pdf

Completely normal to be worried, when I got mine they sent a cancer leaflet with it and I was a mess, turned out I had CIN2 and the area affected was the size of my thumb nail, I was so anxious about it that they put me under to remove the cells and all has been fine since. High Grade means that you have abnormal cells, but the great thing about regular smears is that they can pick up these things and treat before they turn into anything more. With HPV you'll have yearly smears for a while following treatment for the abnormal cells so will be well looked after. Sending hugs

Another link for you OP

https://www.londonwomenscentre.co.uk/conditions/dyskaryosis

Hopefully that provides some reassurance cos I imagine you're beyond terrified right now.

I'm not a medical professional but everything I've just read suggests this is all pre-cancer stuff which is why we have smears, to save lives. Try to remind yourself of that cos HA is going to have you spiralling.

They are referring you immediately to get on top of whatever is going on which is really good.

Ring your gp & speak to them to get some reassurances & an explanation of what all this means.

Hi OP, sorry to hear that you're overwhelmed by this right now. I completely understand it is scary for you. Deep breaths if you can. I'm sure someone will be along shortly who has received the same results as you in the past and can help you much better than me, however I wanted to reply with this, hope it helps.

I found this online, you may have found it yourself but I'll post anyway just in case.

Dyskaryosis
When your cervical screening test is HPV positive and shows abnormal changes in the cells of the cervix this is called ‘dyskaryosis’. Most abnormal results show minor cell changes. These are called borderline, mild or low-grade dyskaryosis. These cell changes are often linked to the HPV. In many cases these minor changes will go back to normal by themselves.

A small number of women have moderate or severe changes to the cells on their cervix. This is called high-grade dyskaryosis. These changes are also pre-cancerous in nature. The majority of cases do not lead to cancer of the cervix in the future. These changes are less likely to return to normal on their own. A simple treatment (discussed further in this leaflet) may be all that is required so that the cells of the cervix can return to normal.

It is important to remember that it is extremely rare for these abnormal changes on your cervical screening sample to be cancer.

easier said than done, but yes your reaction is a bit OTT but that is understandable given your health anxiety.

l had a very similar result in my mid 20s went for colpolscopy and had biopsy but all was fine no further treatment other than more frequent smears. I had the same in my 30s and again all is fine.

HPV in itself is very common and is a reason to maintain routine smears. From what I understand you can't 'cure ' HPV once you have it but it isn't always active in your body

At the moment your result shows abnormal cells and they want to investigate further to see IF you need any further treatment.

Anything like this is of course worrying but cancer isn't the likely outcome.

Good luck and I hope you get seen soon.

Omg. Thank you soooo much for your replies. It’s made me feel so much better, o had seen the stuff online but my brain didn’t want to process that it was likely harmless. I’ve got a GP appointment this morning for something unrelated but maybe I could bring it up anyway and see what they say?
my mum had pre cancerous cells and they lasered them off. This was about 20 years ago. I guess I’m just panicking. My HA is severe and has been for years so I feel like this is the worst news I could receive because admittedly my brain doesn’t act logical in the first instance.

I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this level of anxiety.

Obviously it’s normal to feel a bit concerned about a smear result like this, but your DH is right: crying, shaking and yelling is a big overreaction to a very common test result, which does not show that you have cancer and in fact reveals that you can almost certainly have a fairly simple treatment that will ensure you don’t get cancer in the future either.

You are aware that you have extreme health anxiety. Therefore you are aware that you overreact and panic about health issues and you are aware that you are being unreasonable to react with this level of panic and fear. Your DH would not be helping you if he validated your excessive/unjustified anxiety, and neither would anyone here.

You don’t have cancer. You have some abnormal cells which can he treated to prevent you from getting cancer. It’s obviously not the ideal outcome and of course any woman would think “Oh, that’s an extra worry in my life that I really didn’t need”. But it’s honestly not a major issue at all; think of it more as an inconvenience.

Are you getting any treatment for your anxiety? It’s horrible for you to be experiencing this level of distress over things, and it sounds like it’s also affecting people around you too if they bear some of the brunt of it.

@MummySS22
It sounds like you have exactly what your mum had. They will treat the ones you have (I had low grade last year and had no treatment after colposcopy just being monitored annually).

Your mum is fine (I’m assuming), you will be too.

You don’t have cancer - you could develop it years down the line so they will remove these cells and monitor you. That’s all.

I understand the shock though, I was really surprised by my result and had a bit of a panic.

Hello, my sister had this a few years ago, with the HPV positive, was in a terrible state. In fact I even posted on here asking for advice about it as I wanted to reassure her. She had the colposcopy and all was fine 😀 try not to worry until you have to xxx let me see if I can find the thread as it had many reassuring and helpful replies xxx

I had a positive one and was sent for investigation at hospital and they were so good and gave me all the facts etc. it’s horrible though and so worrying .

Positive HPV test and abnormal smear www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_health/4104755-positive-hpv-test-and-abnormal-smear

I had the same result just over 2 weeks ago, and am going through what you are describing, and I’m not generally anxious.

I had a colposcopy 6 years ago for ‘low grade’ and regular smears since. It’s not pleasant, I won’t lie, but is necessary of course.

I’m still waiting on my colposcopy appointment, which isn’t helping, and I chased through the GP yesterday as the original letter said I should do so after 2 weeks.

I'm inclined to agree with your husband. I've had colposcopy and it's a very straightforward procedure - just a bit inconvenient to have to take a couple of hours off work. It's really not worth a second thought.

You'll be ok OP. I've had colposcopy and then LLetz and I've been clear ever since, that was about 12 years ago. 🌺

No HPV at my last smear and I was told as long as I had one partner (my DH) I needn't worry about getting HPV again

That’s actually incorrect, it can lie dormant and come back to show positive at any time.

I have swung between positive and negative with the same partner.

@10HailMarys ive had numerous treatments over the years. None of which have helped me, I have phases where it okay and manageable but more phases of weeks on end of emotional and mental distress to the point it takes over my life and I’m not the best mum and wife I should be. It sounds very selfish and I wish more than anything I could just let the anxiety go but my brain just won’t.

thank you everyone so much for your support and sometimes I do just need a kick up the arse to tell to me to man up and get on with it. My fear is sudden death and my brain illogically tells me at every opportunity that you are one step closer to dying. I know it sounds totally bonkers. I feel better now though knowing that my situation is not uncommon.

@AlltheFs thank you! I won't be blasé about keeping up to date with them so

Have you had ERP exposure response where you are gradually exposed to your fear? It helped me and is considered the gold standard treatment for OCD

If it helps I've had a colposcopy and it wasn't a big deal, and I was fine to cycle home afterwards.

In fact it was quite cool because the consultant was great at explaining what we were seeing and basically gave me a tour of my cervix! And confirmed all was fine, as with the majority if cases.

So hopefully yours will be scheduled asap and you'll get a nice consultant and an all clear!

thanks everyone, I’ve had a call from the hospital this morning and I’ve been booked in for the colposcopy 29th November.

@GuillableFool I have had high exposure therapy but they aren’t sure what to do with me next as my fear is apparently thanatiphobia (death anxiety) and they don’t really have a specific treatment plan apparently. They say high intensity CBT is my best treatment but I have had it twice with no success.

I have health ocd too , yeah I don’t think normal therapy realky works very well for this.
theew Is t enough understanding out there for how hard this is to deal with. Xx

Hope you are ok OP! I found your thread because I was googling colposcopy/biopsy and anxiety! I've just had a colposcopy and biopsy a few days ago and am awaiting the result. I also have ocd like you (just started ERP) so I understand where you're coming from re. The anxiety.

Just to say I hope things go well, and like the other posters have said, this is actually fairly common. I had the same thing happen maybe 10 years ago and all was OK. Wishing you the best.

Also, ocd is the worst!!! I sometimes think that if I actually did have a physical health problem I might be able to deal with it fairly well, because it can't compare to the hell that is ocd.