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Original poster

smear test - when in cycle to have it?

33 replies

RanToTheHills · 24/04/2007 11:47

had one a few months ago and just (!) got the result back as being inconclusive owing to technical fault so have to repeat. Receptionist said could be that it had been done at wrong point in my cycle, but I'd timed the appt on their advice in 1st place Think i'm now going for it on day 14. Is this about right?

OP posts:
goingfor3 · 24/04/2007 11:47

Mid cycles is the right time to have one.

LIZS · 24/04/2007 11:48

Sounds right although it shouldn't make a huge difference.

Original poster
RanToTheHills · 24/04/2007 11:49

thanks, should be okay then. Just hope it doesn't take another 3 months to get the next result back if there is anything wrong!

OP posts:
MuckyAnthea · 24/04/2007 12:14

I was told 10 days after the last day of your period. Hope your next smear test goes ok for you.

burstingbug · 24/04/2007 12:14

10-16 days iirc for mine.

Original poster
RanToTheHills · 24/04/2007 12:17

thanks all!

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 24/04/2007 16:58

No wrong time to have smear test, since they look at the morphology (shape, size, number of nuclei per cell, etc) of the actual cells on your cervix and the "transition zone". Which has nothing to do with hormone levels. Just avoid the days of your period.

[Contrary to a mammography, for which they actually tell you which days of your cycle you can come.]

This is a subject I know a bit about (unfortunately) because I had a loop excision operation after an abnormal smear test result and the following colposcopy showed CIN III dysplasia (basically, the step right before cancer). I have had smear tests every six months since then. There has never been any concern about the day of the cycle to come back on.

Receptionist may have just tried to put your mind at ease about the "inconclusive" smear test result by offering an excuse, which by the way does not mean "technical fault" at all.

I hope I didn't unnecessarily worry you. It's probably nothing. Just thought you would prefer to have the facts.

hifi · 24/04/2007 17:14

My docs suggest between day 10 to 14.

NotanOtter · 24/04/2007 17:14

mine said week after menses

Original poster
RanToTheHills · 24/04/2007 17:30

thanks,CDA sorry to hear youhad a scare. Got me rather worried too now, was I being naive in believing it was a technical fault? If it's abnormal, don'tthey just say so? rahter confused!

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 24/04/2007 20:02

Thank you. I did worry for a bit but then realized there is nothing to worry about. And sorry, I didn't mean to make you "run for the hills"

Here is a description of what smear results mean.

Basically, "inconclusive" means there were some changed cells, but they were not enough in number to give a conclusive result. So you were told to come in for another smear.

Really, don't worry. Even if the second test comes back saying you have changed cells, it will be treated very quickly and you will have a 95% chance of it never coming back.

I had one of the worst results possible on a smear test several years ago, then went on to conceive on the first try, had a normal pregnancy, and gave birth to DD. We will be going for a second child next year.

Original poster
RanToTheHills · 24/04/2007 20:11

thanks, don't worry, I realiseyou meant well. Made me take it more seriously anyway. result back in 2 weeks though, that's good and how it should be not the 2 1/2 mths mine took!

OP posts:
MuckyAnthea · 25/04/2007 02:49

Rantothehills - try not to worry, if there is a problem, then they will catch it in time, the fact they have asked you to have another, and just let it go, is a good thing

Cotedazur - Last week I had the loop procedure, like you I too had CIN3 abnormal cells dysplecia [sp] it went from CIN1 to CIN3 within 2 months. This is why it is so important for people to have their smears, I thank god I went to have mine this year and not this time next year [I had it as part of a full body checkup - I had my last smear 2 years ago]. Also - am so glad and relieved you wrote saying you conceived on the first go, and are trying on a second. I am hoping to conceive this year/next year. Were you tested positive for HPV?

MuckyAnthea · 25/04/2007 02:50

Rantothehills - try not to worry, if there is a problem, then they will catch it in time, the fact they have asked you to have another, and not just let it go, is a good thing

CoteDAzur · 25/04/2007 14:29

RanToTheHills - Do take it seriously, but again, no need to worry about it. Even if there is the beginning of anything to be found, they will have caught it very early. The treatment is very much like the removal of a mole. Let us know what your results turn out to be.

Mucky - I am amazed to hear you went from CIN I to CIN III in a couple of months! I was told that each step takes at least a year.

I was positive for HPV, as are practically all women whose smear tests show abnormalities. I worried myself sick about it for a while (am I now 'infected' forever? will it pass to baby when I get pregnant or during birth, etc) but apparently it is very local and you don't have it after loop excision. DH (DP at the time) had to have a little laser procedure so that we would not continue to infect eachother. But that was the end of it.

Apparently HPV infection rate in the overall population in Europe is around 70%. It only turns cells into cancerous ones in a very small number of women apparently.

Conceiving was absolutely no problem (and I was 33 1/2 years old at conception). I had no cervix problem during prenancy or birth of DD. We are not yet trying for another (I'd rather DD starts nursery next year before the next baby comes along) but we are thinking of getting pregnant in early 2008.

I had found it hard to believe that loop procedure would have no bad effects on my fertility or ability to bear children, but apparently it's true.

Good luck on your baby plans.

suejonez · 25/04/2007 14:32

a bit like Mucky i went from clear to CIN 3 in 2 years, omst likely explanation is that first smear test was wrong! It was at a time when they were gettig a lot wrong - new system now so less likely.

Also HPV which causes herpes and/or genital warts is not the same strain of HOV which mutates cervical cells.

CoteDAzur · 25/04/2007 14:46

Yes, the two (I think) types of HPV that causes cervical cancer does not cause any visible signs like warts at all.

Very bizarre that you would go from 0 to CIN II in two years. How often do you girls have smear tests in the UK? Here in France they are done on a yearly basis. I have had it every six months since the loop operation, but gyne recently said I could come back once a year since I have been clear for a couple of years now.

suejonez · 25/04/2007 15:01

I think 2 yrs is pretty standard now but I have very year because of previous CIN3 and subsequent cone biopsy

MuckyAnthea · 26/04/2007 02:05

suejonez and cotedazur - thanks so much for responding here, So so SORRY rantothehills for hijacking your thread.

Yes the HPV strain I had was not the one that has symptoms - ie warts. Mine is the same as yours cotedzur. I am interested in the lazer surgery your DP had. This is another thing that is bothering me. After I had the loop done, the doc told me not to have sex for 2 weeks, and after the 2 weeks is up to use condoms until they are sure the HPV has gone. Now, I was under the impression that the HPV would disappear after having the Loop done, and if my partner still has HPV then I cannot be re-infected because your body because immune to the strain you had before. Do I make sense? Unless my partner has warts which show obvious signs of HPV [which he doesn't by the way] how do we know if he still has HPV or not? I have researched the internet about this, and just scare myself silly once I start reading too much about it.

AGAIN - sorry rantothehills for hijacking your thread....

suejonez · 26/04/2007 09:51

I don't believe that HPV "disappears" from your body, I think they are only concerned about treating your cervix. The dormant HPV in your body will remain as will your partners (I think it highly likely that he has it most mature sexually active adults do). Warts are nothing to do with this type of HPV so whether he has them or not is a separate and irrelevant issue.

Neither of you is going to be "cured" of HPV.

I don't understand why you are so scared about it though, particularly if you have done some research on the internet, abnormal cells on the cervix are very common and very easily treated and the majority of people you bump into on the street will carry dormant HPV. Without wanting to dismiss your fears because its natural to be nervous, I think you're worrying about this unnecessarily.

suejonez · 26/04/2007 09:51

I don't believe that HPV "disappears" from your body, I think they are only concerned about treating your cervix. The dormant HPV in your body will remain as will your partners (I think it highly likely that he has it most mature sexually active adults do). Warts are nothing to do with this type of HPV so whether he has them or not is a separate and irrelevant issue.

Neither of you is going to be "cured" of HPV.

I don't understand why you are so scared about it though, particularly if you have done some research on the internet, abnormal cells on the cervix are very common and very easily treated and the majority of people you bump into on the street will carry dormant HPV. Without wanting to dismiss your fears because its natural to be nervous, I think you're worrying about this unnecessarily.

CoteDAzur · 26/04/2007 13:26

Mucky - DP went to a specialist doctor (can't remember the title - doctors who deal with the penis? it was a funny name) who looked at his penis with a special light that shows "lesions", which he then burnt away with some sort of laser. I wasn't there and he didn't let me see it until it heeled. Apparently it was burnt raw in places. [Can't believe he went on to be DH! Most men would have run far away by this point. ]

We are in France and this is what they advise. I can't imagine why they don't treat the partner in the UK.

sue - I have asked about this "What happens to HPV in my body that has not been taken out in the loop excision?" in a number of ways and what I got was the following: HPV gets into and stays in a certain zone where a certain type of cell is found - those in cervix and the transition zone. It does not spread anywhere else by itself. This is why it does not cause cancers elsewhere in the body. When they take out the affected part of the cervix/transition zone, the HPV infection is removed as a whole. Which is why it does not pass to the baby during birth, and cases of dysplasia recurring in women who have had the loop proceduce is as low as 5 %. And those 5% are seen as reinfections from new partners, and not the HPV that stays in the body coming back to the cervix area. The reinfection rate is so low (even though most of the general population are infected) because the woman's body has a level of immunity the HPV, having already seen it before. This is why we do not need to have the HPV vaccine that has recently come on the market.

I can't vouch for how correct all these statements are, but they are what I have been told by two different gynecologists.

Personally, I am not "scared" about it, but cautious. Given that HPV causes anal and penal cancers as well as cervical cancer, I would assume it is reasonable to be concerned with at least whether or not we can infect future partners.

suejonez · 26/04/2007 13:29

sorry Cote I was talking to MuckyA about being scared as I've seen her post on this before and my feeling is that she is scared about it. Interesting what you say, I wasn't told that, and no-one ever suggested teating my partner, both my sister and SIL had loop excision and also DP's weren't offered treatment. Did you get it on NHS?

suejonez · 26/04/2007 13:30

sorry just re-read and you are in France.

suejonez · 26/04/2007 13:33

I wonder who is right - I was told the virus is dormant in you and unlikely to cause future problems (or at least no more likely than anyone else). would be really interested to know as why would you need more regular smears if you have had this done - the NHS tell you you need more regular smears as you have been shown to have HPV of the right strain and a propensity for the cells mutate (or whatever they do). If the area is cleared and subsequently tested youshould go back to normal smear intervals.

If you find any info on it I'd be really interested to have a look - I have a ghoulish interest in this kind of obsessive research