Terrified of smear test - thinking of postal HPV kit - any experiences?

[crummyusername]

Hi, I am absolutely terrified of smear tests. I've had them before and found them traumatic. I've not had one for a while and I went today but was in floods of tears and couldn't go through with it.

I've been doing some googling and I can see that a couple of places (eg Superdrug) do postal HPV kits. They cost a bit - but I'm quite prepared to pay to avoid having to try again with the normal smear. What I can't seem to find any definitive answer on is whether they are as effective as the normal smear test.

Has anyone had any experience with these kits? Or any alternatives (eg sedation)? Please don't advise me to relax, breathe deeply etc - it's much than that for me.

They're different things.

HPV test is a HPV test. Cervical screening takes a sample of cells from your cervix and first tests it for HPV and then only if it tests positive do they look at the cells for any pre-cancerous changes.

However, the current NHS protocol for cervical screening means that if you test HPV negative, they throw your sample of cells in the bin without looking at it. i.e. you would have been through an unnecessary invasive (and for you traumatic) procedure for no reason.

So it makes sense to find out your HPV status first before you explore sedation to have a sample of cells taken.

You are probably about to be bombarded with posters telling you that you'll die if you don't go for screening. However, there are risks to cervical screening as well as potential benefits and given the current HPV protocol it makes little sense to subject yourself to potentially avoidable trauma when you can get your HPV status without doing so.

Ok, so if the HPV home test was negative, I wouldn't need a smear test? But if it was positive, then I would?

(I will ask my GP too, by the way, but I suspect they'll just tell me to do the smear)

Firstly, hugs for trying to do something that you knew would be difficult and trying anyway.
Jo's trust site has some info on primary HPV and the rationale about not making a cytology prep if the sample tests HPV negative.
They also have a section on self sampling, with a helpline. It might be worth contacting them to discuss your situation.

Thanks for replying. I did look at the Jo's trust site. I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to find anything definitive on this. If by spending £50 and doing a home test I have a decent chance of finding out I don't need a smear test, I'll definitely go for that, but not if the home test is unreliable or risks missing something.

I did the Superdrug one the other week! I got my results back a week later. I would recommend it. I was really worried it would come back inconclusive for some reason, but it worked and they did not detect any of the strains of HPV. It is so easy and puts your mind at ease, if it's negative. As discussed, if it isn't, you would need to have a smear.

By way of an update - I ordered the Superdrug test. I've already done it and posted it back. It was super-easy to do the test.

If it comes back negative then (as far as I can make out), I can relax. If it's positive, I'll talk to my GP and see about getting some form of sedation for a smear test, but hopefully it won't come to that.

I see the NHS is trialling this type of test too.

I’d def consider this if all the smear is doing it looking for hpv! I had a not v pleasant smear and if I can effectively do same test at home (obv would have smear if positive result), then it’s great.

I think this is definitely the way forward if all a smear test checks for now is HPV. Think this could be a positive game changer for cervical cancer rates. Let’s hope the trial proves successful then we can all avoid the embarrassment of a smear every three years!