bleeding from smear test

[tinkerbell11]

I had my first smear test today. There was blood on the brush that they used to collect the cells, and I have browny discharge now too. The Dr said that it can happen, but has anyone else had this. I have some discomfort in my vagina now also. It wasn't a very nice experience at all

well done for getting it done

I have had the same thing, mine was because I had an erosion, but it can be a bit uncomfortable

You need a nice sit down and a cuppa now, with a couple of biscuits to dunk

I've had the same thing too, it's because they have to take a sample of a few cells from your cervix, so afterwards you may get a little spotting and what feels a bit like period pain.

Take an aspirin or paracetomol and please don't let this put you off having future smear tests. A little discomfort now is much better than a lot of discomfort later.

Thank you both for your very re-assuring messages. My Mum (55 years old) has never been, and so I didn't have anyone to ask if it is normal to bleed.

I am pleased I have gone, and I will go again, because you are correct, it is much better to go than not to.

at your mum! You're attitude is spot on IMO... it's not pleasant, it's uncomfortable, but cancer is so much more unpleasant and uncomfortable (understatement of the year) and it's soooo nice getting that letter saying "normal" under your results and knowing you've got another 3 years before you have another one.

Yes!! I just had one done recently. There was blood on the swab thng the nurse took but she said that is not unusual. Had a bit of sporadic bleeding afterwards and had result last week - Normal!! unpleasant stuff but defo worth doing. Sure yours will be too and then you can forget about it til the next recall in 3 years. Well done for going in the first place - it always amazes me that so many people dont go for them

I always bleed after/during a smear..the doc said I have a cervical erosion which is like a sore patch (yuk)....anyway its harmless and not a sinister thing at all..maybe ask him why you bled, has it happened before?

Tinkerbell - any chance you can persuade your Mum to go now that you've been?

Don't worry about the blood affecting the result, with the processing now, it will remove it so the cells should be ok for reading.

Well done for going for yours!

I meant to say that lots of the vials we get in for processing have some blood. I think it's tricky not to have a bit of bleeding as the bristles on the broom sampler have to been able to 'scrape' the cells from the cervix. You should have plenty left!

Thank you all for your very reassuring comments. I feel better knowing that this isn't an odd thing to happen, and that it shouldn't affect the readability of the sample.

I really do wish I could persuade my Mum to be checked. She just rips the letter up, both smear and mammogram invitations. Yet, she criticises jade Goody for ignoring her abnormal cell results, then says "i'm not sick, i don't need to go". Such a stupid frame of mind - and one that I was being dragged into, until this week.

I bled quite heavily after a smear. I saw my Dr about it who said the nurse would have been looking for abnormalities and had she seen anything she would have called a dr in.

I wanted to ask Bellanoir, since it seems that you work in a cytology lab, are the stats that insufficient smear results have been reduced significantly with LBC true?

Hi Tinkerbell, yes it's true. Where I work it varies between 1.2-2% of tests compared with btwn 10-13% with the convention type of sample.
You can get an idea of the rate for your lab if you look on the NHS CSP website on the left hand side it's got a link to statistics. This takes you to the KC61 bulletin which is an annual publication of screening programme performance data. It's got every labs workload, turnaround time and % results by grade, also by age too.
Hth

Or here even KC61 Cervical screening stats for 07-08

yep every time it happens to me, its a real bummer, but needs must.