Would you be miffed at your gp if they gave you an STI test..?

[shhhh]

Basically 2 weeks ago after being on the pill for 3-4 months I had a little blood loss during periods.Also slight thrush but nothing major. Bit worried so called gp and after receptionist spoke to gp she advised me not to worry but to book an appointment for the following week.

I had the appointment last week and expected my gp to examine me and put me at ease.

She seemed unaware of me contacting the surgery,said the blood as "old" is not worrying but wanted to take swabs to check.

I was fine with this as I assumed it would be related to blood loss.

She started to discuss my contraception plans and the fact that I was only on the pill for hormonal issues which are now being controlled with ad's and that it may be benifical for me to have the coil fitted.
EVEN though I aim to try again for dc3 in the next 6 months..ALSO im not keen on the pill/contraception, haven't used anything for the last 10 years except condoms...

Now after she had taken swabs it was then that I realised they were for STI/STD checks .
Also after the appintment I realised the clinic I was booked into was family planning!

Surely this isn';t necessary..? I feel a bit offended. I have been with dh for 13 years, he was my 1st serious relationship and prior to dh I can count on one hand how many men I slept with..

I just feel a bit shocked an annoyed that she has done these tests..am I being unreasonable..?

what STI's did she say she was testing for?

I have had plenty of swabs taken to check for vaginal infections, not necessarily STI's.

And it is ridiculous to say that your GP knows you and your dh are not cheaters. Thats some GO youve got there, do they do tarots and crystal ball reading too??

GP

Sorry Shhh but your symptoms did warrant an sti check - just to rule them out if nothing else. Unexplained discharge - blood or otherwise could be a UTI.

Sorry I meant an STI.

can't remember what she said she had checked for. Just remember thinking "they are STI".

its standard practice i think. I just got results from a colposcopy to be told i havent got clamydia..or gonorrhea...didnt even know they were doing the tests. I wouldnt worry..i reckon they do aids test on lots of blood samples too as routine.

You can pick up things classed as 'STIs' by non-sexual transmission. HIV is an STI, you can get it from needles, glass with blood on, all sorts of things. You could, for example, have picked something up if you had an assisted delivery and the midwife hadn't changed her gloves after dealing with the woman with gonorrhea next door.

STIs really should be renamed genital infections or something after the area they infect and not the method of transmission. FP clinics are run by gynae specialists - it was the best place to go if you were having problems 'down there'.

I wouldn't be miffed, and if one of them comes back positive you won't be either. If they come back negative you have every right to feel miffed but the symptoms you're presenting with do occur on the checklist for STIs. I agree she could have been more sensitive about it but it is necessary to check.

It does not make sense that you are "ok" with smears but not with this. What do you think they check for on a smear? It is effectively an STI. Get over yourself. Your GP is doing her job.

Antenatally all women are checked for syphilis - do you realise that?.Consemt is sought first. GP is right to check for STI - she probably should have explained that though.

Ahem, are we really going to discuss what is being tested on a smear? I thought it was mainly for cervical cancer screaning! I've had all sorts of colposcopy treatment, are you telling me I have got/had STI's!?!

I think your issue is with the communication aspect more than anything. I went for an appt with a few 'plumbing' problems in July and happened to be due a smear at the same time. After discussion, the doctor and I came to decision that I was going to go ahead with having the coil fitted on my next period. When I got up on the table for the smear she said "It's common practice for us to do a chlamydia test prior to having a coild fitted - are you OK with that?". I was and so she did it at the same time as the smear. I had no qualms about it at all, probably because she was clear about it. I mentioned it to a friend in conversation a few weeks later and she had the same. It really isn't any sort of judgment on your sexual relations, it's standard procedure...

I won't have this problem soon, I'm having a hysterectomy next month, yay!!!

Re smear tests. It is believed that HPV which is a virus that can be transmitted sexually and is related to the wart virus. The HPV can cause cervical cancer.

Hence the jabs for teenage girls that's all over the news and this forum at the moment.

Therefore a smear is a test for a condition that is caused by a sexually transmitted infection.

Hope all goes well for you Purple.

JAMM But when they do a smear they are looking for cancer cells aren't they not the HPV virus? If I went for a smear test and I had the HPV virus but no cancer cells would anything show up?

Nappyaddict You are correct. That's what I mean when I said "a smear is a test for a condition that is caused by a sexually transmitted infection". But appreciate I waffled on a bit

The condition they are looking for is abnormal cells (which can lead to cervical cancer if untreated). Those abnormal cells are most likely to be caused by HPV.

HPV is contracted by sexual contact - and is the reason why you don't need a smear if you've never had any.

You could have the HPV and no abnormal cells. But you carry a much higher risk of developing abnormal cells if you have HPV.

But they are not always caused by HPV?

Stole this from cancer research UK

HPV is the major cause of the main types of cervical cancer ? squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma.

Women who get cervical cancer have had past infections with HPV. High risk types of HPV can cause changes in the cells covering the cervix that make them more likely to become cancerous in time. But, on the other hand, most women infected with these viruses do NOT develop cervical cancer. So other factors must also be needed.

----

They also reckon around 80% of us have an HPV.

There are also (rarer) types of cervical cancer that are not caused by HPV. So a smear is a test for a condition that is usually (but not always) caused by a a sexually transmitted infection.

Not sure I'd agree with TrillianSlasher about the smear test. A smear test is not designed to detect cancer, it is designed to detect the PRE-cancerous changes that are typical of HPV infection. Obviously, it may also detect actual cancers and signs of other types of infection, but that's fairly incidental to its actual purpose. If it weren't for HPV making cervical cancer a fairly common cause of cancer, no-one would ever have bothered to instigate a national screening programme. By going for a smear, you are either acknowledging the possibility you could have a sexually transmitted infection (and HPV can be caught even with proper condom use, as a condom cannot cover the whole genital area, and through heavy petting without actual penetrative sex, and can be caught after sexual contact with only one person, so a very large proportion of women are at risk...) or you are totally paranoid about an extremely rare form of cancer (ie primary cervical cancer not caused by HPV). Or you just like subjecting yourself to cruel and unusual punishments. And since it can take many, many years of having HPV infection prior to getting cell changes, it is more than possible to have abnormal cell changes many years in to a happy, monogamous relationship without anyone being entitled to point the finger at their partner and blame them for it (unless they claimed to be a totally sexually inexperienced saint prior to meeting you, which most men don't do).

As for other STI tests, of course your pride is going to be dented if someone seems to be implying that even you could be at risk of them (and yes, I admit I would be miffed if the GP suggested this to me), but how is a GP supposed to tell the difference between a woman who really is 100% certain she can't have an STI, despite having regular sex with someone, and a woman who is far too embarrassed to admit she might ever have put herself at risk, or who is too trusting of her husband??? If it really were always someone else who got the STIs, I find it hard to understand how common they appear to be in the general population. And also, swabs can be taken for infections that are not necessarily caused by a lack of monogamy, such as bacterial vaginosis and thrush.

I kind of understand where Shhh is coming from.

I had a MC, got pregnant again, had a small bleed, went for an early scan EPU were too busy to fit me in so sent me to the Gynae ward (they had a portable ultrasound available), Gynae wouldn't do the scan until I consented to having STI tests. I was married and had 3 kids at that stage, (now I have 4, bleed was nothing luckily)

It put me out a bit because I'd gone up there for nothing but a scan, hadn't chosen to go there, I had been sent to where the ultrasound was, and I was even more concerned for another MC after from a possible introduction of an infection resulting from the swabs they took.

Having said all that, I do agree with everyone who is saying the GP just needs to cover her own back, but she should have made it 100% clear what she was intending to do before she did it.

"By going for a smear, you are either acknowledging the possibility you could have a sexually transmitted infection ... or you are totally paranoid about an extremely rare form of cancer"

Totally right rabbitstew! It's not an STI test as such, but there is a reason why they don't start doing smears until you are sexually active.

It is standard in my experience to have a swab before having a coil fitted, I had swabs taken recently at same time as smear.

It is to check for any infections, sexually transmitted as well as things like thrush. It is for your benefit, not the doctors, I don't think they do these things for fun! My understanding of it is that some infections can cause problems which would potentially be made worse by the insertion of a coil.

YABU.

Here we go....

"If you already have a low-grade infection, then fitting a coil can increase the chance of infection going up into your womb and into your tubes. This can cause quite nasty problems. That is why your doctor or nurse will usually do some swab tests before you have the coil fitted, and only fit the coil if your results are negative. Just having a coil fitted should not cause infection."

I'm all confused now lol. So when you go for a smear do they only check for HPV or other STIs aswell?

nappyaddict when you go for a smear they check for abnormal cells.

They don't check for HPV because not everyone with HPV with get cervical cancer. Those that do get cervical cancer often have the virus for 10-20 years before abnormal cells develop. 80% of us carry HPV.

They may check for other STIs or infections if you ask them or if you are having a coil fitted.

Before I had the Mirena coil fitted I had to have a swab for STIs. I wasnt remotely concerned that it would come back positive, but there is no need to be offended at the testing.