Cell changes and living in limbo

[PinkPingu24]

Hi all,

Feel like im living in limbo and not sure what to make of everything

Little background: 3 years ago I had 2 mini strokes, being regularly monitored and put on medications and touch wood mostly been ok since, but have had on and off vaginal bleeding mainly out this down to blood thinners ive been on for stroke

However recently bleeding got really nad (sorry if tmi) after sex my bed looked like a bloodbath, went to drs who reffered me to colposcopy - when got there they didnt see why I was there as smear last year was clear and they assumed as I did it was jisy the blood thinners

But when doing the examination, they discovered obvious cell changes (her words), she wanted to do a biopsy but was reluctant due to the bloodthinners so she said shed discuss with her team and likely get me back in but stop blood thinners a few days before so they can do biopsy

Fast forward to other week where I received letter with appointment for next July, with an accompanying letter stating colposcopy showed HPV, CIN1, cervical ectropion and nabothian follicles and to repeat colposcopy in years time

Obviously relieved it appears to be lowest grade but so confused as to how they got all that without biopsy

Not really sure if asking anything but jyst needed to vent it out somewhere so its not rolling around my brain lol

Hi OP
Sorry to hear you’re having health problems.

I think at your colposcopy they would have used an acetic acid solution to highlight the cell changes. Depending on the appearance I think they can grade CIN that way but a biopsy is the most effective way to do it.

A lot of CIN 1 goes away on its own, hopefully yours will do too!

I had a Colposcopy last week as I had abnormal cells at my smear and they found CIN3 cells, pre-cancerous cells. They are still leaving mine for 12 months as they said most people can get rid of these on their own and even if not, in 12 months they will remove them if they are still there, so please try not to worry it is totally normal and especially with CIN1 they do usually go away by themselves x

Thank you, yes they did use a solution so maybe that is how they graded it just confused me as they were talking about arranging a biopsy and now they're leaving until next year - just wished they'd explained things a little better

Thank you, yeah the reading I've done since my appointment has all said the same thing so that part is reassuring - just threw me as they said one thing to me then letter said another and wasn't sure how they could grade without biopsy - suppose just try to put it out of my mind until appointment next year

I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through aswell hope all goes well for you :)

Thank you! Honestly try not to worry about it, they told me when I was there that they never worry about the ladies who come for their tests, no matter the results, because these cells take 15-20 years to turn into cancer IF they even do, so anybody who goes for their routine checks is safe. It’s the ladies who miss their smears, don’t attend appointments they worry about. It will all be absolutely fine, I’m just putting it out of my mind for the next 12 months! X

Hiya
Do you know if your previous smears were HPV+? You’re absolutely right that the biggest risk is not going for appts. Hopefully your CIN1 will go away on its own
Some people take supplements to help, there are also some suppositories that are reported to have beneficial ingredients but they are quite expensive x

This was my first smear as I’ve not long turned 25 and had to delay my first smear due to pregnancy, but yes it was HPV positive. My cells aren’t CIN1 they are CIN3, hopefully they will resolve themselves but if not they will remove next year x

They visually look at the cells with special glasses, they stain them so they can normally tell visually

Sorry I misread your post!
I am surprised they are leaving CIN3 for a year, my understanding was that they treat it but perhaps because you are very young and CIN3 can regress especially when younger
congrats on the pregnancy I hope it’s going well for you x

Yeah they do usually treat CIN3! They are leaving mine for the moment because my baby is only 5 months old and they seem to think that my body may now be able to get rid of these cells on it’s own but just hasn’t had enough chance to try yet because during pregnancy your immune system is down, so they believe there’s a chance that now as I’m postpartum and my immune system is back I can get rid of them on their own. It’s a measured risk as we also want another child and due to the amount of cells the treatment to remove them all would pose risks for a future pregnancy (increase risk of miscarriage & premature labour), so it’s a case for me of seeing what happens in 12 months, and then we go from there x

Good luck to you for your future pregnancies! I really hope your body clears it
have you considered taking supplements? I have read that there are some that might help clear CIN/HPV

Thank you!! I’ve got my fingers crossed! I did look into supplements but when I mentioned it at my Colposcopy appointment they basically said I could try if I want to feel like I’m doing something but that there’s no real medical evidence to say something works x

Your colposcopist is right in the sense that nothing is verified or approved by the NHS
There are some supplements that do have studies suggesting they are helpful using volunteers
1 is Papilocare gel you insert, it’s quite expensive and the study was done on women with low grade changes but it might be worth a try

Another Is Pervistop. It’s Italian but you can get most of the ingredients in it (EGCG, folic acid, vitamin b12) separately online rather than having to pay for it to be posted to UK. They have also done small studies with women but the results were encouraging so might be worth checking out? X