Hi, i'm new here... i just got news today of abnormal pap and booked my colposcopy for the 9th of april... I'm a bit apprehensive; especially because the nurse on the phone made it quite clear I should book it asap (i have a lot of uni testes and tried to book it to the end of the month first)
Anyways I'm only 23 years old and for the last few years with endometriosis symptoms which got mild after switching to a different pill and taking it continuously (i don't have periods anymore) and that really helped with my lifestyle. My gyno has told me many times that taking the pill continuously will not bring me any harm and that people just assume "it's not normal" to not have a period and therefore it must be bad for you.
But the last 6 months I started having severe pain during intercourse during and after (almost like menstrual cramps) and I sometimes start bleeding after too, but i thought the bleeding might be from skipping a pill once in a while...
So naturally I'm a bit scared and have been thinking alot about it and you know searching on the internet can make you more paranoid...
I know almost for sure it's nothing, but then again why do I have the weird feeling?
Does colposcopy hurt? I'm guessing if i get pain during intercourse this is going to hurt too :S
How long do the results take to come in?
I asked my boyfriend to come with me (to wait in the waiting room), now I'm thinking I'm exagerating and I shouldn't bother him to come and treat it as a normal routine thing, what do you think? Did you need to know you had someone outside waiting for you, was it helpful or could you manage on your own?
I am still waiting for tests myself but you seem to sound quite frantic and scared so just felt I had to reply. I have had 2 friends who have had colpscopys and they have told me it does'nt hurt.
I would take someone with you just for a bit of moral support and its never nice waiting in hospital on your own.
I am also waiting for my first colposcopy. I'll have it on the 17th, you'll go first so you could tell me about your experience. I have a friend who had it done privately and it was a bit unconfortable and painful for her, although you can read in this forum that many women had not pain at all :) I read it may be of help if you take paracetamol just before the colposcopy. I am taking my boyfriend with me, it's always good to feel that you're not alone in this scary times.
I just posted this on another thread and thought I'd just share it with you:
The colposcopy lasted about 20mins for me including Lletz. I took my best friend to hold my hand and talk rubbish at me to take my mind off everything. I also took 2 paracetamol and 2 ibuprofen half hour prior my appointment.
Once in the room the nurses and consultant introduced themselves, and the consultant then explained what they'd found on my smear results, what she expected to see, and what the plan would be if she was right.
So i got undressed from the waist down and wrapped in a beautiful nhs towel to walk to the chair, where I was put with my legs in stirrups! Its not the most dignified position but I was actually pretty comfortable lol! The speculum then goes in, just like during a smear test and they aim the colposcope at your cervix so they can see it on the screen.
Medical grade dilute vinegar is then wiped on your cervix followed by iodine (again I found this painless just odd) to highlight any abnormal cells which stain white. You can watch as they do this or look away. They then inject local anaesthetic and this is the first time i didnt watch, and the only pain I experienced. It lasted a few seconds and then was numb from the anaesthetic.
Then I watched as they use the loop to burn and remove part of my cervix. Its important to remember on the screen everything looks HUGE! They showed me the bit of my cervix that they had removed (i wasnt so keen on seeing it in the flesh lol) and it was all over. I got dressed and they gave me a huge sanitary towel.
The consultant then talked me through the dos and donts, such as no sex for 4 weeks, no swimming or baths, no tampons etc. I got a leaflet with a number to call if I had any problems and told my results would take 6 weeks, but I know that differs all over the country. I was then on my way and I shopped and then ate chocolate and had a glass of wine with friends to relax.
Expect period type pains for a few day- get a hot water bottle and some paracetamol and ibuprofen on standby and you should be fine.
I hope I havent gone on too much, and I hope it all goes well for you. Will be thinking of you x
PS, I think having somebody with you is a good idea. My best friend was amazing at distracting me and helping me to relax. And after something that can make you feel vunerable, having a hug after from your boyfriend will help.
Good luck- any other questions feel free to ask xx
just wanted to say that the local anaesthetic and burning away of my cervix was the LLetz treatment not part of the routine colposcopy and hopefully you will not need to have this part done (but if you do, you now know what they do!!) . In some places they take biopsies first and then treatment if needed at a later date. Where I went they did the treatment there and then.
Anyways so I got it done today, I accused ASCUS on my pap that’s why they called me in…
My gyno didn’t give me much answers other than that the pap was abnormal. So the exam too about 20 minutes and she took 2 biopsies and some sort of HPV genotyping analisis and now as she said to wait a month to get the results.
I’d say its uncomfortable I distracted myself watching the screen as she put the acetic acid and iodine (didn’t feel much and found the whole thing quite interesting to watch)
and a little sharp pain for the biopsies (didn’t look at the screen during that lol).
I must say it does help psychologically to have someone outside waiting for you.
Other than that I was a bit week on the legs after (but I think it was mostly due to not relaxing during the exam) and it felt like I had menstrual cramps for a couple of hours.
I just hoped she would explain to me better what she saw, but she told me she always waits for the test results before explaining what she may have or not seen during the colposcopy, which makes sense to me, though as anyone I would love to have all my facts right now ;)
Ps.: I’m not doing this exam in the UK but I think it’s all pretty much the same all throughout the European Union…
Thanks for let us know how it went and I really hope you get to know your results soon. I always ask, but if she didn't want to tell you it could be good just to don't make you have a wrong idea. Always being positive :D
