CIN 2 - watch and wait. Any feedback?

Cervical screening results
1

Hi,

I posted on here last week about being nervous for the LLETZ procedure as I got a letter back stating I had CIN found in my recent biopsy from the colposcopy that I had done and that I would need treatment and in the letter was a leaflet about the procedure. The letter also did not state which level of CIN I had so I was already nervous.

I attended my appointment today for what I thought I was receiving the LLETZ procedure but the doctor told me she would like a chat with me first and she asked if I wanted to ask any questions first and I asked which level of CIN I had and she said 2. She carried on by telling me the risks of the procedure that I was maybe getting but she then told me about a watch and wait approach? She told me due to my age of me being so young and I have no kids and don’t smoke she would recommend me to come back for a colposcopy in 6 months time followed by a smear to see if the cells got better on their own. She told me by getting the biopsy done a few weeks ago that might trigger my body to try and fix it on its own. I was confused and asked if my cells could get any worse in the 6 months and she told me no they can’t and if I go back and the cells haven’t got better then I will have to get the treatment to have them removed. I am just a bit anxious and I am wondering if anyone else has took this approach and they did in fact clear on their own?

My head is a bit all over the place now as I’m not sure if I should have just got it done today but if she’s told me it can’t get worse I thought then going down this road can’t do any harm? (Don’t know if I’m convinced that it can’t get worse in 6 months time though!)

I am a bit annoyed that I was told I did need treatment yet there was another option! I really was worked up and I’m unsure why they couldn’t get my doctor to explain this rather than travelling all the way to the hospital as my hospital isn’t that close to me. Anyway, the appointment is over with and I will just have to wait and see.

Any info would be appreciated :slight_smile:

2

Hi Ellem,

I I were you, I'd be ok with the wait and watch approach. Your chances are high that it will go away alone. You are lucky to have a doctor that respects your body and gives you time to heal! In this six months you can look into some supplements or foods that can help you with this.

3

Hi Ellem

From what I was told at my recent colposcopy this seems a fairly normal course of action - well the watch and wait element of it at least.  Its certainly not ideal that you were told you were to have treatment and then in the end didn't.  I don't know how common that is but  I can understand how annoyed you must be about that.

I was referred following CIN2 smear results and was kind of preparing myself for treatment on the day as this seems to be normal practice in other areas.  However, my clinic said that for CIN2 they prefer to take biopsies first and then decide on treatment afterwards.  She said this prevents unnecessary treatment or over treatment.  She told me that depending on the resutls they may take a watch and wait or they may deicde to treat.  She did day that it my results were closer to the CIN1 -2 range then they would probably wait as CIN1 can get better on its own.   Also, judging by other posts the younger you are the more likely they'll take a more cautious approach than rushing to treat.  I'm 46 and the doctor still mentioned a possible watch and wait option so if you are younger then perhaps even reason for this approach? 

That was on 8th Sept - I was at my GP about 2 weeks ago and he had the results and told my I will need treatment but I haven't received any letters yet from the clinic so I'm still waiting on more / exact information.   The waiting is soooo frustrating!    And not sure how i would feel if i got myself all prepared for treatment then it nothing happens.  So I really do sympathise.               

Treatment options appear to vary slightly across clinics or regions but from what the doctor said and based on other posts on this forum - it takes a long time for CIN to progress to anything serious, so 6 months is not that long.  I would try and put this out of your mind and think positve - that actually things might improve and you won't need treatment.

Best of luck

Trisha

4

Hi pipo,

I really do hope it goes away on it's own but I am still not convinced it will! But I can only wait and see :-) I need to maybe start taking a positive approach as I have been worried a lot with this lately especially as I didn't know which grade of CIN I had.

Yes I am not too sure what supplements will be best to take or foods, I will have a look on the internet and hopefully I can find some recommendations :-) x

5

Hi Trisha, hope you are well.

Yeah I was quite worked up about it to then realise that I never even ended up getting it done, i would have preferred if my letter at least invited me for a chat instead of telling me I needed treatment and got an appt a week later as it seemed almost urgent to me. 

I am sorry to hear you need treatment and I hope that whatever procedure they do it removes the cells :-) it is very frustrating the wait sometimes and it makes you just over think and kind of puts you down. I hope that you recieve more info soon and do not have to wait much longer, let me know how you get on. I was barely told any information and made it feel so much worse, i do want to speak to my doctor and get exact info about all my smears as this has never been communicated to me and I have had about 6 smears in the last 2/3 years since I first ever got one and majority of them came back saying "changes".

Yes I think I need to take more of a positive approach as sitting around for 6 months thinking negative won't help in the slightest. I do hope I won't need treatment but I will just have to wait and see. I hope it does not turn into the higher grade of CIN either.

Thank you, best of luck to you too x 

 

6

Hi Elem,

 

I'm in the same boat - 6 months watch & wait for CIN 2. I feel a bit unnerved about this too, but from what I read it seems that it has MORE chance of getting better, or staying the same, than getting worse in 6 months. My nurse said the chance of it getting worse in 6 months is 'minimal'. Yes because we haven't had children/are young, and there is a small risk of pregnancy complications, at this stage it seems better to wait and see if it gets better. My nurse also said if they thought it was dangerous, there's no way they'd leave it for 6 months.

 

I hope this makes you feel a bit better. It's all quite worrying isn't it.

xxx

7

Hi opal,

hope you are well :-)

Sorry to hear you are also feeling the same as me and I hope our bodies manage to clear it on it's own but I just don't want it to get worse! Yeah I thought if they really did think it was that bad then they wouldn't let us wait 6 months. I am trying not to think about it all the time now as if I think about it everyday for 6 months I may drive myself crazy haha.

Thanks for the message :-) xxx

8

Im on watch and wait for cin 1-2 and I'm 25

I have been eating healthier and trying to reduce stress levels.

It's getting me down though thinking about it.

I don't have any kids yet :(

9

Sorry for the late reply! i have only just seen this :-)

It is a worry, i am very stressed at work right now and this isn't helping at all. Hope we will both get some positive news in 6 months time xx

10

Just an update.

Going for my check up after 6 months to see if the cells are better or worse. 

My appointment is 14:20pm, I will update soon as I'm back home. 

Xxxxx

11

I am sooooo happy

My CIN cells have REGRESSED!!!! 

Got to go back in 6 months time for a smear and Colposcopy to check they continue to regress. 

My consultant is very optimistic.

Sometimes it pays to watch and wait :) 

x x x x

12

Hi all,

What a great forum! 

Im 27 and had my second smear in January which came back with abnormal cells, My first smear had been normal. I had a colposcopy on 28th feb which he said he could see mildly abnormal cells but a large area of those cells and said that’s often more cause for concern. He took 2 biopsies and said I would here within up to 6 weeks. I got a letter through this week, dated a week after my colposcopy to say there was CIN1 and CIN2. He now wants me to go back in another 3 months for repeat colposcopy.

Interested to see what the time spans inbetween reviews are and how treatment went from there.

Its all pretty terrifying. The colposcopy itself was pretty horrendous and uncomfortable and I was surprised that I could see the abnormal cells so clearly, it’s such a personal area to expose in that way.

I haven’t had children but would like to in the future if I have the opportunity. Does anybody else also get frustrated when people say ‘atleast they are aware of it’. I’m a healthcare professional myself and am thankful to live in a country where cervical screening exists but I think until you go through the process yourself you don’t know what it all means and it appears a lot of people don’t.

Thinking of all the ladies who have posted!

R x

13

Hey All,

Rhian I just wanted to echo your sentiment - this forum is great, and I'm so thankful for all of the women who have shared their experiences. It's good to know we are not alone.

I just got diagnosed with CIN II for the first time in March (age 29), and was advised to wait and watch as well, since there's still a chance of regression, and I'd like to avoid leep for as long as possible to minimize conception/pregnancy complications 

I'm honestly terrified. In the past 2 weeks, I have been in a state of disbelief that I have CIN2. I just kept thinking - why am i the 10% who can't clear this virus? How can this happen? I've had few partners, I do yoga and cardio every day, I don't eat junk food, I only drink a few times a month, I'm killing it at my job, and I just got myself out of a toxic relationship!

So I cried on my way to work today and realized - I work out even when I'm dead tired and my mind and body are in pain, I don't eat junk food but I don't eat much at all (certainly not enough).  I'm killing it at my job, but its demands are killing me. i only drink a few times a month, but when I do, I get blackout drunk. I just got out of a toxic relationship, but I haven't taken a second to grieve. Take care of yourself, ladies - sometimes we can't see how much we're mistreating ourselves.

So for the next 6-months before my colposcopy follow up, I'm dedicating all my energy to healing, and being kind to myself. Also supplementing lifestyle change with Vitamin C, B-complex (folate in particular),omega-3, probiotics, astragalus, and elderberry. I'm not so foolish to get attached to the idea that this lifestyle change will rid me of CIN II, but one can hope.

Will be sure to update at my next colposcopy! <3 and thanks to all for sharing.  

 

14

Hi girls,

im so glad I found this.

i was diagnosed with CIN2 in feb18.

my gyno also wants me to watch and wait. I’ll be going back for another colposcopy in August.

i hoping it just doesn’t get worse. 

If it’s still the same I think I’ll be asking for let’s procedure.

 

by the way I’m 25 and have had normal smears previously.

i find it so scary and stressful, I’m so worried it’ll somehow turn into cancer in the next 4 months but I really shouldn’t think like that!

 

feels better knowing I’m not the only one in this position.

 

good luck to everyone else! X

15

Hi Girls,

I completely get how you feel! I feel like I’m losing the plot at times! I had some sort of viral infection a couple of weeks ago and had huge lymph glands come up and all I could do was panic. In fact I’ll panic about everything I can at the moment. Usually pretty happy go lucky and just can’t seem to shake the anxiety!

I too am ironically very healthy. Eat very well and am doing one of many half marathons at the weekend. I also feel I probably abuse my body whilst being ‘healthy’ and probably am not helping myself fight anything, exercise is my go to to destress though!

i have another colposcopy in June to review the CIN 2 cells, I’ve been told I’ll have to have a general anaesthetic if I need the cells removing because of the size of the area. I originally struggled with that idea but after further reading am terrified of what it means in terms of having children. I’m 27, single and its a lot to get your head around.

This forum is brilliant. I appreciate the situation could be far far worse but I can’t help you feel you get told something and then have 4 months of not being able to ask any questions and it’s not something visible to the eye that you can watch yourself.

R x

16

Hi , i was diagnosed with cin2 and decided on the watch and wait. My appointment to see how things are going is in 2 weeks and im so worried! I've been reading some of these comments and now im panicking even more, I have 2 children , I like a glass of wine or two after work a few times a week and I smoke an e cig that contains nicotine :/ nothing was suggested by my consultant to help regress the cells! Has continuing to carry on with normal life like this effectively ruined my chances ? 

17

Hello everyone,

 

First of all- what an amazing forum. Thank you so much to all of you for being so honest and supportive- it is so comforting to read your experiences throughout all this waiting.

I was wondering how you were all getting on with the watching and waiting and whether you would advise to choose this option (if options are given!!).

I am waiting for my colposcopy biopsy results (should have them by Wednesday) the specialist thought the abnormal cells looked like a higher grade and would probably need removing but wanted a biopsy to confirm. She didn’t mention a CIN grade but I’m gussing the biopsy will determine this. Have spent the last few weeks gravely assuming that I will have to have LLETZ- however after reading this if the results come back as CIN2 I wonder whether giving my body a chance to fight it off is a better option?

I hope you are all well! @StaceyL92 I hope your follow up went okay. I know there is research about how certain factors can increase or reduce risk but our bodies are so complicated I feel like it is more down to chance than anything else. If a few glasses of wine help to relive stress than that can’t be too bad for my immune system! Although I have literally spent the last 4 weeks trying to work out what my reuslts would be based on my past- not helpful 

All the best,

Hannah

 

18

I’m 25, diagnosed with cin 1 and cin 2. I was told to treat instead of wait and watch but I have decided to wait and watch. the doctors did not like the fact that I was waiting but let me. Did you have cin in your ECC? Hope all it well

19

Hi ladies,

I posted here about 6 months ago after my first colposcopy revealed CIN II. I was advised to watch and wait and was happy to do so since I wanted to avoid anything more invasive than a biopsy.

Well I just had a follow up colposcopy, and the biopsy confirmed mostly CIN I with one small focal area of CIN II. Maybe that means it got slightly better? Hard to tell. But again, I was again advised to watch and wait and the doctors didn't seem concerned. 

In any case, I believe after 2 years (or 4 biopsies) of non-regressing, confirmed CIN II they typically advise LEEP treatment, and of course if it progresses to CIN III they will advise treatment. I'll keep you guys updated in another 6 months at follow-up.

 

20

Hello everyone, 

My smear test found HPV and low grade  dyskaryosis. I went for my Coloscopy and the doctor told me that she really didn't think there was a need to take a biopsy but would do so to be on the safe side. My result have just come back and I have CIN 2&1. My appointment is next week for a discussion and then treatment if needed. So, I have started my research and I am unsure what route to go. I would like to go with the watch and wait approach but I have just finished my second course of Isotretinoin which is a treatment for acne that lowers the immune system. I'm just a little unsure if i would be able to fight this off naturally and whether sitting and waiting would be allowing the abnormal cells to get worse. I have mentioned about my treatment for acne previously and because the doctor wasn't familiar with dermatology she couldn't offer much insight. Can anyone who has been through the process offer some advise?