I had my second smear test nearly five weeks ago now. I received the results this week, I have HPV and borderline cell changes and being referred for a colposcopy. I have health anxiety which has been okay for a couple of years and this has really set me off :(
I am now worried about other symptoms I have. My periods are very irregular sometimes I can go 7/8 weeks without having them and when I do they are incredibly painful. I have had lower back ache for months but put it down to working from home and now having a suitable chair. And also for the last couple of days my vagina feels very sore and achy inside. I know I am probably overly sensitive and reading too much into things. Is there any chance that although my sample was borderline other areas of my cervix could of been cancerous and that's what these symptoms relate to. I'm really worried I will be waiting a long time for this to be investigated and whatever it is will get worse.
Thanks for any replies. I have tried to talk to friends and family but they think I am over exaggerating because of my health anxiety.
Hi Crobson91! I was in a very similar position to you a few weeks ago. HPV at last smear. HPV and borderline changes this year. Like you, I was terrified that all of the subtle things going on in my body were related to something sinister. I too get very health anxious. I must've spent a week and a half crying every day, thinking the worst. I almost felt new 'symptoms' daily which now, looking back I can see my anxiety was exacerbating.
I had my colposcopy on Monday after waiting three and a half weeks. The nurses were very reassuring and told me that from reading my referral it would be very unlikely that it was anything sinister. On examination, they found a very small area (smaller than a grain of rice) where the cells had just started to change. To be on the safe side they did take a biopsy but the nurse said it was likely CIN1 or at a push CIN2. So definitely not cancer! I'm now waiting for my biopsy result and next steps which will either be close monitoring or LLETZ (which the nurse said is unlikely).
I'm by no means an expert, but I think from what I've read and now experienced, it would be highly unlikely that a borderline smear would lead to cancer being found at colposcopy. I was quite worried about the borderline result, but the nurse who did my colposcopy reassured me that borderline means there is something there that needs looking into but the significance of it couldn't be determined from the smear sample because the changes were so minimal. I guess it's much easier to determine if the changes are significant because it's much more obvious even from the smear sample.
I really hope you get your colposcopy appointment through soon and the wait isn't too long. I feel miles better now I've been looked at closely and had reassurance from people that are the experts.
Thank you so much for your reply, hearing your expereince has eased my nerves a bit. I am okay one minute then the next i am convinved every ache or pain is a bad sign of something sinister! i am terrified that i will get to the appointment and they will tell me bad news and i need to stop googling at night.
It has been a week since i received my results now so i am hoping that i get a letter for my colposcopy soon!i am glad for you that everything went okay with yours you must be so relieved. Were you allowed to take anyone with you to the appointment?
I empathise with you with the googling! It's so strange that even if you know it's going to make you feel worse, you can't stop yourself doing it!
Hopefully when you get your letter it should explain whether you are allowed to take someone with you. Mine was a bit conflicting... the letter told me I could bring someone with me but there was also a generic outpatients information sheet which encouraged me to attend alone because of covid. I did ultimately go alone but I think that because of the sensitive nature of the appointment if I had wanted someone with me I think the clinic would've allowed it. I'm sure if you give them a call once you have your letter they'll be able to clarify everything for you.
Hope you are okay. Have you received your colposcopy appointment yet?
Thought I would pop back to let you know that I received my results from my biopsy back today. Interestingly there were no cell changes detected, just 'viral inflammatory changes' (HPV) so I've been discharged back to my GP for another smear in a years time.
I hope that my story is some comfort for you! A few weeks ago I had convinced myself of the absolute worst and google was not helping! Even reading stories of other people with borderline changes wasn't always reassuring as often people with positive stories don't always come back to the forum.
