TERRIFIED - referred for colposcopy for PCB

Cervical screening results
1

Hi all,

 

Feeling very sick with worry! I went to see my GP yesterday and told her I had been experiencing pain during sex for a few months (pain on entry, not particularly painful higher up) and bleeding during sex for the past few weeks. To be completely honest, there has only been one single occasion where I experienced bleeding, but it was nowhere near my period & I'm not one to bleed irregularly! I exaggerated it slightly in the hope it would help me get examined/referred as it tends to be a bit of a battle with my GPs.

 

It's probably worth mentioning at this point that I'm only 24, so I've never had a smear & my dr said there was no point me having one as they would refuse to process it due to my age. So she swabbed me for chlamydia & thrush (routine) & examined my cervix. She noticed straight away the procedure itself made me bleed, and she found two bleeding spots on my cervix. 

 

When I got dressed and sat down she had printed a fact sheet for a colposcopy, & told me she was making a 1-2 week urgent referral. She said I had done the right thing by getting it checked and that she was concerned - which based on previous experience is not like her! I'm very used to being told "I'm not worried" "I think you're probably being dramatic.. But I'll refer you to put your mind at rest". So her being so insistent was certainly a bit of a shock to me.

 

I told her my concern was cervical cancer.. And she said that from what she has seen she thinks were looking at the HPV virus and possibly pre-cancer changes which is what the colposcopy is for. But she also said "you don't have cancer - cancer does not grow over night, you probably have something which could become cancer in many years.."

 

So after leaving the dr's not really knowing what to think, I obviously googled. A LOT. My worst habit. The conclusion I have come to is that pre-cancers (even CIN 3) should not show symptoms alone.. So the fact I'm being referred for existing symptoms and an abnormal looking cervix rather than an abnormal routine smear SURELY means I must have cervical cancer?!

 

If anyone has any similar or relevant stories to share, advice, reality checks.. Anything! I would be so grateful. It's eating me alive! 

 

 

X

2

Hi Littleonexo, 

Is it possible that you have cervical ectopy? This is quite common in younger women so I understand, especially those taking the combined oral contraceptive pill, and can cause post-coital bleeding, and bleeding during procedures such as swabs and smears. Ectopy just means you have more of the very delicate cells that are further up the cervical canal on the outer surface, which bleed easily, but are not in themselves anything to be worried about (ie. not cancerous or precancerous changes). They also make your cervix appear quite red and raw. 

I've had cervical ectopy from early 20's (now 25) and have previously had colposcopy and silver nitrate treatment (paste they apply to the cervix that kills off the cells) for cervical ectopy, which did help prevent the bleeding for awhile, and was very quick. 

This could be a common cause for the bleeding you've experienced that they'll be able to see at your colposcopy 

 

 

G

3

a referal for a colposcopy is quite common as it is the best way to examine the cervix to see what is going on, then they will go from there. I had one yesterday (I'm 24 too) and it was fine, although they could see abnormal areas so did an LLETZ as well. 4 out of 10 women who go for a colposcopy are given an all clear there and then x