Colposcopy? Anyone had one?

lynzpower

My life just gets better and better :rolleyes:

Just had a letter saying they have found some dodgy cells in my cervix, and they need to take a closer look to see whether its cancer or not

Im not asking for health advice, but wondering has anyone had one before? Whats the process like? Is it painful?

winnie81

Hi I have had one and it was o.k I was dreading it but it was not too bad. It felt a bit peculiar as you can feel moving around but they numb the area so its not painful.

To be honest all I felt was very slight discomfort after the procedure and I had a small blood loss afterwards too but I was warned to take sanitary protection as its normal

I'm sure you'll be o.k and try not to worry too much about it,

Claire x

Becles

I had one, and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Just lie back and think of England!

I didn't have anything to numb the area, and the colposcopy was painless - just a little uncomfortable.

They did snip some bits for a biopsy. That hurt but it was only for a couple of seconds. They also froze off the dodgy cells while I was there. That hurt like a crampy period pain during the procedure and I was crampy for the rest of the day and the following day. I was advised to take ibuprofen and use a hot water bottle, as you would during a normal period.

I had some spotting for a few hours afterwards. Due to the cells being frozen off, I had a clear watery discharge for about 10 days afterwards. It was heavy enough to need pads for a couple days, then went lighter so I was able to use panty liners for the rest of the time.

They had a video camera and I could have watched the whole procedure on a TV screen by my head, but I chose not to!

Biopsy came back fine. I had yearly smears for a couple of years and they were fine, so I'm back on 3 yearly ones now.

Hope it goes ok for you

lynzpower

thank you to both

I am just carpping it now as I have been off on log term sick leave with chronic pelvic pain and recurrent PID which they have never found a cause for. However, maybe theyve found it now

AnnieH

(((HUG))) I had it done a couple of years ago. IMO the colposcopy was not very nice. If they do biopsies, it can hurt, and leave you with quite bad period pains for the rest of the day. Wear your big pants too, cos they gave me a massive pad to put on afterwards lol.

I had to have another treatment to get rid of the abnormal cells after this as well. The operation wasn't as bad as that though, and was over very quickly - I had LLETZ which is a hot wire loop to burn off the abnormal cells. Its not as horrid as it sounds.

What we didn't know was that you can't fly anywhere for a month after you have colposcopy. My hubby was planning to whisk me away for our anniversary but had to cancel it:( No hanky panky either for at least a couple of weeks.

Good luck honey, I hope it comes back OK

littlemissfrugal

ive had one, much the same as Becles described to be honest the thought of it and knowing what they are doing is actually worse than the process itself
i was lucky to have a very nice consultant with a wicked sense of humor who likened it to zapping aliens as in space invaders - really put me at ease.
try not to worry too much i know its hard i still dread every smear (I have a wonky cervix) but getting it sorted is the main thing

bluezone

I wouldn't worry - I've had quite a few of these (had CIN stage 3 a couple of years ago with bits removed with a LLETZ - wire loop that kept returning etc!) In the end I didnt really care who did them - the cleaner, man waiting for a bus etc :rotfl:

I am pants with pain but honestly its a little more discomfort than a smear. If you are a bit warped like me you can probably watch whats going on at the time on the monitor :eek: although every hair looks as thick as a biro refill!!!!!!

This procedure is just to have a better look than what they would have got during a normal smear. If there is anything that looks at all unusual then they will probably take a couple of biopsies of that area (which sounds like a hole punch when they take them!)

If I was you, take someone with you to have a cuppa with afterwards.

If they take biopsies then you will have a bit of bleeding but they try to cauterize this nowadays and stomach cramps for the rest of the day - I had the rest of the day off work and just went home and slept it off.

As said before no hanky panky for a while whilst it mends itself!

I'm sure it will be fine

I hope this helps - if you want any more advice or to voice your concerns then PM me.

divadee

I had one in march of this year and like i was crapping it!!!

Honestly nothing to worry about, the LLETZ procedure that i had to remove the dodgy cells was done at the same time and that was uncomfortable.

The colposcopy is just the same as a smear just with a microscope!!!! Everything does look massive done there though!!!!!! I had had a trim before hand to tidy it all up and the stubble looked awful!!!


After the LLETZ i had bleeding for approx 3-5 days (pads used for this) and then a watery discharge (panty liners used for this) and could not have any relations with mr divadee or use tampons for 6 weeks :eek: I just took my pill straight through so i didnt have a period the hospital said this is fine!!!

The local injection was the worst bit and they gave me energy sweets as it makes your heart race like a panic attack (but only mild). They only give you that is you are going to be treated same day.

If you dont need or dont want treatment same day they will make you another appointment. I personally wanted a same day to get it all over and done with.

The evening I was a little sore like bad cramp pains but that only lasted 24 hours and then I was right as rain!!

The colposcopy is nothing to be worried about honestly!!!

1012donna

I've not really anything else to add. Mine was back in 1999 and I'm still having yearly smears but I prefer it that way. I can remember the bleeding, no sex for 6 weeks (which is a long time) and I remember feeling really hot when it was getting done but there were loads of fans round the room cooling me down. Keep my fingers crossed for you - I'm sure you'll be fine!!!

tru

I've had one, not painful at all. They asked if I wanted to watch on the screen but I said no. The doc showed me the removed bit afterwards, it was floating in a little glass jar. It looked like a jellyfish

Oh and they give you tea and biscuits afterwards :T LOL

Marmiter

I didn't get tea and biscuits with mine!!! How rude!!

The only scary thing I remember is being earthed. Because the thing that they use is electric, they didn't want to give me a shock, so they stuck a wire to my leg, and when they peeled it off it was a bit like having a wax!!

I think the worst thing is that I felt a bit undignified sat in a chair up in the air with my legs akimbo!
But it's better than being ill though isn't it!!