Smear test please advise

Make-it-3

Please don't let this experience put you off, smear tests are vital and are important health checks for women - it is a bit unfortunate that the nurse mentioned a number of possibilities without giving much detail which has scared you. Firstly, bleeding a little after sex or a smear test is quite common and just means you have a delicate cervix. An 'abnormal amount of discharge could be a non-sex related infection, or as has been pointed out earlier simply a natural increase in discharge which occurs around ovulation (which coincides with the time of the month when it is recommended to have your smear test done). Even if you have something sexual transmittable it could have been lurking around in your system for years.

I hope this reassures you while you wait for the results. And if there is anything, be pleased it has been picked up and can be dealt with. And I beg you do continue to have regular smear tests - I know they aren't plesant but they are for your well being and they honestly do save lives.

susieb

Hi another me too here.
I bleed after a smear and always at ovulation. My olf gp, who was great, told me it was normal and happens to many people, moved house and new gp, scared me by saying its not normal, never normal blah blah blah, ordered smears, swabs and a pelvic exam and scared the !!!! out of me , asit had been happening for well over 4 years.
Anyhow all came back totally clear.
Consultant who did it told me it was cervival erosion and very common
I still have pinkish ovulation mucus, but now dont worry about it, just like old gp said.

lizzielondon

can i ask a quick question?

it used to be 21 to have your first done, but just before i turned 21 they changed it to 25

can you request to have one earlier?

does it hurt?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Of course you can ask!


If you have symptoms such as bleeding after making love, or mid cycle, they will probably do a smear if you pop in and see the GP practice nurse.

All you do is turn up, remove lower garments after the door is usually locked by the nurse. Hop up onto the couch thingy. When ready, the nurse will ask you to put the soles off your feet together and let your knees fall out (bit like a frog). She will get a speculum, which is a metal or plastic thing which is gently inserted and then widened so that she can see your cervix. She then gets a little stick like thing and rubs it around the cervix quickly, then removes it and the speculum, puts the business end of the stick in a little tub and you're done.

It is a bit weird the first time. And the actual taking the sample is a little uncomfortable - think along the lines of a period cramp (but just the one or two). But some people don't feel a thing. (remember how difficult it is to have sex if you're tense and nervous - if you relax yourself/give up/unclench your teeth where you've been grinding them from stress, it's easy)

Some people bleed a little - if you do, she'll give you a sanitary towel.

You might feel as though your period is about to start for a couple of hours afterwards, just because she has moved things around a bit.

All done. Where I am, it takes around 2 weeks for the result to come back.

Not particularly dignified, but then again, neither is the possible consequences of not having it done.

Did I forget anything, ladies?

BeenieCat

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Did I forget anything, ladies?

No that sounds like everything to me!

All i would say is RELAX yourself and you shouldn't feel a thing.

GEEGEE8

I've got my first smear test next wednesday.. I'm 27 and have been putting it off..

The only reason I'm going is because the nurse that gives me my depo jab said she won't give me another unless I have a smear.

I'm a little nervous and embarrased, but just thinking that they do it all the time, and my foo foo can't be as bad as some they see.. lol..

Penny_Watcher

GEEGEE8 wrote: »

I'm a little nervous and embarrased, but just thinking that they do it all the time, and my foo foo can't be as bad as some they see.. lol..

One of my best friends calls herself 'The Foof Nurse' :rotfl:because that's basically what she's involved with all day every day. She trains other nurses to take smears. Their attitude is 'meh - seen one - seen 'em all'. I know it's difficult, but try not to be embarrassed.


ETA Actually if she had to take my smear I'd be deeply embarrassed, but otherwise I'm fine - one of the first smears I had was taken by my GP who was being shadowed by a trainee. I had a full running commentary. :eek: :rotfl:

nikki2804

Well thanks to this thread I have just booked myself in to get a smear next Tuesday so thanks OP!!

I did get a letter when I was 20 but I fell pregnant just after so never got one. GP told me to wait for a letter to be issued again but i'm now 22 and no sign of the letter - i'm being proactive (i'm in Scotland so we get them from 20/21)

Kinda scared they'll find something bad but I suppose its better to find things early!!

mistrihelen

I got annoyed reading some of these posts and remembering my first smear. I wasn't worried in advance at all - knew it might be uncomfortable but was necessary etc, but then the nurse doing it was awful and said because there was some bleeding it was 'probably' an infection such as chlamydia.

I had the appointment on the last day of a job I loved and was supposed to be having a goodbye party that night. Well I went back to work (a bookshop), looked up chlamydia and ended up crying my eyes out about losing my fertility etc (I was 21 at the time), telling my boss and going home early!

While waiting for the results I asked my evil ex-bf if he'd been safe while cheating on me - he not only refused to confirm, but told other people I knew that I definitely had chlamydia! (I was naive, shouldn't have spoken to him at all).

Spent the first week of my new job terrified that I'd caught something.

The results were clear. I was fine. The nurse had no right to say I 'probably' had an infection (and yes she definitely said that). Wish I'd complained now.

For what it's worth, subsequent smears were always fine and pain-free, with doctors/nurses who had a decent bedside manner.

GEEGEE8

Well my nurse said I had to have it done because I could have cancer. Her words. To so I wasn't impressed is an understatement.