Terrified I might have cervical cancer????

[Skyela]

Hi everyone,
I'm new here, but I've had health anxiety for a long time! For some reason recently I've been incredibly conscious of cervical cancer.

When I was 12/13 the vaccines were offered in my school but I had a massive phobia of needles at the time so I had panic attacks while waiting and they told me I didn't have to have it.

Of course I REALLY regret this now. :wacko:

During my teen years I had multiple relationships that didn't work out. I've been on birth control since I was 16 so I did get STI/pregnancy tests regularly due to the risks but not any cervical screenings because I was too young. Anyway, I stayed single from around the age of 20 to 22 while I did some growing up lol.

I'm 23 now and with who I can honestly say is going to be my life partner ♥. We're very happy together but for some reason the anxiety demons of my past have come back to haunt me and I'm terrified I could have or get cervical cancer?!?! I read about HPV in the news not long ago and since then it's TERRIFIED me as it says 'more likely with multiple partners' etc etc. I'm not allowed a pap smear because I live in the UK and am under 25. I also have no symptoms so I'm unlikely to be referred for one even if I ask.

It's pretty stupid that I'm worrying because I have no symptoms at all apart from VERY occasional light spotting and one time after sex I got breakthrough bleeding but I'm on a new method of birth control so I know that's all normal. The bleeding after sex hasn't happened since that one time and that was at least 2 months ago. Other than that, no symptoms at all!

Please help, I need as much reassurance I can get because now it's in my head I can't seem to get it out. :(

[Cusper]

You are fine! Seriously. I had the bad hpv. And when I say bad I mean Hpv 16. It is by far the worst strain. I also haven't had the vaccine and I am 42. I had an operation a couple of years ago to remove the cells and so far so good. I did have some symptoms for a while before I got checked out. I know i really freaked out when I found out about it and I have health anxiety in a bad way. I lost my mind for a while there but I am telling you not to worry. If you have to go and pay for a pap smear go and do it for peace of mind. Then all you need to do is go for your appts and you will be fine. I had never really heard of hpv before but when i started talking about it to my friends turns out all of them have had some form or some small procedure at some point. Then when I told my mom about it she told me about her friends who had something like 30-40 years ago and they also are fine now and I am telling you some of these women are not very healthy people. Just get checked out and keep up your appointments and you will be fine. And if you smoke- quit. However I am sure you know that anyway. Even if you have abnormal cells it still doesn't mean cancer, they take them off and most of the time it can even clear itself on it's own.

[Skyela]

You are fine! Seriously. I had the bad hpv. And when I say bad I mean Hpv 16. It is by far the worst strain. I also haven't had the vaccine and I am 42. I had an operation a couple of years ago to remove the cells and so far so good. I did have some symptoms for a while before I got checked out. I know i really freaked out when I found out about it and I have health anxiety in a bad way. I lost my mind for a while there but I am telling you not to worry. If you have to go and pay for a pap smear go and do it for peace of mind. Then all you need to do is go for your appts and you will be fine. I had never really heard of hpv before but when i started talking about it to my friends turns out all of them have had some form or some small procedure at some point. Then when I told my mom about it she told me about her friends who had something like 30-40 years ago and they also are fine now and I am telling you some of these women are not very healthy people. Just get checked out and keep up your appointments and you will be fine. And if you smoke- quit. However I am sure you know that anyway. Even if you have abnormal cells it still doesn't mean cancer, they take them off and most of the time it can even clear itself on it's own.


Thank you so much for your reply! Sorry to hear you went through that though but I'm glad you're better now:hugs:

I think reading the horror stories of girls who got cervical cancer in their 20s has scared me... but I guess that's what reading medical stuff in the media does :shrug:

I might ask my doctor if I can get a pap smear just for peace of mind and if I can't get one on the NHS, I'll pay for one. It's £185 but worth it for the peace of mind, I think.

Thanks again for your reply! I feel a little better now :)

[Melonpony]

Just get a PAP. You should be getting them annually anyway. You also should have been getting them since you first started being sexually active. That's the guideline. It's not specifically an age thing - it's "21, OR when you start having sex".
You're probably fine - in fact I would bet money on It!- but as part of your general health and wellness goes, you should be having annual screenings as a sexually active woman.

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[Skyela]

Just get a PAP. You should be getting them annually anyway. You also should have been getting them since you first started being sexually active. That's the guideline. It's not specifically an age thing - it's "21, OR when you start having sex".
You're probably fine - in fact I would bet money on It!- but as part of your general health and wellness goes, you should be having annual screenings as a sexually active woman.

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Unfortunately in the UK on our Health Service you can't get pap smears until you're 25 or older. Whether you're sexually active or not for some reason is irrelevant to them :shrug:

I can go to a private hospital but it's quite expensive so I'm trying to weigh the options whether to pay for it or just wait until I'm 25 like the NHS recommend?!

[snowghost57]

I don't agree that a woman should be made to wait til she is 25 to get a pap smear. I can't change that. Do you have any type of clinic for woman that offer such services at a lower cost? I have tested positive for HPV many years ago before they even knew what it was. Yes, I'm old to some of you folks, LOL. How it works is that the pap smear will indicate abnormal cells which the doctor can treat. This treatment prevents the cells from growing into cancer. It does not mean you have cancer or it will turn into cancer. It just tells the doctor something is going on in the southern region. For 30 years my pap smears are checked and are flagged for the virus and if the doctor thinks that I should see a specialist she sends me to one. I just went twice in the last two years and they specialist told me that the virus will always be present and not to worry about it. If you are that worried about it, go get a pap smear and fork out the money.

I'd like to know who came up with the idea that a woman doesn't need a pap smear until she is 25?