cervical cancer worries

[worried girl]

Hi,

I am having a moment and I think I am being silly but I need some reassurance...

I had a smear test just over a year ago which came back all normal. lately I have been obsessing with vaginal discharge. I found it looks yellowish on white paper and it does worry me. To be fair I have had this type of discharge for at least 3 years just did not think any of it previously. I went to the gp yesterday and asked her to check my cervix, she said it looked fine and that yellow discharge was actually a normal finding.
Now I am obsessing over something she said. She said that actually bleeding after sex could be a symptom of cancer but not the discharge.
Since she said that I have been checking myself a bit obsessively and I think that under certain lights the mucous may look brownish or pinkinsh.
To be fair I am not even sure of what I see.
Would bleeding look obvious ?
Thanks for any help

[Speranza]

Are you checking yourself after sex? Doesn't sounds like it.

Cervixes (cervices?) are weird - to put it into perspective, I had abnormal smears for several years in a row and it was never cancer. They can become very fragile and then they can bleed - mine used to bleed and it wasn't cancer. It's one of those things which you should always get checked out in case it's something more serious, but usually isn't, like all the bowel symptoms we get on here which are generally anxiety-related and not something awful.

If your doctor has looked and reassured you, there is no need to worry. Yellowish discharge is perfectly normal, vaginas clean themselves out and sometimes that involves a bit of gunk.

If you are having to look 'under certain lights' I am pretty sure this isn't bleeding. Bleeding is - red blood.

Hope that helps, try not to keep checking, your vagina will let you know if it's anything else!

[worried girl]

Thank you so much for your answer.
Actually I am not checking after sex and last time I wiped after sex I did not notice anything. I do rub in wet wipes to check... I know it is definitely not something I should as I have on occasion hurt myself and slightly bled from doing it...

[Speranza]

Actually if you are doing that, your poor little vag is probably on overtime trying to get rid of all the wet wipe residue!

[worried girl]

Well yeah, it is actually. I guess it is all in my head and self inflicted once again. Any bleeding would look obvious and I would not need to check so much to find a slight tinge of something.
Sometimes I try to change my view on things and put myself into the head of someone without ha. Well in that case clear smear plus normal examination I actually should not even be thinking about it...

[AuntieMoosie]

Hun please don't panic

Any bleeding from your cervix would be very noticeable, you wouldn't have to go looking for it like Sherlock Holmes!! lol

I would also stop with the wet wipes a little, you will end up irritating the skin in that area, which is very sensitive. Plus, of course, over wiping yourself will often cause you to graze yourself, which will then bleed a little and which would be perfectly normal

Just relax, your GP had a look at your cervix and said that it's fine, she would know it it wasn't fine for any reason, so please try and trust her

[joelhall]

Bleeding from the cervix after sex, if there was a sinister cause, would usually be accompanied by pain, which doesn't ease with movement. There may not be a great deal of blood but it would be noticeably different from mentrual blood - i.e. very fresh.
The discharge you mentioned - if you can see it slightly yellow only against a white background, this is perfectly normal. If it were abnormal, you would not have to study it hard to see the difference.

[Stormsky]

I had early stages of cervical cancer about 16 yrs ago.. Believe me you would know if there was something wrong. I'm not going into gory details, but from what you've mentioned, you've not got anything wrong.