Hi everyone,
I'm sorry to be posting here but i felt i needed to talk to someone and don't know what to do. My mum was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and after surgery it has already spread and now she is terminal and this has sort of sent me spiralling...
Anyway, I went from the normal contraceptive pill onto the mini pill around 18 months ago. Some spotting and stuff every once in a while but this settled down mostly. About a month ago i started with cramping and super sore breasts, then a bit of spotting. This all stopped then a week later the cramping again and spotting again... and now another week or so on and i'm cramping again, all round front and back. It seems to go on and off for like 2-3 days.
The complications - I have something called vulvadynia which means penatrative sex is impossibly painful (i have two kids which we inseminated to get pregnant with and insisted on c-section which i eventually got so im very lucky to be a mum!) so the short story i've never had actual sex with anyone. My husband has only had one sexual partner before he met me and that was a one time thing and they were both very young!
I've never had a smear because an internal exam would be impossible, but drs have always been less than understanding about my condition and i'm not sure now what to do! I don't know whether these symptoms require a drs appointment, and if i go i would assume they're likely to want to do a pelvic exam which i can't even begin to consider. I managed one once at about 18 yrs old and was screaming it was awful.
I'm not even sure why i'm posting except i dont know who to talk to and would welcome any advice or experiences.
Thanks so much for reading if you got this far! xx
Hello kezzabean and welcome to the group
First of all-please don’t be worried about posting here, it’s absolutely fine. I’m so sorry to read about your mum-your mind must be all over the place with the news of her diagnosis. I hope you’ve got some support around you to help you come to terms with it all.
As you’re posting in the cervical cancer group, I assume you must have a niggle somewhere in your head that this could be a possible explanation for your issues. It would seem to be highly unlikely to be honest, and it is more likely that there would be a more straight forward explanation which is much less nasty, like something connected with your contraception, but of course I’m not a medical professional.
However, I am not sure how you could move forward to get further answers without first at least attending a gp appointment. You would obviously have to describe your symptoms but you do not have to have any examination there which you are not comfortable with or feel unable to undertake. The gp could possibly refer you to a gynaecologist, but again they would need to be able to examine you I would think.
While your vulvodynia issue is a major one for you, there must be other women who have suffered with this, and so there must be a way, you would think, of being examined. Your risk of cervical cancer may well be significantly reduced due to not being sexually active but it isn’t non existent as not all types of cervical cancer are caused by the HPV virus (which is passed through skin to skin genital contact).
When you were diagnosed with vulvodynia were you given any plans to treat it? Physical or mental help in the form of therapy, or painkilling gels for example? I don’t have any personal experience of it, and haven’t heard a great deal about it I have to say, but I am aware of many women who find the pain of examinations like a smear test unbearable and so they avoid it. I have read of the test being able to be carried out under general anaesthetic. Could that be an option for any type of internal examination if it were required and the gynaecologist were to agree to it?
I’m really sorry not to have any relevant personal experience to draw on to help you, but I feel there must be an answer out there! Maybe some of the other ladies in the group might come forward with some advice for you. Meanwhile, you are welcome to post in the group and know that we are here. xx
