Hi All
I was told last week that I have high grade HPV and am going in for my coloscopy tomorrow.
For about 10 months I have been bleeding every couple of months (im on the mini pill so shouldnt be happening) and the periods are horrendous. I get period pain so bad it spreads down my legs, the bleeding is incredibly heavy with clots. I have PCOS anyway but I have been getting so much pain in my ovaries. Constantly feeling like I need to go to the toilet, watery discharge and the past week I've had a constant pain in my back. I'm also the most tired I have ever been in my life. I'm trying not to, but I am freaking out.
Has anyone had experience of the nurse discussing what they can see at the coloscopy? I know I'll have a biopsy and I'll have to wait for the results, but I want them to talk to me about what they can see, as opposed to more not knowing until I get my results.
Thankyou for reading, any advice would be greatly appreciated
Morning Brinkieand welcome to our group!
It sounds like you’ve got a lot going on, so it’s good you’re getting the colposcopy done to establish what’s happening. I can understand why you’re feeling freaked out, but try not to rush to worst case scenario in your head just yet!
I had mine done by a gynaecologist, and he didn’t say what he was seeing, other than what he called a lesion, where he took biopsies. I don’t think it’s likely the nurse will be able to say much, as they simply won’t know until biopsy results come back. They may say they can say some abnormalities, if they see any, but they won’t know what they are without the biopsy. It would only be guesswork, and in my experience they prefer to wait.
High risk hpv is extremely common and can cause abnormal (pre cancerous) cells but if these are identified, they can be either monitored if they are not severe, or removed with a LLETZ procedure at the clinic. The cells would need to be examined under a microscope to determine the level of severity to decide on appropriate treatment, so the nurses simply won’t know at the time of the colposcopy.
Hopefully, the outcome will be abnormal cells at worst, and they are not cancer. I unfortunately did go straight to a cancer diagnosis, so it is possible, but other explanations are perhaps more likely. I hope it goes well for you, and please let us know how you get on.
Sarah xx
Hi Lizzie
My symptoms are described in my profile story which you can read if you click on my name but I was post menopausal so they will be different to you. You are right to say that HPV doesn’t have symptoms, but neither does it always cause cervical cancer.
Doctors will say sometimes that having pre cancerous cells doesn’t cause symptoms either, but many women would strongly disagree with that!
Lots of the symptoms which can form part of a cervical cancer diagnosis can be caused by other conditions, for example bleeding, discharge, pain CAN be caused by cervical cancer, but can also from many other gynaecological conditions. It’s really impossible to speculate at this point.
Actually, it might surprise you to know that cervical cancer doesn’t always have symptoms-I do know ladies who had none but still had cancer. The best thing you can do is stay off dr Google if you’re searching for answers there, as trying to match your symptoms to a cancer diagnosis will only increase your anxiety.
I know the waiting is horrible, we all feel the same about that, but waiting for tests and results is unfortunately very much a part of this whole process. Try to keep busy at work if you can-it’s better than being alone and brooding at home, believe me!
Sarah xx
