Panicking

Hi AW84

Welcome to the Online Community

Deep breath. Anxiety is really tough.

I find when I am having any sort of medical appointment my mind will run ragged with all the thoughts about what it could mean and I become ultra aware of any sensations in my body.

So the good news is that although your are a few weeks over due the recommended time for your cervical screening, you have done the right thing and have booked in for tomorrow. Well done. 

When I have had my screening in the past there has always been an opportunity to talk to the nurse about anything worrying me and she would also ask certain questions. 

My suggestion would be to make a short list with the symptoms worrying you tonight and then fold up the piece of paper and put it in your bag ready for tomorrow. When you see the nurse go through them one by one and she will be able to hopefully give you some reassurance. If there is anything that is concerning then she will be able to talk to you about it. By folding up the paper and putting it away for the night, try to try not to think too much- you have made a list and you can't do any more tonight but you are prepared for tomorrow- if that makes sense. 

I always have found the build up to the appointment worse than the actual appointment- once I am in there i am normally ok. 

Good Luck and let us know how you get on.

If you need to talk to someone tomorrow before your appointment then why not give the Support Line a call and talk things through with one of the nurses. 

Jane

Hi AW84 and welcome to our group.

I’m sorry you are so anxious-Google is not your friend and you cannot self diagnose by reading stories there! It only serves to increase your anxiety without giving you answers.

You are the second member to post in the past couple of days who have managed to convince themselves that they have advanced cervical cancer, so my first piece of advice would be to relax and breathe. You don’t know anything at this point and you should try and concentrate on holding onto that thought. 

The smear test is not a diagnostic test for cervical cancer-it’s a screening test for the hpv virus. If you are found to have the virus, your cells will be checked further to look for any abnormalities. However I would be mentioning to the nurse that you have been having the symptoms you’ve described to see if you need to be seen by a doctor/gynaecologist to investigate the cause. Please ask about the effect of the implant-I was post menopausal when I had my cancer diagnosis and had not been on any form of contraception for years so I don’t have any experience of this.  I did have bleeding, which brought me to the doctor, but obviously that was a red flag for me at my age!

Are you getting any help or support with your health anxiety? If not, it might be a good idea to talk to your gp about this as it must have an impact on your life.

Please let us know how you get on and feel free to ask any questions if there’s anything else that concerns you. You’ll probably have a bit of a wait for your results if you are in the nhs, so getting some help with your anxiety might be useful for you while you wait. I hope it goes well for you tomorrow.

Sarah xx

I have a new doctor and I mentioned my anxiety, I was at that point having other symptoms of which I was worried about, I was convinced that I had lung cancer. She immediately sent me for full blood and a chest X-ray. That came back clear and with the bloods they found a vitamin D and folate deficiency, that was all. Now my mind has moved onto this! Thank you for your reply ️

I do suffer from anxiety myself, so understand how difficult it can be to deal with, although mine was not specifically health anxiety-it was generalised and I was having panic attacks. 

I did get a low dose medication and found it very beneficial in making things easier and taking the edge of things. 

Our minds can be very powerful and make us imagine all sorts, and those thoughts can be hard to control. I hope once you’ve had your smear test you are told there is nothing to worry about, but I would definitely get your symptoms checked for reassurance more than anything, even if your test results are clear.

Sarah xx

Good morning! I spoke with the nurse. She reminded me that my last smear was negative HPV and no abnormalities. She said that’s a good thing, also that I’m coming to my last year of the contraceptive implant and that can cause abdominal aches. When it came to the actual smear, it turned out there was some blood which shocked me because I hadn’t noticed any at all when at home, it must have just started, she will send it off anyway but it’s likely I’ll have to redo it. She told me to make an appointment with the doctor which I did. I immediately became terrified and upset, I told her I think it means I have the dreaded C and she said “oh no, it’s nothing like that, like I said, you’re coming to the final year of the implant and this can happen, you just need to see the doctor so she can examine you and maybe get it removed and replaced”. Now the pains are getting worse, like the period pains I used to get but if I remember correctly, that’s normal after a smear. All I can do now is wait 

Hi again

That all sounds really positive and reassuring for you today. The nurse will not think you have cervical cancer-she just wants you to get checked over, especially as you are coming to the end of the implant. In any case a nurse cannot make any diagnosis-she is simply carrying out the test. 

Lots of ladies can experience a bit of bleeding after a smear without it meaning anything concerning, and a bit of discomfort-all perfectly normal. Even if you need to have the test done again if the sample taken is not good enough because of the bleeding, I hope you can take heart from what you’ve been told today. 

Many ladies don’t come back with an update for us so we never know what’s happened, but I hope you’ll let us know when you get some answers, and that it’s all good news for you.

Sarah xx

Hi again. Thought I would come back with an update! I still have not had my result yet but my GP contacted me this evening, finally after that Microsoft outage. I explained my worries and she already is aware of my health anxiety. She said she didn’t want to leave me sitting anxiously at home. She said 1st, as I have never missed a smear test and due to the fact that they’ve all been normal then it is incredibly unlikely that cancer has developed in just 3 years. 2nd she said “you’re 38, not 58! With just those 2 things she says I’m at a very minimal risk. 3rd, if anything unusual was found it would be treatable. She said let’s still wait for the results but she’s putting it down to my contraceptive implant 

This sounds reassuring. Sounds like you have a great GP who understands anxiety.  I hope the results are back soon

Thanks for the update AW84 

I’m glad you’ve felt reassured by your gp and hope you’ll hear some good news about your results soon. 

Sarah xx