Hi there, I just wanted to post to see if anyone has had a similar experience and might be able to put my mind at ease.
i’m 29 and stopped taking the pill in December (after 10 years). Around the time my periods started to regulate, I noticed blood after having sex. It happened probably 50% of the time but I just put it down to starting periods again, as sometimes we would have sex a day or two before I came on. This was probably going on for 4 months or so, when one time the bleeding was substantial and I experienced crippling cramping for a few hours after. I immediately called the doctor and was referred for a Colposopy.
I had my appointment yesterday and you could visibly see on the screen there was inflamed and red cells on my cervix.
I had the HPV jab and I’ve had regular cervical cancer screening, with my last coming back normal 2 years ago. I don’t know how worried I should be? Obviously nothing is known until you get the results, but 4 weeks feels like such a long wait. My friend was diagnosed with high grade cells last year and she was symptomless, which l makes me think mine are worse.
Hi mj95 and welcome to our group.
I’m sorry to see you are concerned-I didn’t have the same experience but hope others might come along to share theirs.
You’re right to say it will be hard to know what is happening until you get results-did you have biopsies taken at your colposcopy? There can be different reasons for your cervix looking red which are not sinister. Sometimes for example the cells which are from inside the cervix can grow on the outside, and this is called a cervical ectropian, which can look red and can also bleed on contact. It is not cancer though.
The fact that you have had the hpv jab and also kept up to date with your screening is good-it does limit the chance of this being anything serious, although it’s not impossible. However, I wouldn’t spend time worrying about this as you need to wait for any results before you know what’s going on. We often get ladies come into the group who are worried about abnormal results which turn out to be nothing serious, so I’d take the attitude of not giving yourself extra worries while you wait.
I’d also recommend not trying to diagnose anything from dr Google, as that can increase your anxiety without being able to tell you about your own situation. Try not to compare your situation with friends, as we are all different and yours may not be the same as someone else’s.
I hope you’ll let us know how you get on when you get your results and hope it’s nothing to worry about. However, if you do get a cancer diagnosis, there’s support here for you in the group.
Sarah xx
It’s very hard not to worry, but there is a good chance of this being an ectropian and my view is that nothing is cancer until they say it is!
Keep us posted if you can, as often ladies don’t come back to say how they got on, and it’s always especially good to read when things turn out not to be cancer but another condition.
Sarah xx
