Good afternoon, I'm new to this page. Im looking for advice as my mind is working overtime.
ill give a little info of background:
first smear at 24: was clear
second smear at 27: hpv positive, cin3 resulted in a lletz procedure, when the consultant waas doing it he said it shouldnt of been cin3 more like cin2 as it wasnt that bad. Repeated smear 3 month later all clear and put back on 3 yearly smear.
3rd smear at 30: all clear.
then in 2022 i had some bleeding after intercourse but not straight after happened a few times so of course i went ro the gp who examined my cervix she said my verbix was healthy and pink however she could see a little spot that she thought was an cervical ectrosion (not sure of thats the right word) so i was sent back to gynae for a further look. It was the same consultant who did my lletz procedure at 27. He was really reassuring and very thourough, he examined my cervix and he said how healty it was. I did have an ectrosion and he actually shown me on the the screen so he cauterised it all in al was in ther 45mins at the most! He said before that that the chances of anything sinister was very slim as my cervix presented healthy and i have had a clear smear just 14 months before. anyway the bleeding stopped straight away I've never had anything since up until now.
So last tuesday i randomley had brownish discharge only when i wipe after been to the toilet. It stopped after 2 days and now its back just discharge no full on bleeding. Ive never ever had this before Im on the nexaplanon implant and my periods are always regular so the discharge is very scary to see! My minds is spiralling, is it just a side affect of the implant or is it something else? I feel such a fraud to be even coming on this forum especially when theres most of you fighting cc! I think im just looking for reassurance or adbixe i dont really no. Im just so so scared! I do suffer with health anxiety and ptsd after the death of my little girl in an accident so i dont know if its that thats making me like this!!
Hi Jenlou14 and welcome to our group.
I’m so sorry to read you have lost your daughter-that’s an incredibly difficult thing to deal with and I can understand that you are anxious when you experience something that’s new and worrying for you.
None of us would be able to say if the discharge is because of the implant, but as this symptom is new and worrying for you then my advice would be to see your gp in the first instance.
You are not a fraud coming on here and posting, please don’t worry about that, but you do need to have your concern investigated. I think in view of the fact that you have had abnormal cells before and needed treatment for an ectropian, you need some reassurance now and that can only be given if you see someone.
I would also recommend that you don’t allow yourself to be fobbed off without being examined. I appreciate that we are always told that abnormal cells take years to develop into cervical cancer, but that’s not always the case, and clear smear tests are not 100% reliable.
Hopefully there is a less sinister explanation for the discharge, but it’s best to be checked out and better if this is done by a specialist rather than a gp, although you’d need to see a go in the first instance to be referred.
Good luck, and please let us know how you get on.
Sarah xx
Please can I suggest you don’t Google any more? It cannot diagnose you and as you’ve seen, it increases your anxiety. I never googled anything myself when I was waiting for a diagnosis, and I continued without dr google after I was, and relied on my doctors!
I’m sure in my own case, dr google might have had me dead and buried by now and I’m still here! It looks for worst case scenarios, which is never a good thing for us to read.
There can be many different symptoms of cervical cancer, and so it can be worrying to compare yourself to others as we are all unique. Heavy bleeding can be one symptom, but I have seen other ladies with this cancer who had no bleeding. I had heavy bleeding but was post menopausal, so that was a red flag at my age, but you are young. See how we are all different?
It’s impossible to second guess really, so I’m glad you are going to make an appointment with your gp.
You say you have brown discharge rather than bleeding? It could be hormonal, it could have multiple reasons. Have you had any other symptoms like pain after sex, any pelvic pain? If so, please let your gp know.
Sarah xx
I hope you are taken seriously and your gp doesn’t dismiss your concerns. I was misdiagnosed last year with something by a gp who wouldn’t see me in person. I would never let that happen again-I ended up in an ambulance and had a 9 day hospital stay with a life threatening infection because the gp was wrong.
I do think gps can be dismissive sometimes, and we do need to advocate for ourselves. Also, a gp is not a gynaecologist so not specialised in this area. Back pain and leg pain can be symptoms too, so I’d mention everything.
Health anxiety is difficult enough to live with, and I do suffer from ptsd myself and understand how hard that is. It should not be a reason to fail to listen to us. Be firm when you go!
Sarah xx
I find it very difficult to be seen in person by a gp, and yet I have hardly ever contacted them in the 6 years I have been with the surgery. I think the fact that I’ve been through cancer twice should at least get me a face to face appointment if I have concerns.
If the gp had seen me, he would have seen I was yellow because of jaundice which was indicating a much more serious issue. Although I suffer from ptsd, I don’t have health anxiety so I do only contact the surgery if I feel I really do have an issue.
We are encouraged to report concerning symptoms, so this is what you are doing now with your discharge. I think you do need to be quite firm in looking for answers for this, and not be fobbed off on the basis of anxiety, so good luck!
Sarah xx
