Potential Cervical Cancer? So Worried!

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Hi all, I'm 29 years old and recently had some bleeding after sex with my partner of 9 years. I went to the GP the day after who did an examination and she said my cervix looks inflamed. She has now referred me for a Colposcopy. I am sick with worry about all of this! In my last smear, I tested positive for HPV which I was told was low-grade and not the kind to turn into Cancer and should clear on its own.

Alongside this, I've been having some burning sensations in my vagina which I feel is getting worse. I have not experienced any pain of sorts, just some mild cramping similar to period cramps in the following days after the bleeding but nothing since. I haven't had sex since as it scared me a bit. I'm worried about the colposcopy procedure and I'm also worried about what all of this could be and of course, potential cervical cancer. Could anybody help or offer some advice? I'm worried my GP saw something which is why she immediately referred me for a colposcopy.

  • Hi  and welcome to our group-I’m glad you’ve found us.

    I can understand completely why you’re worried because you’re not sure what’s going on, but try to relax and not let your thoughts run away with themselves just yet!

    The gp has said your cervix looks inflamed, so the right thing to do is refer you for the colposcopy to find out the reason for the inflammation. It might be that you have a condition called a cervical ectropion, where the cells from inside the cervix grow on the outside making the area look red, and it can bleed on contact. This in itself is not cancer. 

    Most people can clear hpv within a couple of years, but for some it can persist and cause abnormal cells. The colposcopy is basically just a closer examination of your cervix, like a smear test, but with greater magnification. If the person doing the colposcopy sees anything of concern, they may take a small biopsy to be analysed in the lab. This is called a punch biopsy, and just takes a little sample of tissue for testing. I didn’t feel any pain having this done although I did bleed afterwards-this is not the same for everyone).

    Please try not to jump to thoughts of cervical cancer yet-you just need to have the colposcopy done to check what’s wrong, but it doesn’t mean cancer, and doesn’t mean that your gp suspects cancer-they are just being thorough in getting you an extra check up, 

    I hope you’ll come back and let us know how you get on and it’s nothing serious, but we are here to support you if you need anything further so feel free to keep posting.

    Sarah xx


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  • Hi Sarah,

    Thanks for the reassuring message. It's hard not to jump to the worst when you have worrying symptoms - but I know there are many other possibilities. I've suffered from health anxiety my entire life and let the thoughts consume me.

    I've had a look at that and it does sound similar to what I have. I will of course come here to share my results - though I pray they're not sinister. 

    Thanks again for responding. I know many other woman here have been through this xx

  • It must be extra difficult if you have health anxiety to deal with-have you had any help with this? It can be easy to go down rabbit holes on dr Google in an attempt to diagnose yourself, but that really doesn’t work and tends to increase anxiety.

    I do suffer from generalised anxiety which I’ve had very good support with, but it hasn’t been health anxiety so I wasn’t particularly concerned about being referred and having tests. I just wanted to get to the bottom of what was wrong as I was fed up of pain and bleeding. 

    Fingers crossed you are reassured after the colposcopy.

    Sarah xx

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  • Hey! I just have a quick question that’s worried me. Just checked on the myGP app to look at the notes from my apt. She obviously fast tracked me for a colposcopy. Notes say pretty much what I told her about bleeding after sex. She examined me and said cervix looked inflamed. She felt around and I have no pain etc. Also urine sample came back clear. On the fast track letter it says ‘on examination the appearance of the cervix is consistent with cervical cancer’. This is obviously alarming to read… is this just something they have to tick in order to fast track you? Or did the GP see something? I’m now so so worried. Also she never mentioned bleeding to me during exam and there was no bleeding after. Notes say:

    PV cx appears red and inflammed -bleeding. No dc

     

     

     

     

    No adnexal masses, no cx excitation, nor uterus palpated

  • Hi there

    It’s really hard to say what she saw. My gp didn’t say anything to me but did clearly see something there-but as I presume she didn’t want to worry me and couldn’t say for sure what it was she just did an urgent referral. I didn’t have the app at that time so just waited for my appointment. 

    I know it’s alarming to read things on the app where they haven’t been explained to you which is one of the negative things about having access to it if you have anxiety! 

    I know you can imagine all sorts when you read something like this, but remember it’s not a diagnosis of anything yet. You’re just going to need to hang fire until you get the colposcopy. 

    Sarah xx


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