colposcopy? abnormal pap .. worried

[shamanda]

My doctor informed me that I had an abnormal pap and that I have to have a colposcopy (?) and biopsy done.  I have the strand of HPV that puts me at high risk for cervical cancer and he said on a scale of 5 (5 being full blown cancer), my cells are at a 3.  I'm really worried, not only about the possibility of cancer, but also about the procedures.  Has anyone had a similar experience and can tell me more?  I have no idea how much pain to expect, how much (if any) time off work, etc.  Thanks!

[abb123]

Hi im 24 and  just signed up,but got a smear test done about 4 months ago and it came back with low grade abnormal cells,i was, so worryed but forgot about it but got my letter today saying i have my apointment at the hospital at the end of the month, and im freaking out now,i worry about things alot but this just stresses me out,
could anyone help me and explain what happens?,i hate pain and am soooo worryed about it hurting,i have had a misscarage recently and am still bleeding from it,can they still do the colposcopy when your bleeding??
thankyou for helping me,i am really worryed!!

[lotta676]

I had a colposcopy yesterday. I recieved some advice leaflets from the NHS before I had the procedure and treatment. They said that whatever treatment you have its always done under local anasthetic. I still felt very anxious as an injection of anasthetic in that area would surely be very painful in itself?! so I was very relieved when at the appointment the doctor told me that the anasthetic is SPRAYED ON!!!!! Why didn't they tell me that?! I would have been a lot less stressed and tense. The doctor gave me two lots of the anasthetic and it numbed me very quickly. I had the LLETZ treatment which was uncomfortable but not very painful. What did hurt was when the doctor accidently burnt me with the coagulation tool! It was only for a second but it did really hurt. I was told it happens very rarely! If it hadn't been for that it would have been a lot more bearable.

[Megabug2]

I just had my second colposcopy. I haven't had abnormal pap in two years now my ob said it doesn't look good & Im scheduled for a cone biopsy in a few days. Has anyone had this procedure? I'm 30 & have had every intention on having children but my ob says this procedure can cause an incompadent cervix any one have this procedure Im scared

[Morehouse2]

I had a pap after having my son 3 years ago and it came back abnormal, so I had a colposcopy, that came back fine, Now 3 years later, I go in for my regular pap, and come to find out I have HSIL (abnormal).  She than scheduled another colposcopy with a specialist and it hurt a little, i got dizzy, and a little bleeding.  My colposcopy came back SEVERE DISPLASIA, so now I am freaking out.  I asked if I could get the freezing procedure, and they said I couldn't with how severe it was.  SO than I started freaking out even more.  I'm not sure what the LEEP involves but I am sure it hurts.  If anyone has had it done please let me know.  Thanks.

[tracey8278]

hi...i'm new here....i just got a call from my doctor and they said i had to come in for a colposcopy, because i have HSIL, or high-grade changes....and since then i've been doing a lot of research on the web, and all i can find is that it's most commonly caused by HPV.  However they did that test and didn't tell me whether  or not i had it, so now i'm freaking out that i might have an STD, and i'm mad at my ex-bf, but i don't want to say anything because i'm not sure what it is...i guess my question is, for you guys was it the kind that caused the outbreaks, or did it end up going away on it's own, because i read that sometimes it does.  i'm sorry i've just got no one that i can talk to about this, and i needed some feedback from people who actually know what i'm going through, and if you had the HPV, did you feel really bad about it at all?  or am i overreacting?
thanks guys.....
ps...i read the previous posts, and some of what you guys said really made me feel better, especially that you can still have kids...for the past week and a half i've been so worried about that, i almost went off the deep end.
thanks again

[NLW]

Hi

I am new to this forum and I just had to register and give my comment.  

Tomorrow, I will be going to have my freezing procedure done.  I am worried too, but I worry about anything.  Anyway, I had this procedure done 13 years ago after I had my 1st child.  Each year I have my yearly check up, do not miss it for anything, they all came back fine.  But this year, they (My doctor did 2 plus the colposcopy)did not, so of course I am worried, because I thought once frozen, that's it.

Wish me luck.

Thanks

[SweetKia]

I had this procedure done and also have the HPV with high risk for cervical cancer. I have a really high tolerance to pain and I thought the procedure was pretty painful. It might also be due to the fact that my vagina is very small and narrow so the clamp things they used caused most of the pain and discomfort. The actual biopsy party wasn't TOO bad. I had it done and went back to work. They gave me a bunch of prescription strength tylonol and that worked just fine. One thing to watch out for is after the procedure you will bleed a little and you will discharge some nasty looking clumpy brown stuff (this is the liquid they put on your cervix after they cut off the sample for the biopsy)

[alwaysumthin']

I thought it hurt... enough to bring tears to my eyes but not actually cry.  The next day I hardly bled but I was crampy (any trauma to the cervix or uterus makes it contract, giving you cramps, from what I have heard, but I'm no M.D.) and my "girl" was sore, but it was tolerable.

If you can take a Zanax or Valium and Tylenol beforehand, do it.  I think because I was so nervous about the pain it hurt more.  Good luck, you'll be fine!

[MellyBlitz]

I have had a Colposcop and biopsy, it doesn't hurt at all, I thought it would too but if ur doctor is really good at what he is doing, you'll just feel a little presure...

[ladyjv]

Although my doc didnt mention HPV to me, I am going on the 24th to get my third coloscopy done. The first time it didnt hurt but I dont know if I was scared the second time around and wasnt fully relaxed but the pinch did hurt. Both times, results have come back negative so this 3rd is just annoying the hell out of me. Just try to relax though, if worse comes to worse, you will have them freeze out the bad cells and pretty much after that, ur paps should come back normal ( this too happened to my sister) good luck!!

[Jah02e]

I had the same thing happen to me.  I was a 3 as well.  I had the biopsy done in at the end of Feb.  I got all worked up about it and it isn't all that bad.  It was a bit uncomfortable and there was pain the first day, but after that all I had was bleeding like a period but heavier.  I just took tylenol.  I took the day of that I had the procedure done and I am glad I did, because I was hurting.  My doctor took several samples so of course it hurt.  I just went home and went to bed and felt a lot better later that night and then went back to work the next day.  Just don't worry too much about it.  As long as you continue with the checkups and have the procedure done as soon as you can you should be fine.  This is treatable if caught in time and my doctor told me that I was going to be ok even in stage 3.  She just told me they would keep an eye on me.  I am pregnant so I have to have the procedure done after I have the baby to see if it has gone away or where it is at.  Good Luck to you.  I recommend that you take a tylenol before you go in so it will already kick in by the time the whole biopsy is finished.  HTH!

[punkybear]

I had the same thing, in fact I was at a 3, too.  The colposcopy is almost totally painless. I took one day off of work for that.  Then when the results came back I needed to have the cells frozen off. I only needed to take two days off for that and that really didn't hurt either.  That was two years ago and (knock on wood) all of my paps since then have been normal and my doctor said it would probably never reoccur. She also told me that with regular paps and the treatments like cryotherapy (which I had) and LEEP, abnormal paps hardly ever progress to cervical cancer. Most people at some point in their lives get HPV, something like 80%. You are hardly alone.In fact, when I started telling people, I was surprised at how many other women I talked to had the same thing.  When they called me to tell me I had an abnormal pap, I panicked and my first thought was "Oh my God I have cancer!" but my doctor explained to me that this is very common.She also told me that if I exercise and eat right and take a multivitamin this would strengthen my immune system and help ward off the virus. She really reassured me. I hope this makes you feel better.Good luck, but I know you are going to be ok!