January 2012 Moms
No PAP for up to 5 years?? :o
Did you ladies hear about this?
When I went for my OB appointment yesterday I was told that they have new policies and that they no longer do PAPs for women under 21 at all, then between 21 and 30 I think they do it on a yearly basis and past that, if your PAP and HPV come back normal they'll evaluate and decide and you potentially won't need a PAP for up to 5 years?
I don't enjoy the exam but I can't say that I agree with this.... A lot can happen in 5 years!! They told me it's still up to the doc and some will still do the full exam on a yearly basis but eventually we may be heading in this direction of new studies....
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Re: No PAP for up to 5 years?? :o
I was under the impression that once I got married and had a history of normal PAPs, that I only needed one every other year. I tried to convince my doctor of this, but they would have none of it. My next PAP is next year; but, then again, I'm not 30 yet.
I don't understand how they say no PAP under 21; once again, my impression was once you were sexually active, you get yearly exams regardless of your age.
I asked this too and they said that in case you ended up with cervical cancer the docs wouldn't be able to find out this early anyway. I"m obviously no doc but this doesn't make sense to me... Since when is cancer age-sensitive??
In Europe, where I"m from, they actually recommend yearly exams a few years after you start your period, so I started going when I was 15... the theory there is (at least back then it was) that there are a lot of problems that can occur in a woman's body once she matures to that level. Being sexually active or how old you are has nothing to do with it. It is of course your choice how early you want to go but the option is there and I was glad to go in this early since I had issues.
I remember they came out with the changes a couple years ago, although I thought after 30 it was supposed to be every 3 years instead of every year. It wasn't the insurance companies that made the change - I think it was the AMA... but I could be mis-remembering.
I know the recommendations were controversial, but they are based on evidence that yearly paps weren't doing that much to increase success rates of therapy. I'd still like to know earlier rather than later.