Should I be worried? Abnormal pap :/

Bmlopez3054 · October 2013

My OB office just called and said my papsmear from my first appointment came back abnormal and my doctor needs to look at my cervix at my next appointment on the 30th.. I've never had an abnormal pap so I don't know what to think right now.. Has this happened to any of you? What was the outcome? I'm praying everything is okay!

spacepotatoes · October 2013

I've never experienced this but I do hope that it's nothing big and all is well for you!

cnk459 · October 2013

I think there is a pretty high rate of "abnormal" pap smear results (like 20% or so?), but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Both false positives AND false negatives are pretty common, from all the research I've done.

I've had several false positives. Nothing further detected after follow up exams & testing.

An abnormal pap doesn't mean you necessarily have cancer or HPV or anything, it means (if it is accurate) that some abnormal cells have been detected on your cervix.. OR that the sample wasn't handled correctly... OR that the sample wasn't tested correctly.

Don't worry.. just wait to see your doctor and I"m sure they'll be able to help.

Take care!

Dtessier · October 2013

I've had abnormal paps a couple times. They normally just recall me for a 6 month visit instead of a year to see if it's still abnormal or not. It doesn't mean something is wrong just there may be some abnormal cells and they need to check them out. My last visit was a 6 month recall after having a abnormal pap and everything was fine.

sparklingdiamond · October 2013

I had an abnormal pap once and had to come in for them to look closer. Everything ended up being fine.

pandadair · October 2013

Dtessier said:

I've had abnormal paps a couple times. They normally just recall me for a 6 month visit instead of a year to see if it's still abnormal or not. It doesn't mean something is wrong just there may be some abnormal cells and they need to check them out. My last visit was a 6 month recall after having a abnormal pap and everything was fine.

Ditto. I've had a couple, and a couple colposcopies. It was always just low-grade cervical changes that went away on their own. My last one was fine.

shortnstumpy · October 2013

I can only speak for myself but 6 years ago I had my first abnormal Pap smear. I have CIN 3 cells and was booked in for surgery the next day. The doctor performed a D&C and actually removed the part of my cervix that had the CIN 3 cells. Over the past 6 years I have had 1-3 monthly colposcopies and further D&C's to remove CIN 1 and 2 cells. I also had the HPV vaccine roughly 2 years ago. I had my last D&C in June and have just received my first all clear Pap smear on the 26th of September. It really depend son what stage cells you have. CIN 1 cells are usually just monitored with yearly papsmears. CIN 2 cells you may require a D&C. The doctor will remove the effects area of cervix for CIN cells which won't affect fertility in anyway but you may require a cervical stick to carry to full term. Try not to stress out about it as abnormal Pap smears are very common and it sounds like they have caught your changes early :-)

shortnstumpy · October 2013

Cervical stitch* sorry about all the typos I'm on my phone

MommyDay2be · October 2013

Same as a lot of other posters here. Had an abnormal pap once, they did a biopsy and found that I had mild displaysia and it eventually cleared up on its own.

ns1 · October 2013

I had an abnormal pap last year. OB was not concerned at all and just said to be sure to get one next year. She said it was pretty common for what my results were (forget what it was exactly).

danagmauro · October 2013

I've had 2 and every time they do the vinegar on the cervix thing there is no result.

Bmlopez3054 · October 2013

Thanks everyone you have all calmed my nerves

munsterdani · October 2013

cnk459 said:

I think there is a pretty high rate of "abnormal" pap smear results (like 20% or so?), but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Both false positives AND false negatives are pretty common, from all the research I've done.

I've had several false positives. Nothing further detected after follow up exams & testing.

An abnormal pap doesn't mean you necessarily have cancer or HPV or anything, it means (if it is accurate) that some abnormal cells have been detected on your cervix.. OR that the sample wasn't handled correctly... OR that the sample wasn't tested correctly.

Don't worry.. just wait to see your doctor and I"m sure they'll be able to help.

Take care!

This exactly! I have had abnormal paps off and on for years. All further testing has always come back negative and my next pap is always normal following my abnormal. Try not to worry too much until/if there is something to worry about. I'm sure everything will be fine!

alm288 · October 2013

I've had an abnormal pap before too. They checked again and everything was fine. That was a few years ago and I never had another one. Don't worry - it's quite common.

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