Nobody but me has seen my nether regions since my first girlfriend when I was 19 (I'm 25 now). And I've had exactly one pap in my life. I'm pretty sure I was like 10. So I'm kind of freaking out about it. I'm getting it done at Planned Parenthood on Thursday when I get my 3rd T shot (One month on T!). I was informed that the longer you're on T, the more physically uncomfortable paps become so I want to get it done with and make sure I'm healthy. I'm just really not excited about it. I like to pretend I don't have the same parts that females have. Does anyone have any advice to make this easier on myself?

I just was at the gyno a little bit ago and I know it is said over and over again, but try your best to relax. Paps are super quick and really the worst part(I think anyways) is the speculum. So be prepared for cold metal and a prying sensation but the actual swabbing shouldn't be too terrible. Ask if you could bring in an ipod and listen to music or if you want to know what is happening ask the doctor to explain as they go.

They give you a little sheet thing so you don't actually see your genital region or the doc looking at it. It was easy for me to just forget what was really going on down there and I was getting an IUD the same time as my pap. I couldn't even feel the swabbing. So yeah it's all mental really. Maybe take some ibuprofen beforehand to help with any discomfort. Ask if you can play a game on your phone? Just do whatever you need to relax because that will make it ten times better 

I don't know. I used to have extreme anxiety about paps and stuff, and something clicked when I was like 15 and I went from freaked out to okay about it. I think I got scared about diseases or something and that made me forget to be afraid of the exam. Then when the exam was not particularly horrifying I wasn't scared of any that came after.

You might could distance yourself from your personal experience by using the opportunity to guide your doctor (or let her guide you) through the details. Most doctors narrate what they're doing anyhow, but if not you can prompt them, and communicating what makes you uncomfortable can help you feel more in control even if you can't change any of it.

You can request an anti anxiety drug to take shortly,(hourish) before the appointment. It was the only way I could go through with it. The doc didn't like waiting for me to be able to relax enough for the exam and told me that they can do this. Just explain to the doc first or a regular doc if PP can't/won't do it.

I'm not even on T yet, but have a prescription for Valium to take before hand.

Hey everyone thanks for the replies. I don't really want to ask for an anti-anxiety med. I smoke weed so I guess I could just do that right before. I'm going to ask the doc if I can listen to music during it too, that's a really good suggestion so thank you. I just don't like thinking about the parts that I have.

You can try doing what a lot of us do in stressful situations like that. Disassociating, although not really mentally healthy can be a good tool to help you keep your cool. And really, the more relaxed you are the less it will hurt.

Planned Parenthood (at least when I've gone) has been pretty good. They usually will tell you what they are doing so you're aware of what's happening. If you're freaking out they will hurry to get everything done and/or stop. I went to Planned Parenthood after an exceptionally bad experience going to the ER where a doctor sugested that I had a condition that made me look masculine that caused my gynocological problem. When I was getting checked at Planned Parenthood I started to get upset (was thinking about what happened at the ER) and was crying while I was examined.

They were really awesome to me.

Disassociating is best done carefully if you have any trauma history, but if there's ever a good time to do it, a gyno exam is it.

Unless you have some actual ailment associated with vaginal pain e.g. vestibulitis, there's no increase or decrease in pain due to HRT. Penetration can be more hurtful after being on HRT because of dryness, but since the gyn docs/nurses use a lot of lube that's likely not the problem.

It's more mental discomfort so I would try to not think too much about it and just go in there and do it. Tell the nurse/gyn doc that you find if uncomfortable and they will try to make the best out of the situation.

I frankly find it more disturbing/troubling how they create these mass calls where you sit together with a bunch of other women so it becomes kind of obvious what kind of parts you have. I am lucky and have my kind of private gyn doctor who is helping me with these things, but I wish they would be a little more considerate towards transguys so you don't have to share waiting room with everyone else etc.

Quote from: KamTheMan on July 01, 2014, 08:49:22 PM
Nobody but me has seen my nether regions since my first girlfriend when I was 19 (I'm 25 now). And I've had exactly one pap in my life. I'm pretty sure I was like 10. So I'm kind of freaking out about it. I'm getting it done at Planned Parenthood on Thursday when I get my 3rd T shot (One month on T!). I was informed that the longer you're on T, the more physically uncomfortable paps become so I want to get it done with and make sure I'm healthy. I'm just really not excited about it. I like to pretend I don't have the same parts that females have. Does anyone have any advice to make this easier on myself?

If you're going to Planned Parenthood they're usually pretty good about being a trans positive space. Don't know if you have something similar down in the States, but in Canada they started some campaigns a while ago to encourage trans men and queer cis women to have Pap tests done.

The campaign for trans guys is at www.checkitoutguys.ca They also have a guide for health care professionals who are providing Paps to trans patients (including using lube on the speculum for trans guys on T to deal with dryness). If you're interested here is the link to the guide: http://checkitoutguys.ca/sites/default/files/Tips_Paps_TransMen_0.pdf

This may sound unusual but when I initially needed to go on Depo Provera (an injectible contraception) to stop the periods, I needed to have a pap smear test by the gynecologist. I refused to have anyone look and even touch me where I don't even look at so they suggested to put me under anesthesia for the time being so I wasn't aware of anything that they would do.