Hi roisen
I too am so sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience and I am horrified to hear this! These important procedures should only be carried out by experienced and confident practitioners (I realise they need to start somewhere...).
My experience was as thorntrees - I went on my own, no GA, no local anaesthetic, legs in stirrups, medical instruments - including camera - inserted, quick look around, biopsy taken, all done. Only a mild pinching at one point and very mild discomfort afterwards - and no bleeding either. if he found polyps (which he didn't) I had given permission for them to be removed at the same time. I just got down and drove straight home (25 miles) no problem
I did take the recommended painkillers one hour before the procedure - 2 ibuprofen and 2 paracetamol so that must have alleviated any worse pain.
This should be every woman's experience - I was totally relaxed, the consultant was calm and confident and I can't praise the hospital enough for my (NHS) treatment.
I agree I would follow this up. I can't believe it would take 10 minutes to find the cervix - it literally went straight in when they did mine. They used a screen/to scan or something at the same time so it was TV guided.
Good luck at your next appointment. Is there any way you can have it done by someone else and not have a GA if you would rather not (I felt as you did re GA)?
Hurdity x