<p>My preference has been to have a separate GYN but I haven’t seen a GYN since 2000 when I moved from a major city (where I had the best GYN ever!) to a smallish college town. It was IMPOSSIBLE to get an appointment with a GYN there (existing patients had to wait 15 months to get in for a check-up!) so my internist did my pap/breast exams. She was terrific and was especially interested in menopausal issues so I felt well cared for.</p>
<p>Now I’ve moved to another smallish place and, again, have had a hard time finding a GYN. I’ve been going to my internist (who was hard to find) BUT he’s 12 and I don’t feel that he’s the best for my GYN needs, especially because I’m now having some menopausal issues. </p>
<p>So in the past couple of weeks I’ve been thinking I need to find a GYN. Soon.</p>
<p>Emeraldkity, I had the flooding period that never ended–soaked through 2 largest size OB tampons plus a maxipad in one hour–after a few weeks went to the family practice physician, who put me on progesterone, didn’t work, after another couple of weeks eventually got to the point that I was fainting and short of breath when climbing stairs and was sent to the hospital, severely anemic (I had been taking iron all along, or who knows how bad it might have been). Had all the stuff: endometrial biopsy, vaginal ultrasound, refused hysterectomy in favor of D&C and ergotamine, and was put on the pill. Which finally stopped it. Took months to get back to normal, due to anemia. (Oh, and BTW, as a sidelight of the health insurance debate, because I had high deductible health insurance–$15K–at the time I had a D&C in the ER with no anesthetic instead of the standard procedure in the OR with general anesthetic, which they had switched to because they said “the women kept screaming.” But, as the gyn said to me, it costs a minimum of $3K to use the OR and you seem pretty stoic…now I just live with the many fibroids that make it like I’m continuously 4 mos pregnant, as they told me, because who can afford the procedure that kills them off? That’s for people valued by society, not me.)</p>
<p>My advice is to go to a Gyn, and don’t let it get out of hand. While I am not inclined to leap to the most radical solution immediately, they do tend to know what they are doing.</p>
<p>NYmama, CNMs do annual pelvic and pap, as does my family practice doc. Anything out of the ordinary would get me sent to the OB/GYNs they refer too.</p>
<p>Interesting. I think because I’m in the Metro NYC area it never occurred to me that women are seeing other types of doctors for their annual pap. OB/gyn’s are plentiful here. I can get an appointment at my ob/gyn within a week. I have never known anyone in my area not to have an ob/gyn for annual tests, though I’m sure there are plenty that use other options.</p>
<p>My humble internet opinion:
A family physician, nurse midwife and/or nurse practitioner are terrific for well woman care.
My gyn won’t even do pap smears and well women visits, she is far too busy. We go to the NP for those. They do annual paps, birth control and provide excellent counseling about what is “normal” and what is “not normal”.
IMO - anything “not normal” should be checked out by a gyn. There are so many advances these days in gynecology - do yourself a favor and go.</p>
<p>The procedure that changed my life - Endometrial Ablation.
After years and years of heavy, flooding periods and annual well visits to a Nurse practioner, I finally consulted my gyn about it and was surprised to find a cure.
I had the endometrial biopsy and d&c first, after the d&c I had the ablation and the results were amazing.
I got my life back and no longer needed to worry about leaving the house or near hemmoraging at work.
I never would have had a hysterectomy but can understand why some women would beg for one. The ablation did require general anesthesia and it was day surgery. I took the next day off but felt fine.
Any woman who experiences prolonged and heavy periods and is finished childbearing should discuss this with her gyn, or find a gyn who performs this procedure.
We do NOT have to suffer any longer!
<a href=“http://women.webmd.com/endometrial-ablation-16200[/url]”>http://women.webmd.com/endometrial-ablation-16200</a></p>
<p>I do not have ob/gyn. I got to get doc first, then make appointment, I guess. I do not trust anybody there, I do not trust that testing in not harmful. I do not want to go to place where a lot of sick people are visiting, makes me very uncomfortable.</p>
<p>I have always gone to a gyn.
Regarding ablation, seemed like a great idea to me. My gyn scheduled me for surgery, went in and did nothing but a D&C…said something about a tilted uterus scaring her off…she didn’t want to puncture it. Yikes. So after all that, it was worse, not better. So I’ve just been dealing it with it in the last few years since I don’t want a hysterectomy. Nothing is easy…</p>
Why? I use my primary care physician. I like going to ONE doctor to handle almost anything unless I need a specialist. I get a yearly physical including PAP from this doctor. Any issues that arise during that check up can be handled without having to see different doctors.</p>
<p>I’m with those who say it sounds like perimenopause. But I’m also with those who say you should go have it checked out.</p>
<p>I’ve gone for ob/gyn checkups pretty much yearly since I finished having kids and never thought much about it. After years (decades) or normal pap tests, this time it came back otherwise. No symptoms. Long story short-- in just over a year, I went from normal to high grade cervical dysplasia. Colposcopy and cone biopsy followed. No cancer luckily, but I must go back for checks every few months for the next couple years. Pap tests are not perfect, but they are a simple test and and the main reason the death rate from cervical cancer has dropped so drastically in the last 50 years or so. Not necessarily the OP’s case, but still a good reason for checkups.</p>
<p>“Long story short-- in just over a year, I went from normal to high grade cervical dysplasia. Colposcopy and cone biopsy followed. No cancer luckily, but I must go back for checks every few months for the next couple years. Pap tests are not perfect, but they are a simple test and and the main reason the death rate from cervical cancer has dropped so drastically in the last 50 years or so. Not necessarily the OP’s case, but still a good reason for checkups.”</p>
<p>Wow, that was **exactly **my story - except that I had the cancer at age 31. We had decided that we had our 2 boys and were “probably” done having children but having that hysterectomy sealed the deal. Scary times back then…I’ve always gone to the OB/GYN.</p>
<p>““I wouldn’t dream of my primary care doctor giving me that exam…””
““Why?””</p>
<p>It may just be a personal preference, the way I was brought up, or perhaps it’s due to the fact that I’m from NYC and specialists are plentiful here, maybe a combination of all three, I don’t know. If I have a throat problem, I go to my ENT, for “woman issues and exams” I go to my ob/gyn, for annual physicals I go to my primary care, etc. My ob/gyn has a lot of experience down there, my primary care physician doesn’t - LOL. I’m also in a freedom plan so I don’t need referrals to see specialists, so that gives me a lot of flexibility. I do pay a small fortune for that privilege though.</p>
<p>wow I never thought this thread would go on so long- now that we have scared all the men away- we can really talk.
;)</p>
<p>I went to a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood for years- had not good experiences with Ob/gyns ( after a 2nd trimester miscarriage and I wouldn’t stop bleeding- he not only gave me a d & C in the examining room without anesthesia, but got mad at me cause I made noise, because there were people in the waiting room)- so it was either NPs or midwifes when I became pregnant again, although because of a bicornate uterus, they switched me to an Ob/gyn that I liked- although he wasn’t able to deliver at the high risk hospital I eventually had to enter.</p>
<p>I have an ins plan that doesn’t need referrals, although many of the specialists require them anyway. I like to have my care coordinated, I find that with different practitioners, they don’t always make complete notes in the chart which can cause difficulties with procedures or diagnosis.</p>
<p>well actually no- it isn’t really bleeding anymore just pink & I have a lot of anxiety around Drs they always want to do lots of expensive and painful tests and our ins has a big deductible
I know I am bad- but just the driving and the parking and the waiting rooms is something I dont need
:o</p>
<p>emeraldkity4 -
do yourself and your family a favor, find a practitioner. There are many many female ob/gyn’s now. You can find one. You might even be able to find an all female practice if that makes you feel more comfortable.
You will probably find that like many things - the idea of the driving and parking and waiting rooms is worse than the experience itself.
Ask around and make an appointment - then take a day off and go. Don’t forget to treat yourself to lunch! ;)</p>
<p>it isn’t the female part- the best OB I ever had was a man
he even did an amnio the day I delivered my first- which went relatively smoothly. ( although the OB I had with my youngest I liked- however, she delivered a month before I did- so I didn’t see her until my three month checkup- she was pregnant with her 2nd * and *a teaching fellow in perinatology, talk about an over achiever. she now is the person to go to if you are having 5 kids at once! )</p>
<p>I also have been having to go to the dr for other stuff- and it is about all I can do to deal with that.
( I did just get a mammogram last week- so at least I can check that off)</p>
<p>Emerald: Are you of the thinking, “Why go to a doctor? Why look for trouble?”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, my advice is to put up with the inconvenience now, or risk a heck of a lot more inconvenience later, if it turns out that this is really “something.”</p>
she now is the person to go to if you are having 5 kids at once! )</p>