I had a mini dilemma wrapped around my upcoming GYN appointment. My ex-rheumy called me on her last day to recommends a GYN who specializes in vaginal atrophy. She said she had asked around for me and that this group was great. This was after I had started the estradiol cream.
Great!
I call to make the appointment with the doctor she referred me to and they tell me the next available apt is in March. I said “MARCH? of NEXT YEAR?” “Yes, Ms. lunabug” “Well, does he have any colleagues…?” So the reception who decides to make this an unnecessarily dramatic scheduling informs me that he does have two NPs that he work with closely and they could be available sooner….(drum roll)…like December. Ok fine, December it is and I resign myself to months of waiting just as she says “oh! We just had a cancellation for Wednesday. Can you make it?” I rejoice and say “heck yeah!” as I start plotting ways to get out of work. I write it down, hang up and it hits me as I open my calendar that my regular GYN appointment was scheduled for tomorrow, and the specialist for the following day….fuck.
I wasn’t sure what I should do.
Should I cancel the specialist and see my regular GYN appt? He was the one who diagnosed this, gave me the medication and looked at my cells under a microscope. He’d be able to see their progress now that I’ve been on estrogen for a while.
Should I cancel the GYN and just go to the specialist? They specialize in this, right? Who better to go to?
Should I go to both? Maybe seeing mine and getting a second opinion to compare their thoughts would be good? But it might cost me twice over for no reason
The moment of truth came and I thought “screw it, I’ll go to both.
I went to my GYN for a check-up. Of course, I’ve developed a yeast infection or something, because crotch rot isn’t bad enough without a little itch added in.
My GYN examined me, walked our with a swab of cells and walked back in an agonizing 8 minutes later to say:
Well, the good news is, your cells look better. There’s been an improvement, but your Ph is alkaline.
Pro Tip: if you are looking for a way to naturally cure bacterial vaginosis (BV) or yeast infections, try using boric acid suppositories. Make sure you buy the correct type of medical grade, pharmaceutical boric acid pills. I personally love the brand BoriCap. They have really worked for me in the last few days. If you don’t want to buy these, or if you need something a little more economical or are more of a DIYer, feel free to buy boric acid powder and vegetable capsules, and you can make them yourselves.
I went to the second appointment the next day.
I walked in, did the usual “strip waist down and here’s a paper blanket” routine. The MA asked me why I was there and after a little bit, the specialist came in. At that point I had explained that I had been on estradiol cream for vaginal atrophy. She asked me the same questions, examined me and after about 5 minutes, finished and asked me to get dressed.
“Well that was ..uneventful”
In her office she told me she couldn’t tell what was going on and that the skin, although irritated looking, didn’t appear to be atrophied. She said it might be just dermatitis. My jaw hit the f**king floor. This woman was essentially gaslighting me into thinking I was just reacting to detergent. She prescribed a topical anti-itch cream for rashes and told me to stop using the estradiol cream (the only thing giving me relief). She didn’t do bloodwork or cell swabs. All she did was a yeast culture (which I didn’t find out about until afterward.
Never let your doctor (read:anyone) think you don’t know your body better than they do
I called my hubby as I cried walking out of the building. I thought this place would give me answers, and they only made me feel like I was crazy. But I knew I wasn’t. I never went back there. She and everyone else in that office can go kick rocks. Cells don’t change because you are reacting to detergent. I only use hypoallergenic detergent anyway. I never got that cream either. She can kick that too lol.
Has anyone else gone through this? Still looking for answers.
lunabug🐞