OB/GYN Check-Ups - Created by ToyGurl on Jun 09, 2011: EdenFantasys Forum

MaryExy

My checkup is in the next month or so. I feel uncomfortable talking to her about sex, but mainly because she's my mom's doctor as well. I think I'd be more open later with a different doctor.

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06/09/2011

Dusk

I just had my first OB-GYN appointment this past month and it went just fine. I had already chatted with her last year about switching pills and how I was nervous about having sex for the first time, but I didn't have my pap smear and everything then. This time around I got everything done (no STI tests since I did that last year too) and it wasn't nearly as bad or uncomfortable as I expected.

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06/09/2011

ToyGurl

Quote:

Originally posted by MaryExy

My checkup is in the next month or so. I feel uncomfortable talking to her about sex, but mainly because she's my mom's doctor as well. I think I'd be more open later with a different doctor.

Dear God, I have the same doctor as every woman in my family. He's great though, and very good at keeping secrets

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06/09/2011

indiglo

I absolutely LOVE my current ob/gyn. She is amazing! I can talk to her about anything. In fact, a couple years ago, before we started the exam, I asked her if I could see the speculum. She said, "Oh, of course" and plopped it into my hand. Then she asks me, "do you know who invented the speculum?" And I said, "A man?" She laughed hysterically, and then told me the history of the speculum.

I can ask her about anything, in fact my last visit I asked about some spotting I was having after sex, and she explained why it was really nothing to worry about. Also last time I went in, I had a book I was reading, and when she came in, I stuck it on the chair on my pile of clothes. She wheeled over there on her little stool and picked up the book, and we chatted about it for a few minutes, and she said she wanted to read it too.

At one time I had to go multiple times to her in a year, but that's because I had abnormal pap results, so I had to go back every 3 months until they came back normal.

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06/09/2011

Coralbell

I have been sexually active for less than a year and I haven't had a pelvic exam yet. I need to get my birth control prescription renewed in the next couple of months, so I'll be talking about it with my doctor then. I don't actually have an ob/gyn though, and neither do my mother, sister or friends. Maybe it's different in Canada? I'm pretty sure you only get a referral to one if there's an issue.

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06/09/2011

LavenderSkies

Quote:

Originally posted by Dusk

I just had my first OB-GYN appointment this past month and it went just fine. I had already chatted with her last year about switching pills and how I was nervous about having sex for the first time, but I didn't have my pap smear and everything ... more

I have my first appointment soon! Very nervous..

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06/09/2011

Wondermom

I started seeing an OB/GYN at 18, and get checked every year. My grandmother died of uterine cancer that was caught late so I make sure I get my pap smear every year.

depending on what I need sometimes I go more than once a year for birth control, or when I was pregnant etc.

Me and my husband have no issue discussing sex openly with our dr who also happens to be my gyno, shes a family practice dr. We have been seeing her for over 8yrs now so nothing is off limits for us.

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06/09/2011

Jul!a

I go once a year for a pap smear and to renew my birth control prescription. I started when I was 15, and go once every fall. I've had 2 gynos, both female. My current doctor has gotten better as I've gotten older, but I'm still a little leery. When I was 19 or 20 she told me that my belly button was pierced on the wrong side and told me that my sternum bar would get in the way of x-rays and that I shouldn't have gotten it. Since then she hasn't been so judgmental, and instead asks about my tattoos when I go; what they mean, etc. She's still not great at answering questions, so since I can get more information here and the internet than she seems capable of providing, I just save my questions and my time and do the research myself.

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06/09/2011

daniel and frances

Quote:

Originally posted by ToyGurl

So, here are a few questions for you ladies

1. Do you get your annual check up?

2. Do you go more than once a year?

3. Are you afraid to talk to your OB/GYN about sex?

And for the discussion, what is your funniest OB/GYN ... more

I don't particularly LIKE my appointments, but I go and I'll talk with my Drs about anything as long as it helps me fix whatever's troubling me.

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06/09/2011

Lady Venus

I've been going for my annual checkups since I was 15. I couple years ago I had cervical cancer and had to go every 3 months, until I was cleared, so it is important that I go regularly. Cancer runs wild through my family, and my aunt died due to late detection of cervical cancer. My mom, my sister, and I have all had cervical cancer.

However, I remember when my sister went for her first PAP. I ensured her it wasn't 'that bad' and to keep her mind off of the situation, to "just read the poster on the wall". Poor thing, the doctor had pinned up new poster since the time I went and the posters were all of PAP test info! LOL

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06/09/2011

P'Gell

Quote:

Originally posted by ToyGurl

So, here are a few questions for you ladies

1. Do you get your annual check up?

2. Do you go more than once a year?

3. Are you afraid to talk to your OB/GYN about sex?

And for the discussion, what is your funniest OB/GYN ... more

1. Do you get your annual check up?

I go for an annual check up. Sometimes I'm not as vigilant as when I was younger and had more than one partner.

2. Do you go more than once a year? I get a lot of UTIs, so sometimes I go in to have a UTI diagnosed and treated, if I can't score any proper antibiotics by other means (I'm a nurse and I'm not going to go into it. But,I know the right antibx and I know when I have a UTI and when it's something else.)

3. Are you afraid to talk to your OB/GYN about sex? Not at all. I made sure he knew I was having orgasm problems and he is doing his best to help treat the issue, along with my efforts. He also agrees that a high powered vibrator (like the Hitachi or the Wahl) is a good part of the treatment for peri-menopausal induced orgasmic problems.

And for the discussion, what is your funniest OB/GYN visit-related story? When I first started seeing him (after my beloved OBGYN, who took care of me during my pregnancies and pulled two of my three children out of me, saw me through my miscarriages and was a good friend moved) I had to give him my history. They ask your sexual activity frequency, and when I was honest and said, "About 6 to 10 times a week." He kind of stopped for a minute, (he was about to leave the room to see if they had any samples of something I needed) he stood in the doorway and turned back and looked at the floor for a minute, then went back to his notes and asked, "So, um, you would say you have, uh, a voracious appetite for sex?" I started to laugh and said, "Put whatever you want in your notes. Yeah, voracious sounds OK." We both started to laugh and he said, "You're a lucky woman. I see so many who have low drives." I joked, "Yeah, My husband thinks he's lucky, too."

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06/09/2011

P'Gell

Quote:

Originally posted by MaryExy

My checkup is in the next month or so. I feel uncomfortable talking to her about sex, but mainly because she's my mom's doctor as well. I think I'd be more open later with a different doctor.

Mary, honey, definitely get your own doctor. By law, they can't tell your mom anything you tell them or anything that happens during the visit, test results, your concerns etc. but it will feel much more comfortable with your own doctor.

At first I went to the same OBGYN practice whom has seen my mom. They got my charts mixed up with my moms and the doctor walked into the room (back when they used paper charts) saying, "How can you be pregnant, you had a hysterectomy?" They he looked up, and saw a young woman (I looked about 15 when I was first pregnant, although I was in my early 20s) and looked back at the chart, and I asked if he had my mother's chart by accident (I was not married yet and still using my maiden name, same last name as my mother and similar first name.) He did have her chart. The NEXT time I went in, I was married and they got me mixed up with my husband's cousin, who has the EXACT same name that I do, when I use my married name. She had cancer at the time (short freak out from the doctor, who was told I was there for my 9 week pregnancy check up) and I realized I needed to find an office who had better chart pulling skills.

I was much more comfortable with my own doctor. A good place to find a good OBGYN is at a University Teaching Hospital. The doctors are often better informed than those at community hospitals and have newer treatments sooner. You are also going to get better adherence to HIPPA laws (part of which means they can't share your information with anyone except you.)

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06/09/2011

Chilipepper

Go every year to public health for mine (moral - get a job that has health insurance if you can get a job). In fact, my last pap in January looked odd, so they asked me to come back at the end of June (mental note: need to provide proof of [lack of] income again). Also get my Pill there as well.

I get different examiners all the time, so I can't develop any sort of rapport with them - although I told them to NEVER send a man in for my pap ever again (that was entirely traumatic). I have a better rapport with the lady who takes my blood for the STD tests, she's always there. Can't really ask anybody anything when they don't know you. I'm even growing my hair back out for this visit because I just don't want to bother with the judgmental scowls with the prudes at public health (they got into a hissy fit once when I started my Pill pack on Wednesday instead of Sunday). I guess after them dealing with teenage mothers and scraping out various flora and fauna on most of their clients, they feel anybody who engages in recreational sex must be irresponsible trash.

Strangest question I ever got from an examiner was when I was 25 and married (though not sexually active, but had been active before marriage): "Are you sure you're not a virgin?"

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06/09/2011

emiliaa

I should have gone 10 times last year but I only went twice. I am actually financially struggling, but I know I need to get a good check up and a blood test. I'm going to try to go between every partner from now on since I'm doing the whole polyamory thing. ^_^ Here's hoping I get a clean report...really shouldn't have put this off for so long.

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06/09/2011

ss143

I go every year my next check up is in a couple of weeks. I get everything checked out and i talk to her about anything and everything. I figure she has all my medical history has seen me naked and delivered both my kids so whats left to hide lol

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06/09/2011

mandiegk

I go every year for my checkup and renew my prescription for the pill - I usually get an STD test too, but since my insurance doesn't cover it I opted out on it last year because I just couldn't afford it and I had the same. I'll have be sure to get it this year.
I've had the same OBGYN since I was 17 so I am pretty comfortable around her, but she always seems rushed so I try not to ask any questions if I can get the answers elsewhere.

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06/09/2011

zensgirl10

I go at least twice a year and I don't like it. I get so nervous and aggervated before I even get there. I hate when I lay down on the table and put my feet up and then they say "scoot down" "closer" I just want to sit up and scoot down and then lay back down. Hate the thought of my crotch going right at some stranger.

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06/09/2011

Airen Wolf

(EF Review Program Mentor)

Quote:

Originally posted by ToyGurl

So, here are a few questions for you ladies

1. Do you get your annual check up?

2. Do you go more than once a year?

3. Are you afraid to talk to your OB/GYN about sex?

And for the discussion, what is your funniest OB/GYN ... more

My doctors are here to help me keep myself healthy and my sex life is part of that equation. It would cause me possible illness to be afraid or squeamish to discuss things that are important. If my doctor can't handle my directness then I look for another one who can.

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06/09/2011

joja

I don't go often, because the yearly checkup is a myth. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists actually recommends twice a year for women under 30, and every three years after that. They also don't recommend women go in until age 21.

Even with that, pap smear guidelines vary widely even among "developed" Western countries. In Finland, women aren't screened until they're 30, and only every 5 years. This is because women in their teens and twenties are extremely likely to have false positive results, and undergo unnecessary biopsies and colposcopies. Most cases of HPV in young women clear up on their own.

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06/09/2011

ichigostrawberry

I go once a year. I don't feel uneasy talking with my doctor, as that is what she went to school to help people with. Perhaps mildly shy, but not uncomfortable.

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06/09/2011

Wondermom

Quote:

Originally posted by joja

I don't go often, because the yearly checkup is a myth. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists actually recommends twice a year for women under 30, and every three years after that. They also don't recommend women go in ... more

yes, but STD's dont, so if you are sexually active you should be seen regularly and as soon as you become sexually active, regardless of age

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06/09/2011

MaryExy

Quote:

Originally posted by P'Gell

Mary, honey, definitely get your own doctor. By law, they can't tell your mom anything you tell them or anything that happens during the visit, test results, your concerns etc. but it will feel much more comfortable with your own ... more

That sounds like a terrible experience! Thankfully my mom seems pretty open to me getting a doctor closer to school (5 hours away!) I'm hoping she'll help me pick one out and MAYBE come on the first visit to help get my records sorted, then leave it alone. Fingers crossed!

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06/09/2011

Tuesday

Quote:

Originally posted by P'Gell

Mary, honey, definitely get your own doctor. By law, they can't tell your mom anything you tell them or anything that happens during the visit, test results, your concerns etc. but it will feel much more comfortable with your own ... more

I've had chart mixups too. I have a common name and at least three times a doctor has entered the room, opened the chart and said within two seconds "This is not your chart." I'm assuming that someone with the same name sees the same doctors and is different from me in some way that is immediately obvious. And I've been told by a receptionist that there are 5 people with my name seeing my primary care doctor.

I see my gyn every year without fail. For years it was to make sure I received a new birth control prescription (and secondarily the pap smear.) Now its to receive my estrogen prescription.

I tell her everything. She's wonderful.

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06/09/2011

zeebot

I see my doctor for a full checkup, but only once a year. I'm a student, so I use the student health center, and they only let you have a full checkup once a year.

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06/09/2011

darthkitt3n

I see my doctor once a year for a check up, plus any time I feel I have an issue with my body. I am on my last refill of pills, so I need to go see her next month. I feel comfortable talking with her about sex, though I don't enjoy being poked at and stuff during my examination.

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06/09/2011

Antipova

I go once a year at minimum, and more often if I'm picking up with a new monogamous partner so I can get the full round of STD tests. Occasional UTI diagnoses as well. I've been three times in the last 13 months, I think.

I think I had one PAP smear in my hometown before leaving for college, and at university health centers you get a fresh doctor every time, so I've never seen the same doctor more than once. I always tell them my (usually high) "number of partners in the past six months" when they ask, but I do have a hard time asking questions of my own accord. ("Is fisting okay with an IUD?" I haven't actually been fisted in the years since I've gotten it, but I'm curious in general anyway.)

I'm looking forward to getting a semi-permanent doctor that I can actually discuss things with. Some of the university doctors were good, and some were terrible. When I asked a random one about getting an IUD, she said "Oh, sweetie, you don't want that, you're in your child-bearing years!"

"Lady, that's the point."

Had to wait a whole 'nother year before I found a doctor who listened to me when I said, given my rather frugal insurance policy, that the IUD would pay for itself in place of pills in less than two years, and not give me mood swings to boot.

Thank goodness for the internet, because many of the doctors I've seen have much less insight than their years or schooling would suggest.

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06/09/2011

Tuesday

You wanted amusing gyn visit stories. Here's the best I have.

When I was in college, several girlfriends told me that their gyns volunteered that they would have an easy time giving birth. No gyn had said a peep to me about this. So the next time I saw a health center gyn, I asked her about that. She laughed and went to work assessing this for me.

All the time she checked this and that she kept her eyes to the ceiling and said nothing. Then she said "You really can't tell how well you'll do until you actually give birth. I wouldn't worry about it."

Obviously I'm not shaped well for easy birth-giving.

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06/09/2011

ThoughtsAblaze

Quote:

Originally posted by ToyGurl

So, here are a few questions for you ladies

1. Do you get your annual check up?

2. Do you go more than once a year?

3. Are you afraid to talk to your OB/GYN about sex?

And for the discussion, what is your funniest OB/GYN ... more

1. I answered "no" because I went for my first ever visit last fall (age 24) when I had an ovarian cyst burst. I ended up at urgent care afraid I had appendicitis, and the doctor there forwarded me to a gynecologist. I was so nervous, as I thought 1] I'd be yelled at for waiting so long, 2] made to feel guilty that I'm still a virgin, and 3] that the whole exam would take forever and be traumatic.

Instead, it was a quick and quite positive experience. My doctor was nice, informative but didn't treat me like a kid, and made me feel really awesome about me and my lifestyle.

2] I now plan to go every year.

3] Sex has become a hot topic with the boyfriend, so I just went last week to get my first birth control prescription. Again, I was sure she'd give me some kind of "you're not married so you shouldn't do this" chat. Instead, she was excited I was planning, gave me some honest (and helpful) advice, and made me feel ultra confident about this decision, as well as welcome to ask any questions.

If I'd known years ago how easy and not traumatic going to a gynecologist would be, I wouldn't have put it off for so long.

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06/09/2011

P'Gell

Quote:

Originally posted by joja

I don't go often, because the yearly checkup is a myth. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists actually recommends twice a year for women under 30, and every three years after that. They also don't recommend women go in ... more

However, if you have had certain histories, or are on hormonal birth control or HRT, it is definitely recommended to see the OBGYN every year or so.

Yes, HPV usually clears up on its own, but there are other causes of cervical problems. All good doctors will repeat a PAP at least once or twice over a period of weeks or months before suggesting any surgical procedure. Also, other tests are often done to detect STDs other than just PAPs at most GYN visits for sexually active women.

A woman should see a GYN and have a PAP when she becomes sexually active,STDs can happen at any age. Or between 18 and 21 if she is not yet active. Or at 15 or 16, if she is not yet menstuating or younger if she is having menstrual problems.

I wouldn't wait until I was 30 to have my first PAP. I've seen too much working in medicine. Finland isn't the USA and our health care system is quite different, as is the make up of our population. You can't compare the health of a racially and genetically homogenous country like Finland, which also has VERY good access to health care, to a racially and ethnically and economically mixed country like the USA.

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06/10/2011