If you're hanging around New York City, I actually just spotted a 50% discount over at the Williams-Sonoma on Broadway for that walker, so if you’re in the neighborhood, you should definitely go take a look
You might want to check out Bauerfeind. They’ve got a shop right over on 75 Main Street, though they actually have locations in several different cities across the country too. www.bauerfeind.com
Honestly, even Nasonex doesn't do much for me, but I stumbled upon this one spray that’s actually been a lifesaver. I'm not entirely sure if you can grab it at a local pharmacy here—I haven't bothered asking—but anyway, it's called Rhinocort, made by Pfizer, and the active ingredient is tramazolin hydrochloride. My nasal septum is pretty much all warped on both sides, though I haven't gone under the knife yet; I'm still just weighing my options. For now, I'm just getting by with this spray since everything else either does absolutely nothing or just ends up irritating my nasal lining.
Jerry Walker79 said:Look, I don't know the exact science behind how they interact, but generally speaking, doctors tell women over 35 who smoke that they shouldn't be on the pill—or at the very least, they need to cut back on the cigarettes way down to almost nothing.
It basically comes down to the increased risk of blood clots, which can lead to heart attacks or strokes. Plus, smokers often deal with high blood pressure, so that just adds another layer to the danger. It’s really nothing to mess around with. Honestly, I don't know why some gynecologists don't make a bigger deal out of it; maybe they just assume it's clearly stated in the fine print of the prescription and expect you to actually read it before starting. Every doctor I’ve ever talked to—even an immunologist once—hammered home the warning about smoking while on the pill, even though I don't smoke myself. It’s something they always make sure to note in my medical records.
Chloe Johnson91 said:Back in December when I went in for my swabs, my concentration levels were at 10 to the 4th power, and my boyfriend's were too. Now she won't even let me get follow-up swabs after the therapy, and honestly, I have no clue where I stand... 😳 And then he tries telling me that doxycycline is some hardcore antibiotic that definitely wiped everything out. If it didn't, I'm going to lose it.
Doxycycline is absolute poison to me; it makes me want to throw up just thinking about it. My doctor at Mayo Clinic suggested my boyfriend take doxycycline too, but his primary care physician just gave him Sumamed instead, so he hasn't even gone back for more swabs. I’m probably going to have to force him to go. 😳
Chloe Johnson91 said:🤷I honestly think you and I are dealing with the exact same thing—like, Ureaplasma is just being a total pain. Or maybe I'm totally off base...
I was wondering about that Ureaplasma too, but my doctor told me the concentration was just too low. 😕I don't get why this beast won't just die off or why it won't multiply; it's always the same story, either it shows up on the swab or the concentration is under 10 to the 3rd.
Chloe Johnson91 said:But she won't give me the referrals because those tests are insanely expensive through the insurance provider. She'll only run a Pap smear for me. And I'm really hoping my Pap comes back okay. 🤣 If my Pap is fine, then I don't know, I might just have to go on a hunger strike until I can afford a Gynoderm test. 🤣
You should probably find another community clinic gynecologist, because what does she expect a Pap smear to show regarding infections? A Pap isn't an infection test; you need swabs for that. It honestly drives me crazy when doctors act like that—just "oh, don't worry, it's nothing serious." I guess it only becomes "serious" to them once a woman becomes infertile from untreated infections or develops cervical cancer.
Chloe Johnson91 said:🤣 I went in for swabs back in December, at that same women's clinic you go to. Scraped together $133 and just went for it. I wanted the results fast because I really wanted to know where I stood—you know, just curious if there was anything actually wrong—and they found ureaplasma. My OB-GYN took the results through my insurance and gave both me and my boyfriend a round of doxycycline. She didn't want to redo the swab, and now she’s saying she won't even bother if my Pap smear comes back okay. But I won't know that until next week 🙄 ufffff
Honestly, I have ureaplasma too. It’s just sitting there in my urethra, and even after taking doxycycline, it keeps popping up on the swabs, though my concentration is lower than 10 to the 3rd power. What was yours? The weird thing is, I don't even have a bladder or urinary tract infection, yet it shows up on the tests. I have no clue if it could have caused ovarian inflammation if it's just isolated in the urethra 😕
Chloe Johnson91 said:Silva Babić, right? I think it's great too, but I just don't have the cash 😠
Yeah, yeah, it is 😍 but man, I spend money all year long on $167 just to go in for checkups. It definitely hits the wallet hard, but honestly, it's worth it. As for the swabs, I usually head over to Mount Sinai using a referral from my primary care doctor, but that's for a different issue, so she can sometimes write me a script for the OB-GYN swabs too.
Maybe bug your insurance provider a bit to see if they'll give you referrals for follow-up swabs. If your doctor refuses to cover them, you could always just go to a local lab, grab some test tubes, and head to that clinic—pay $33 for the collection and then take them back to the lab.
Chloe Johnson91 said:Sam Hughes5, I guess I probably had some kind of inflammation going on too, I just didn't realize it at the time. It's honestly wild 🙄
So, tell me, what did your doctor actually say about next steps? Like, is this something you need to panic about, or is it just one of those things where you need to be extra careful and keep an eye on it? Did she put you on any kind of medication or treatment?
Grace Walker13, yeah, it looks like I'm going to have to find a new gynecologist. This whole experience has been a total disaster.
By the way, if anyone reading this knows a really solid OB-GYN on the West Side of the city, please let me know or just shoot me a DM.
I actually posted something to you on the forum just the other day 😠
Basically, she didn't really tell me much, and I totally forgot to ask her anything. Honestly, when she pointed out that thing about my ovary on the monitor, it clicked because I remembered seeing a thread about it on a forum a few days ago 😁😂
She didn't prescribe anything, though I mean, there isn't really a "treatment" to make an ovary move back into place 🤷 and as for inflammation, microorganisms can cause that, but I tested negative for chlamydia. I just have enterococcus faecalis (and I have zero clue if that even has anything to do with this), and since I'm not on antibiotics, if you haven't already, you should definitely go get full screenings for everything.
My doctor is amazing, and I know you mentioned looking for someone on the West Side, but she's located downtown near the medical center—kind of like a high-end private clinic. If you don't mind driving out toward the suburbs to see a private specialist, she’s a great choice.🙂
So I went in for my routine checkup today, and the ultrasound actually showed that my left ovary has shifted its position closer to my uterus. It hasn't fully attached yet, but it’s getting there. When the doctor was doing the physical exam, she mentioned that I've had some inflammation in my ovary, and seeing the scan confirmed it—she thinks the inflamed tissue is what basically pushed it out of place.
Honestly, I had no clue I even dealt with ovarian inflammation before. I mean, I did get these sharp, stabbing pains in my left side sometimes—like someone was poking me with a knife for just two or three seconds at a time. It was intense. And lately, over the last few weeks, those pains have been absolutely killing me.
So, if you already know you've dealt with an infection or inflammation, this might be why. But then again, so many women have no idea they’re dealing with inflammation at all; they just don't realize their symptoms are connected to it.
copperfox28 said:No, I’ve said it before—you might be able to get two at once depending on the medication, but this business with the Sylapen? I don't follow; that would be dual therapy. There is absolutely no way my primary care physician would just hand me an antibiotic like that unless there was a serious issue. I'm no doctor, obviously, but why on earth is such a long course required? Certain medications simply cannot be listed together on a single prescription—or so they claim. Unless they are intentionally misleading me, which I see no reason for, as there is no benefit in it for me or for them.
And regarding the suggestion that one should pay for a consultation every single time a prescription is needed—what consultation? Such a thing doesn't even exist. Even if they were allowed to charge for it, what would they actually do? A GP examining a diabetic's eyes or deciding on a specific combination of drops for someone with high ocular pressure? Frequently, I must repeat, through no fault of their own, these doctors have no idea what kind of specialized medications they are dealing with. Gregory Gomez45 and Harold Ramirez49, it is painfully obvious that your experiences from the patient side of things—to your good fortune—are extremely limited. You might think that because you are part of the system, everything will run smoothly when you finally need it, but that is nothing more than a delusion. It honestly sickens me—for instance, we move away from mechanics, who are already expensive and prone to overcharging, only to hear a notary explaining that their fees are high because of their extensive education and the "responsible" nature of their work. Meanwhile, my sister has to work a month's worth of overtime shifts just to cover the cost of $4000 certifying a mortgage application—a process that takes twenty minutes. It seems if doctors aren't required to undergo more training than a notary, their job won't be considered any more responsible, and they won't be doing any more than they already do. But none of that is relevant to what I wrote. And yes, it also weighs heavily on her, even though she is a physician, having to rush out of work because her father took her mother to the pharmacy; she had to stop by to grab something to eat because nobody accounted for the fact that under this new system, she'd be stuck there from ten in the morning until two in the afternoon. Diabetics can't exactly skip meals when they need insulin, and then she has to leave work to pick her up or provide $33 for a taxi. It also deeply affects her how her mother has had to struggle to get her prescriptions over the last few years, and the fact that being a doctor provides her absolutely no help or sympathy whatsoever.
You mentioned your sister is a doctor, so do doctors have special scripts they can use to pick up meds at the pharmacy? Like, could she just go in and grab them? Some guy I know mentioned something like that, but I never really understood it.
copperfox28 said:It really comes down to the specific medication—some prescriptions allow you to pick up two boxes at once, while others don't; however, if you're in that first category, you can just grab both boxes right then and there. That isn't quite the same thing as a recurring prescription, where you'd return multiple times using the same authorization. I find this whole antibiotic thing a bit odd, though—they're typically packaged so that a single box covers the entire course. For instance, if you're taking one pill a day for three days and there are three tablets in a box, it works out perfectly; similarly, if you take two a day for seven days, you'd expect to see fourteen in the box.
I had a similar experience with Silenor, getting two bottles of 30. And just yesterday, I picked up Percocet, two bottles of 20. But since that's twice a day, those 40 pills only last about 20 days... which is way less than a month. If there isn't even a 30-day supply option available, I guess it's technically against the rules if the treatment is meant to go longer. I mean, I assume the pharmacist would speak up if anything seemed sketchy.
Anyway, setting aside all this back-and-forth you guys are having, I was wondering... how is it that you can't just get more boxes of your meds on a single prescription? It works differently for me. For instance, my doctor writes it right there on the script so I can get two boxes at once. Just yesterday, I picked up two boxes of Percocet, and not too long ago, I grabbed two boxes of antibiotics at the same time. I’m not sure if that's the rule for every single medication out there, but honestly, maybe try asking your doctors about it? It might make things a little easier on you if they can swing it.
It’s not even that it hurts, really... it’s more like this intense, stinging burn. My nurse explained that the burning sensation comes from the liquid they use to dilute the penicillin. How much it stings basically depends on whether they inject it fast or slow. If they just dump the whole thing in at once, you're gonna feel it—it's brutal. I honestly couldn't move my entire leg; I was practically dragging it behind me. And get this, right before all that, the nurse gave me a smack on the backside, and honestly, I still have no clue why 😕 she hit me there and then went straight for the needle. 😂 And don't even get me started on the bruising on my butt... 😁😁😁
The main thing is to keep some cold compresses on it; that should take the edge off. You'll get through it, though. It's manageable. 😍
Hang in there, buddy! If you just ignore those symptoms, breathing is going to become a total nightmare. I don't know how you'll handle that feeling—it's like having a hundred stray hairs stuck in the back of your throat. Honestly, that’s exactly how I feel whenever I spend too much time around cats. Plus, the itching? That's just going to get worse and worse. You really need to head to the doctor and get some allergy meds. Look, there's no deep philosophy behind this; if you're allergic to cats, the simplest fix is just to stay away from them for good.
Maybe go ahead and look into Mirena? I've heard people say it can actually help clear up fibroids, kind of like how an IUD works, but honestly, do a little digging online first. There are probably some deep threads on health forums about it too, though you should definitely get a real opinion from your gynecologist before deciding.
Amy Ortiz6 said:Oh, I should probably mention that I don't actually have a regular gynecologist on file, so this will be my very first visit to one. When I mentioned getting a referral from my doctor, I was actually referring to my primary care physician. It turns out I don't even need to see her first. That’s quite convenient, really.
Honestly, you just show up at the OB-GYN you want to see and tell them you’d like to register as a patient. The nurse will give you the paperwork you need for your insurance provider, and that’s pretty much it. My advice? Go ahead and book your exam right away. The wait times can be brutal—sometimes two months or even longer if you're unlucky.
Before you head out, try rubbing some body lotion or even a heavy moisturizer on the inside of your thighs. Use quite a bit of it—you want it to feel pretty slick. Trust me, it works wonders.
Does anyone know what days they do swabs at the clinic over in downtown Chicago? I showed up at 7 this morning and, surprise surprise, the window was shut tight. Nobody bothered to mention that you have to leave your referrals hanging in the little slot by the window, so when I finally got there, they wouldn't take my paperwork and I just felt totally embarrassed. Are they actually open on Wednesdays? I can't tell.
I need to get cervical and urethral swabs done. I've had the first one before, but I’ve never done the urethral one, so I’m a bit nervous... does it hurt a lot? 😢
Oh, and one more thing—my referral says "exam plus swabs." Does that mean they do the exam right then and there, or do I need to schedule an appointment and wait for a call?
Betty Ross10 said:I was wondering if anyone here has actually dealt with oleander or ivy poisoning, or maybe even just heard a story about someone who did. Like, how does someone even get poisoned by them, and what kind of symptoms show up and when?
Back in the 80s, you used to hear stories about women in Europe using oleander to take out their husbands. It was actually a whole thing back then. Just curious... you got something specific in mind? 😂 hehe, just teasing, just teasing 🙂 With oleander, you’re looking at vomiting, or your heart rate either going way too fast or dropping too low. Usually, with most plants, you'll just get some skin irritation, nausea, and stuff like that.
You feeling okay? You think you're showing symptoms?
So, I was over at the internal medicine wing—specifically hematology—and honestly, it was just 🙏 🙏 🙏 . I was totally blown away by the doctors there; I’ve seriously never experienced such a genuine, comfortable doctor-patient connection in my life!
As for the OB-GYN department, I can't say for sure. I heard some rumors about people getting abortions after the third month if they have enough cash to cover it and all that. But then again, you hear stories like that everywhere, not just at that clinic.