… to be so embarrassed I’m considering writing an apology letter to my GP?

[embarsandash]

Before I start, please don’t judge me. I am so embarrassed and have never had anything like this happen to me before.

I am an exceptionally clean person, I shower daily in the morning and bath every evening, I have never had any concerns with my hygiene and nothing like this has ever happened to me before!

I have been having some very painful stomach cramps over the course of the last 3/4 months, along with some bleeding - and so I have been in and out of the doctors surgery several times to be seen for various tests, scans and blood tests etc.. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Yesterday afternoon I had an appointment with my gp to discuss my recent scan and blood test findings, so I attended as normal after a super busy morning / early afternoon at work.

when I got to the doctors room, she discussed my results and advised me that she will now need to conduct an internal scan. I was mortified as I was given no prior warning. Usually for something like this, I’d have a shower before going, change into clean clothes and underwear etc… but I had no idea this was going to happen.

I was asked to get changed behind the curtain and lie down for the examination. When I was changing, I noticed that there were no wipes / towels to freshen up like there usually is, so I was then panicking even more.

when I laid down to have my examination, I noticed that my GP had a strange look on her face, almost like concern? She was not speaking to me so I eventually asked her if everything okay. She then told me that I have an ‘unpleasant’ odour ‘down below’ and that I should consider getting that looked into.

Well, I am absolutely mortified. I’ve never ever had any kind of hygiene problems before, never had any issues ‘down below’ and I don’t know how to take the comment.

what do I do! I’ve not stopped thinking about it since. I am so embarrassed in case she will always remember me as ‘the patient that smelled bad’…

I’m considering writing a letter of apology.. is that over reactive? I don’t know what to do!

Thank you I appreciate your response. I am just mortified in case she thinks I’m unhygienic or unclean!

I am going to call the surgery reception back up today to ask what my next steps should be. Perhaps they will let me see a different GP / department to avoid the embarrassment.

How could she smell you if she was just reading your scan report??

Are you sure she was a GP? It isn’t usual for GPs to do scans at all, let alone an internal scan unexpectedly in a normal length appointment. Are you sure she wasn’t an ultrasonographer based in the practice?

I think you should double check who you’ve seen.

if you’ve had a scan I assume you’ve had swabs for BV/thrush/chlamydia?

do you use soap to clean your vulva? If so I’d stop and just use water or something like aqueous cream.

If it’s private, then maybe you’d be sent back to arrange that swab as it may not be covered under your insurance (you’d have been approved for one thing and not the other at that time) so that makes a little more sense now.

Also… you wrote this in your OP

when I got to the doctors room, she discussed my results and advised me that she will now need to conduct an internal scan

Make your mind up!

odor or odour?

It's curious that the internal exam was at this stage of the investigations.

She told you to monitor it but you're considering calling the surgery. Will you be explaining the whole story to the receptionist triaging your problem?

I’m sorry - after getting some confusing responses I’ve just read back my original post.

she was reading my results and wanted to conduct an internal CHECK, not scan. I had an internal examination using the speculum.

the scan had been carried out a few weeks before with the gynae department.

Sorry for my error. I was writing in a bit of a fluster this morning.

I think that’s the least of your worries. She said that because it can be an indicator of cervical/endometrial problems. I would get a Pap smear.

I’m so confused. Your OP says you went to see the GP, and then when you saw the doctor the doctor did an internal scan there and then. Who did the scan, your GP or another doctor from this clinic?

Exactly, I’d be less concerned about being embarrassed and more concerned about what’s potentially causing the odour.

This.

Unless the GP was being a right cow, I would imagine she actually smelled something unusual. Nothing to do with hygiene, again unless she was being a cow then that wouldn't be brought up - they could tell the difference.

It might be something you're used to, and don't notice?

Either way, so sorry this happened OP, but you might want to get an appointment to get it checked out... Again, absolutely 0 to do with hygiene, but incase the GP legitimately smelled something that seemed off.

And if the GP was just being a cow, then they don't deserve an "apology". I absolutely assure you doctors have to examine people much dirtier than you, you may not bathe or shower ever due to mental health or learning disabilities. They still have to treat patients with dignity.

Tbh even if your GP was being legit, they could have phrases it better. "Unusual odour" is so much better than unpleasant.

Yes I can see where the confusion has come from, sorry. As mentioned upthread, I’ve written incorrectly.

I didn’t mean scan, I meant internal examination.

The scan was done by the gynae department a few weeks ago. The GP appointment was to read and discuss the results of both that and my recent blood test.

Apologies for my error and the confusion.

You dont need to apologise - I highly doubt there would be such a bad odour from just not showering for one day, for example, even if you had bleeding/normal discharge.

Do you maybe have BV? Or a urine infection? Sometimes these can cause unpleasant smells that would only really be noticeable if someone was pretty close to your privates, which they would be for that examination.

I once had concerns and visited a sexual health clinic. To note, my discharge and privates completely stank to the point that I couldn't go to work as people could have smelled it. They had to examine me. I apologised profusely and they said not to worry - it was their job. It turns out I had 2 STIs and BV, hence the bad smell.

I wouldn't dream of writing an apology letter to someone whos job it is to investigate issues like this.

Personally, I would be booking an appointment with the sexual health clinic.

Yes this really happened

This. As soon as I read that it was a private clinic i thought the same. They want to charge you separately for investigating a separate issue.

No shade to the private clinics, but this is yet another reason to be grateful for the NHS.

I will of course arrange for this, although I’ve been with my lovely husband for many years and I don’t have any concerns that he’s been disloyal.

It’s definitely better to be safe than sorry, so I will absolutely get this appointment scheduled for peace of mind.

I’ve absolutely NO reason to fabricate a story as embarrassing as this.

Please if you don’t believe me, feel free to move on and read a different thread.

I hope you gained something from posting this, because it isn't reflecting well on you.

I’ve a sneaking suspicion that this could be the case, too.

I’ve had a lot of billing issues with the tests and appointments that I’ve had so far, where the insurance doesn’t want to cover XYZ, and I’ve been asked to have various blood tests etc that don’t appear to be in any way linked to what my concern is.

Am afternoon appointment after a shower in the morning? Had you been particularly active during the day? I wouldn't have thought that would be enough to produce a notable smell to provoke that reaction! BV might be worth investigating, but I would have expected her to do this investigating.

I don't think you need to apologise OP but can understand how mortifying it was. I don't think it was handled particularly well.

I've had cervical cancer so have had a lot of people having a rummage around up there - whilst I always showered in the morning there were several afternoon appointments where it wouldn't be practicable to shower before hand. I don't think you've done anything wrong, and anything an experienced GP shouldn't have seen many times before.

Can I just remind people to think before sharing their own stories in this vein?

Doesnt have to be an sti, they deal with all things down there (or at least locally at my one) I have been there as there’s no permanent female gp at my surgery and it feels a lot less awkward.