… 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!

OP you can get the test at home swabs (Amazon or chemist) to check for BV to save you another trip to the doctors.

It doesn’t really matter what you use, it’s whether you’re allowing any water and/or soap inside your vagina when washing.

I use any and all soaps on my vulva, but actually inside the vagina should never be washed or “rinsed out” as it’s likely to cause BV which stinks.

I don’t think I suggested this!

Im trying to work out why a Dr would do an internal exam on the Op’s cervix (with fingers) at the same time as using a speculum! The Op has confirmed no swabs were taken.

Sometimes a speculum is used to do an internal examination so that the Dr can take a look at the cervix. I had this recently when I had some unexplained bleeding… the GP wanted to see if there was anything obvious causing the bleeding on the cervix.

The speculum is used in order to see a clear view of the cervix.

After looking she then prodded around my cervix and was finished. I don’t distrust that what she was doing was normal procedure.

OP you’re getting a lot of unnecessary stick here for getting a name of a procedure wrong. Honestly 🙄

The private practices won’t do anything other than what they’ve been authorised to do by insurance in the first instance. So she wasn’t wrong to say you need to get that sorted another time. The alternative would have been the swab being done and then you’d have a charge you were unaware of / didn’t consent to. If I were you, I’d go to a sexual health clinic - many years ago they were walk in but it’s been a while since I’ve been to one, and get this on the NHS as it’s very simple and not a specialist diagnostic at this stage. Then go from there.

@TY78910Thank you I really appreciate your response. I hadn’t considered a sexual health clinic so thank you, I will try to get an appointment scheduled.

Or you could just do as the GP advised. Monitor it and go back there if it doesn't resolve/gets any worse. No harm in getting checked of course but there may not be an issue. I think you are hugely overreacting to this.

OP, I don't think you should write to apologise or to complain. You have a problem that is causing you worry and all because you didn't ask the obvious questions. It's such a simple thing. Where/what/why/how should be words at the forefront of your mind in these situations. I also think it very much proves that private doesn't always equal "better", even if it does usually mean "quicker".

She could, but there is no harm in getting checked. Untreated vaginal infections can lead to other more complex things, become hard to treat and recurring. OP already said she’s been having unexplained issues she’s been going back and forth on so I would lean more towards just having a 5 min swab.

@Floatlikeafeather2I agree I definitely should have asked those questions, however I was admittedly far too embarrassed to even think about it and I just wanted to leave.

I’ve had numerous ones and all have been with a speculum for visual before they do a manual exam
they need to look as well as feel

Same. Inserted the speculum to have a look first, then felt around and suggested specific tests after finding that some parts were tender and I was in pain when gynae pressed. I don’t see why people here are so stunned that procedures can differ depending on what doctors look for. They probably won’t go rummaging around during a smear, but will do if other problems need to be investigated. Bizarre.

Sure but you also need to consider the stress caused by (possibly unnecessary) testing. It's not just about the procedure but the waiting time and anxiety around that procedure. If the GP was that concerned she would have suggested a referral there and then. As it is this may well turn out to be nothing.

Yes exactly lol

Must have been v strong smell

If you read OPs updates the GP later states that she should make another appointment if the odour doesn't improve. So yes, it will be the GP "looking into it".

So the GP both wanted OP to "consider getting that looked into" and also monitor it.

That's not really looking into it is it. And that would be the GP anyway. All v queer. Terrible communication either way.

No it's perfectly clear. She said to consider getting it looked into and then clarified when and how OP should do that.

Edited to add... The only thing I would want to question is how long to wait before booking the follow up appointment (if it's required).

It's clearly not "perfectly clear" as OP is perfectly confused and embarrassed. So the GP clarified that to look into it further she should monitor it. Those are different things. Maybe the GP wasn't as perfectly clear as you think.

Ok, it's perfectly clear to me. I appreciate OP was confused (and apparently you are too). She needs to consider looking into it. Consideration generally takes time. During that time she should monitor the situation and see if there is any improvement. This will inform the decision. Does that make sense now?

You are right in saying monitoring something is not the same as looking into it further. The monitoring is to determine whether she needs to look into it further.

OP was embarrassed because she was worried it was a hygiene issue. Several posters (including me) have reassured her that it wasn't.

To be fair you do seem a little over invested in OPs vulva now.

@VainAbigail, you’re assuming medical knowledge that you clearly don’t have. I perform speculum examinations on a regular basis, and only occasionally do they involve taking a swab - more typically it’s so that I can visualise the cervix and look for any abnormalities. Examining with my fingers (a bimanual examination) is usually done to assess for pain or a mass in the pelvis. Different examinations for different reasons.

Honestly, I'd want to speak to the surgery about your experience - that sounds just awful - I'd have been totally mortified.

The last thing a surgery should be doing is shaming people so that problems don't get investigated! Let them know what happened and how it made you feel, and that any possible issue felt unresolved. I would def raisethat there was no provision for you to freshen up first. I would've felt extremely uncomfortable with this, so sorry you had this experience!

She hasn't shamed her. There is nothing for the OP to feel ashamed about. There was no suggestion that the odour was due to not being able to freshen up beforehand.