Just a Pinch.. Post for the women here

[Pea-n-Me]

And, the thing is, after being told “you’ll be fine” or “it’s just a little pinch” but you end up being NOT FINE during the procedure because it felt way worse than a “little pinch,” you feel like maybe you‘re the problem & are just a wimp - because the doctor TOLD you that you’d be fine. And, you decide that, since he/she said that, maybe most women ARE fine, & you’re just being silly & weak - so you don’t say anything.

But, for me, it doesn’t really matter anyway because I absolutely can’t stand doctors & the entire healthcare industry, so I avoid at all costs.

I’ve told my husband, “I’ll just die at home.“

(The main reason I decided to get a COVID vaccine was to hopefully avoid the ER & hospital!)

Wendy!!

 

[Sinder]

Holy crap on a cracker. I can't imagine....

The vicodin helped along with the local anesthesia. Definitely painful later though.
Advil alone probably wouldn’t have done anything.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The vicodin helped along with the local anesthesia. Definitely painful later though.
Advil alone probably wouldn’t have done anything.

What kind of local anesthesia did you have?

 

[dez1978]

It won’t help much during the procedure. After all, they’re scraping inside the entirety of your uterus! But I think the thought is (from what I recall) that it only lasts seven or eight seconds, until they get enough of the sample. That’s the worst part. But afterward, it can still obviously be sore. That is when the analgesic can help, which is why I take my 800mg of Motrin before I get to the appointment - so it’s already kicked in for the procedure, and for afterward. Along with a hot water bottle and a hot coffee or tea, as I said, to help soothe the innards. I’m not sure what the answer is, but having practitioners who are empathetic helps, anyway. Nobody should have pain issues blown off. There is quite a range of pain tolerance, though. Some people cannot tolerate even a touch. Others can tolerate unbelievable amounts of pain. My mom was around 92 when she had to have an endometrial biopsy. I took her to my GYN who absolutely could not believe how much of a trouper she was during the procedure. Mom was made of tough stock. From the GYN’s reaction, I took it that was unusual.


Very true.

It was an 8 seconds that felt like 8 mins... But its the "it ONLY last 7-8 seconds" part that gets me. Like who cares if it hurts, its just for a second. They could at least be honest and say well for a few seconds it's gonna hurt like heck, I'll try to be as quick as possible. Something. Don't tell me it'll be midly uncomfortable.

 

[Wendy31]

Wendy!!

I know!!

And I know it’s not healthy or maybe even… sane.

But I have major hospital/doctor anxiety, & the current status of healthcare protocols just make everything worse. (And the whole process… I’m getting anxious/nervous just thinking about it - making the appointment, the anxiety before the appointment, the waiting in the waiting room, then the waiting in the actual room, the poking & prodding, the doctors’ “doctor-ese,” possible follow-up appointments or going somewhere else for tests, the insurance stuff… just no.) And, in all my years, there‘s only been one doctor I’ve ever come across that I’ve actually liked & w/ whom I felt heard & w/ whom I felt actually calm - my children’s pediatrician.

(And, yes, as much as it gives me anxiety, I‘ve always taken the kids to the doctor as needed - it’s just myself who absolutely avoids any kind of healthcare situation.)

As an example, one night I thought I was having a heart attack, & I decided, “If I’m still alive tomorrow morning, I’m okay.”

And, yes, there have been times I’ve HAD to see a doctor. But, again, if at all possible I avoid it. Whatever will either resolve itself eventually or I’ll learn to live with it.

 

[VandVsmama]

You all are singing my song. Seriously.

2 1/2 years ago, when I had a breast biopsy, they said basically the same thing..."You'll feel a little punch" when they inserted the biopsy device to take out a chunk of Darth Boob (turned out later to be cancerous, so Darth Boob and his pal Kylo Ren Boob went bye bye on ODD's 13th birthday...Kylo Ren had a couple of precancerous spots in him, so it's good that he went bye bye as well...mammograms are life savers!). The local anesthetic they'd injected first didn't do a thing. I felt the biopsy device scraping out the chunk of flesh for the biopsy. I have never dropped so many loud F bombs in my entire life. And afterwards? All I got was a tiny ice pack to stick in my bra and instructions to take a couple of Tylenol if I was sore.

I was sore for days afterwards. And then guess what? They said, "Oh, we have to do a 2nd biopsy on that same side." OH GREAT! They basically went in through the same direction. Only that time, I gave them an earful ahead of time and said that their previous post-procedure instructions were lousy and that it felt all week like I'd literally had a chunk of flesh removed along with being punched in the chest. It was awful. The radiologist felt really bad and gave me extra extra anesthetic injections...it worked that time.

I'm tired of the medical establishment blowing us off like "Oh she's just being a whiny little girl." Sometimes, female doctors are the worst at the misogyny!

 

[Jennasis]

Women's health issues are constantly brushed aside. I am pretty certain I'm in peri-menopause, and it's like this sad little thing women endure. Like, when you mention it to others (including my doctor) you basically get a sympathetic nod and a "it's just nature's way...of letting you know your femininity and womanhood are slowly shriveling up and dying. Nothing you can do really. Maybe some herbal stuff....they don't really work though. Or a 'moisturizer'?"

Meanwhile, the second a man can't "perform", a BILLION dollar industry springs up overnight and big-pharma goes into hyperdrive to get a pill on the market to address the "very real" scourge of ED. I've billboards up and down the interstate.

But no, my desire to occasionally throat punch someone, or burst into flames...that's just nature's way.

And mammograms hurt. If men had to endure a mammogram yearly, breast cancer would have gone the way of erectile dysfunction. Cured by a pill 20 years ago.

 

[disneychrista]

Drs talking about how they were taught that the cervix doesn't have nerve endings (um what??)...That test was an endometrial biopsy. She said you'll feel a little discomfort. nooooooo....

I've had both a cervical biopsy & an endometrial biopsy. It took 2 full days to "recover" from the cervical biopsy. The endometrial biopsy was very painful as well but it didn't hurt for as long as the cervical biopsy. I've also had a breast biopsy. I was not offered any type of pain medication after any of these procedures. IMO doctors have no clue how painful these procedures can be.

 

[dez1978]

I've had both a cervical biopsy & an endometrial biopsy. It took 2 full days to "recover" from the cervical biopsy. The endometrial biopsy was very painful as well but it didn't hurt for as long as the cervical biopsy. I've also had a breast biopsy. I was not offered any type of pain medication after any of these procedures. IMO doctors have no clue how painful these procedures can be.

They know, they just don’t care.

 

[NAB]

That's not what I said at all. I said if you are in pain DURING a procedure, you speak up right then and there and demand pain management. You don't just suffer through it because your doctors said it would be fine. I felt pain in the MIDDLE of a c-section. I spoke up. The anesthesiologist adjusted my epidural. How would they know if I didn't say something? The anesthesiologist "assumed" the amount of medicine he had given me would be enough. It wasn't. Every patient is different.

Doctor's don't know everything. They are human and they are often wrong.

Yes that was me to , give me more meds. That was with my first one and I had the terrible shakes during.

I have PCOS and my first gyno appointment was so bad I was 16 and she told me to stop being a baby.

My doctor now did that punch biopsy to with no pain meds ,it was done in her office. She wants to do another one I declined but I am a candidate for cancer because of the PCOS . After she did it i was so happy , but the spectrum thing closed inside of me . Very scary she thought she was going to have to call for an ambulance but she got it out thank goodness.

I went though so much with fertility for my two kids , even having my ovaries the size of oranges …the pain . I don’t do pain anymore.

 

[Wendy31]

And mammograms hurt. If men had to endure a mammogram yearly, breast cancer would have gone the way of erectile dysfunction. Cured by a pill 20 years ago.

And, if men had to endure a monthly period, billions of dollars would have been spent to actually do something about it.

 

[Lilsia]

My OB/GYN just tells me to take advil before a procedure. I did that before my IUD insertion and it was still the 2nd most painful experience I’ve ever had. Almost passed out.. I had no idea the pain would be that intense, and I think my doc was just as surprised.

A few years before that I had an endometrial ablation and took some leftover Vicodin we had in the medicine cabinet. I sure wish I had that for the IUD.

Now I know, if I have any procedure scheduled I’ll be asking for a pain med RX

I’ve had cervical biopsies and cryosurgery and don’t remember them being as painful.

I had an ablation and it was the most horrible pain that I have ever felt and it lasted for hours. I have a really high pain tolerance but I was crying and my husband was about to take me to the ER because I was in so much pain. They had even given me some type of pain medicine before hand but it didn't work for me. Evidently, my body laughs at certain pain medication. Ibuprofen is one thing that works but they said that it would interact with what they gave me and I had to wait 4 hours, in excruciating pain before I could take some. I can't imagine that they don't know that it will cause this much pain considering that they are burning out the inside of your uterus.

 

[Lilsia]

you were awake for an ablation???? I was def put under for mine.

I was awake for mine. The actual procedure was not too horrible, but the pain after was what horrible for me.

 

[lisaviolet]

It is crazy.

I have had about five or six gynaecological biopsies. I can not. I now say "next time" if it a surprise. So I am prepared, if they refuse to be.

But I must say some are more skilled than others. I had one that was bearable.

But I had one once by a doctor who was shadowing mine. He did not know what he was doing. It was something. Just horrendously awful - physically and emotionally. My own doctor had to be grabbed from another room and another patient. There is no way the circumstance would have occured with a male, and I have zero issue being frank.

It made me think at the time about how lucky we are, I can not imagine what some women - and men - go through when living in areas without the needed pain management.

------------

There definitely needs to be more organization around pain management prep for these procedures.

 

[lisaviolet]

But when I really noticed the individual differences in tolerance for procedures was when it comes to hysterectomy, ie when I was looking into that issue myself, as in, about to have one. Besides the fact that most hysterectomies are a day procedure now when they used to involve a four day hospital stay, many women said they went back to work within a week after their procedures. Wow. Hmm. Why is it, then, that some take six weeks or more to recover? Well, IME it’s a combination of tolerance and maybe even some misinformation, which comes at both the heels of the medical team (when they don’t provide enough education) and the patient (when they don’t seek out enough information OR don’t pay attention to it).

And one hysterectomy is not the same as another. It is just not different levels of pain tolerance.

(Pea-n-Me, I know you know that as a professional - just adding it.)

 

[Pea-n-Me]

And one hysterectomy is not the same as another. It is just not different levels of pain tolerance.

(Pea-n-Me, I know you know that as a professional - just adding it.)

Yes. When I said tolerance I meant for a lot of things, but for the sake of brevity, I didn’t get into it more. But sure, procedures can vary due to many factors. People often tend to lump them all together when they hear the term “hysterectomy”. I had multiple structures out besides the uterus, plus a cystoscopy. And going into it I was very weak with a low hematocrit and an enlarged uterus, so surgery took extra time as did my recovery. But you hear some people recovered in a week and you wonder what‘s wrong with you!

 

[Moliphino]

I know!!

And I know it’s not healthy or maybe even… sane.

But I have major hospital/doctor anxiety, & the current status of healthcare protocols just make everything worse. (And the whole process… I’m getting anxious/nervous just thinking about it - making the appointment, the anxiety before the appointment, the waiting in the waiting room, then the waiting in the actual room, the poking & prodding, the doctors’ “doctor-ese,” possible follow-up appointments or going somewhere else for tests, the insurance stuff… just no.) And, in all my years, there‘s only been one doctor I’ve ever come across that I’ve actually liked & w/ whom I felt heard & w/ whom I felt actually calm - my children’s pediatrician.

(And, yes, as much as it gives me anxiety, I‘ve always taken the kids to the doctor as needed - it’s just myself who absolutely avoids any kind of healthcare situation.)

As an example, one night I thought I was having a heart attack, & I decided, “If I’m still alive tomorrow morning, I’m okay.”

And, yes, there have been times I’ve HAD to see a doctor. But, again, if at all possible I avoid it. Whatever will either resolve itself eventually or I’ll learn to live with it.

I'm the same way. I had a super long and heavy period a few years ago and I didn't call the doctor until the morning I realized I didn't trust myself to drive to work because I thought I might pass out. Needed three blood transfusions and the nurses at the hospital were worried I was going to go into cardiac arrest. My gyn came by while I was in the hospital overnight to tell me "don't do that again".

 

[tzolkin]

I went to the hospital once for extreme pain. I told them it was a 9 (I am very literal so nothing could really ever be a 10 to me since I could always imagine that there’s a potential for something to be worse) and that I had three unmedicated childbirths and this was worse. I told them that I believed it was a kidney stone.

They wouldn’t do anything or really even evaluate me for hours because they were waiting for me to produce a urine sample (which I could not despite sitting on the toilet for hours writhing in pain). Eventually they decided to do a CT scan when I started vomiting repeatedly (from the pain). But, of course, they still made me wait to try to produce a urine sample and then eventually took a blood sample for a pregnancy test (I was certain I was not pregnant and honestly would not have cared if I was at that point).

Surprise, surprise. I did have a kidney stone that was lodged at the entrance to one of my ureters because it was too large to pass. They sent me home to wait until the next afternoon when they scheduled my procedure and suggested I take some over the counter meds in the meantime.

When the doctor came in with my results he was very chipper, laughed a bit, and said, “it’s so weird because this didn’t present as a kidney stone at all because you weren’t really in any pain when you arrived.” I asked both him and the nurse, “What part of 9 out of 10. Way worse than childbirth gave you the impression that I wasn’t in horrible pain?” I was informed that normally women with kidney stones will tell you it’s an 11 or higher (which is NOT an option to my literal brain) and they are screaming and flailing around (which is what I felt like doing, but I find it embarrassing to be in pain in front of other people so I have developed the ability to restrain myself).

Since that experience, every man I have ever spoken to who had a kidney stone said they were given an IV immediately in the ER and morphine for the pain plus drugs to take home. And they all had small stones that they passed quickly. (Which I have had at home many times and never even felt the need to seek medical attention.) I know everyone experiences pain differently, but I do believe that I was just not taken seriously because I was a woman and was calm.

one of the videos I saw was from an anesthesiologist who said they can do the same type of thing they do when you have a colonoscopy (twillight maybe) and there are local anesthetics they can use as well. And of course anxiety reducing meds like valium.

You can get anesthesia (if the office offers it), but most likely your insurance would not pay for it. I run an anesthesia company. We do some in-office anesthesia for certain things like vasectomies or dental procedures that typically don’t “require” it. The anesthesia is either not covered by insurance at all or there has to be a diagnosis like severe anxiety to justify them covering it.

This plays into this thread because if it has been assumed for decades that women don’t need anesthesia or medication for these procedures, the insurance companies deem it unnecessary even though it may be beneficial to the patient. And because insurance doesn’t cover it, the office doesn’t feel the need to offer it.

 

[ronandannette]

...Since that experience, every man I have ever spoken to who had a kidney stone said they were given an IV immediately in the ER and morphine for the pain plus drugs to take home. And they all had small stones that they passed quickly. (Which I have had at home many times and never even felt the need to seek medical attention.) I know everyone experiences pain differently, but I do believe that I was just not taken seriously because I was a woman and was calm.


You can get anesthesia (if the office offers it), but most likely your insurance would not pay for it. I run an anesthesia company. We do some in-office anesthesia for certain things like vasectomies or dental procedures that typically don’t “require” it. The anesthesia is either not covered by insurance at all or there has to be a diagnosis like severe anxiety to justify them covering it.

This plays into this thread because if it has been assumed for decades that women don’t need anesthesia or medication for these procedures, the insurance companies deem it unnecessary even though it may be beneficial to the patient. And because insurance doesn’t cover it, the office doesn’t feel the need to offer it.

I am feeling it for you just by your description of the event. I completely believe you are correct in the first bolded statement.

As for the second, perhaps I’m reading it wrong but are you saying there are some vasectomies done without anesthetic? Confession time - a darker part of me would find that quite satisfying.

 

[dez1978]

And then there are these kinds of stories. She repeatedly went to the dr, many diff drs telling them something was wrong and was told it was stress, or she needed to lose a few pounds and after 3 years it ended up being a volleyball sized cancerous tumor on her ovary.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/d...a-volleyball-size-tumor/ar-AATDYnF?ocid=ientp