MrsNop said, "I am frankly appalled at the quality of health care for women. I have discovered that although we can and do respond to medications differently, we are treated as "mini-men". Health care for women is primarily geared toward pregnancy and fertility issues. But it becomes a morass of ignorance when a woman is dealing with anything outside the box. A woman over the age of 30 who encounters any difficulty with her periods and/or associated symptoms will be advised early in the game that she needs an hysterectomy. And forget dealing with women entering and into menopause. There is no sense of "we'll work with you on this and see if we can find a solution" there is *very* much a sense of - "GEEEZZ! You're an old lady, your vagina is supposed to dry up and get thinner. Deal with it! You want orgasms at your age?"."
Okay, maybe it's because I live in Dallas in which several very good teaching hospitals are located or maybe it's because I am used to searching out the leading drs. in the medical field in which I was having a problem, but I am not finding this disconnect between female medicine and male medicine. You see, I also suffered from infertility and went from dr. to dr. until I found myself in the dr.'s office of the pioneer of in vitro fertilization. When I tried to have subsequent babies but kept miscarrying, I ended up in a top infertility specialist's office diagnosed with antiphospholipid antibodies in which research was being done at a local hospital in Dallas. Then when my daughter started having hormonal problems, we found Dr. Vliet. MrsNop, I can't stress enough how good she is.
I certainly don't mean this to sound like you haven't done enough to search out doctors. I'm just saying that the Drs. are out there and I guess I have been lucky to have lived in areas where the research is being done.
I don't know where you live but it might be worth a trip down to Dallas for some consults. I can give you several more recommendations for drs. in this area.
What I have always done, which sounds like you have done also, is researched, read and printed out all the information I can find on the particular condition. I buy the books written by drs. on the condition. Then I arm myself with all of this information and make an appt. to see a doctor and present my case. If this doctor doesn't listen, I move on to another one. I also gather names of doctors in the area that might have had experience in this field. Please know that I am not trying to criticize you. I am not trying to say that you haven't done enough.
You ask why it has taken my two years to speak up. Well, for one reason, I don't feel like I am very articulate and I get very frustrated with my inability to express myself. But I had to respond to your post about finding doctor with an interest in women's healthcare. I had to inform you of Dr. Vliet.
