Going to Doctors

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Any ladies on the spectrum fears going to doctors? I know some get really anxious when seeing the dentist. The sound of the instrument cleaning your teeth can be annoying. It doesn't really scare me, but the noise can be a little irritating. I'm fine with seeing dentists, eye doctors, getting blood tests and getting vaccines. However, going to a gyno is very hard for me. The gyno prescribed to me Valium 2mg and Percocet 5mg one pill each one hour before pap smear. If those don't work, then I take one more of each half an hour later. I'm wondering if pap smears is scary for most women on the spectrum. Having a stranger looking at you down there and touching is scary to me. Plus WHY is there a female assistant? The gyno is a woman. I refuse to see a male gyno. Yet when I was 21 I had boyfriends look down there and touch down there, but that was over 10 years ago. I did choose another gyno and the one I'm going to now seems better than the last gyno. I am not married and don't want to be married. I also don't want to have children. The last gyno gave me information on sex therapy and that made me upset. I don't believe in pre martial sex at all. Plus sex is out of the question for me due to my anxiety and a bladder disease that I have.

I pretty much dislike all doctors. I have to say that I hate dentists the most. To get my wisdom teeth removed the gave me Valium to take before I got there and then knocked me out to remove the teeth. I need to go back soon, but I don't think that's gonna happen. And getting shots is unbearable to me. For most people it seems like getting a shot doesn't hurt at all, but for me it does a lot; just seeing a needle near my skin can freak me out.



I've never been to a gynocologist before, or had a pap smear, even though I was supposed to go for the first time several months ago. I wouldn't want to see a male gyno either. I really don't want anyone looking down there, not a doctor or a boyfriend (so far no one has). Hell, I don't even want to look down there. It's frightening and wierd.

I'm glad you found a better doctor.



I also don't want to get married or have kid's and people just don't get that. I hate the attitude that marrying and reproducing is all women should do. And "sex therapy?" I've never heard of that before.

I actually enjoy going to the gyno - I have no problem with anyone looking down there, to me it's no different to a GP looking at my arm, a dentist looking at my mouth or an optician looking at my eyes - I like knowing I'm taking care of myself and being able to ask questions and get involved with what's going on. On two occasions as I had been talking at length with the gyno about FAM and menstrual cups I was invited to go back after my tests to give short talks to other staff on these subjects, which was pretty cool and meant I had a better relationship with the staff there so future examinations were even easier.

I get a little anxious because many gyno's are ignorant about certain issues such as menstrual health and birth control options, but if a problem arises I know enough to correct them and to leave if they cause any problems for me or if they are so ignorant I don't trust them with my body. I also avoid female gyno's whenever possible as they tend to liken your body to their own so less willing to listen, where as male gyno's have to listen and work on academics rather than impose their personal experience or perspectives onto you.

Sex therapy isn't about getting you to have sex, it helps with issues you may have with your body, sexuality, any past sexual abuse or unhealthy attitudes to sex while growing up, and it will help to prevent any fear or pain you have during these sort of examinations. The gyno was likely trying to help you by encouraging you to do something to make your pap smears easier, but if you're really uncomfortable with this idea then make it clear to them beforehand not to bring-up such issues.

There is a female assistant there to make sure that the gyno doesn't do anything unprofessional and prevent you from falsely accusing them of being unprofessional - the fact you're gyno is female doesn't mean an assistant isn't just as necessary.

I do not like going to the doctors or dentist. Most recently, add misguided psychologists to the queue.

I do not like the sounds, the smells, or the instruments. I do not like being in a little room in a reclining chair or on a table. I do not feel secure in that environment.

I especially do not like that the people at the office tell you to come at a certain time and it's not the time that the doctor is actually going to see you. I do not like knowing they are going to ask me unforseen questions that I have not had time to think of an answer for. I do not like that when I try to answer a question in a way that I understand, they change it to what they either think I'm saying, or maybe what they want the answer to be. I hate feeling like I'm being scruitinized and misunderstood.

I especially don't like that bad things tend to happen to me in those offices and it's difficult to move past those experiences. The last time I went to the doctor they thought I was a domestic abuse victim because I was so scared. [I am not.] I was afraid because the last doctor had done some medically questionable things. My dental experiences have been similar. I always seem to find the dentist with the shaky hands. Then when I get to the next dentist, he inevitably chastises me for not making appointments in a timely manner. It's a cycle I'd rather not deal with.

This. I hate going to doctors, not because I'm afraid of them, but because they never listen to me. They decide what they think is wrong with me ten seconds after I start talking and they don't listen to anything else. They ignore symptoms which don't fit with their idea and only allow me to talk about the things they want me to. They won't let me add anything, just answer their direct questions and forget the rest.

This goes for normal medical doctors, dentists, therapists, everyone. The only time I'm willing to go to a doctor anymore is if I'm so injured that I absolutely need care (like when I sprained my ankle and needed crutches), or I have some illness that absolutely needs to be treated (like antibiotics for a severe sinus infection that won't go away after weeks) and I dread it from start to finish. If doctors or psychologists actually listened to me, maybe I would have been diagnosed with AS at a useful age and learned to be a normal functioning member of society before I was in my 20s. I don't trust any of them anymore. I don't think I've ever had a good experience with a doctor, starting from when my pediatrician told me I should treat my sleep problems with prayer, and leading right up to when a doctor told me a few weeks ago that my neurological problems two weeks after a concussion were "probably" just because I was "tired" and sent me home with a myorelaxant to make me sleep.

You said it much better than I did and I completely agree. My last therapist yelled at me and said that I was narcissistic when I didn't agree with his diagnosis. This is after he said he had no experience with AS in women. He asked why I wasn't dx with AS in early childhood when I was being tested for various things to figure out why I was so different from the other kids. It was a rural community in the early 80's. So no, I wouldn't have been diagnosed. He just couldn't get that. He decided immediately that I was a "zebra" when all along, he should have at least entertained the idea that I might be a "camel." I guess he figured that anything not a horse was automatically a zebra, even ith all evidence to the contrary.

I just thought about something. I had my wisdom teeth removed about 8 years ago. They were impacted (lower 2 removed) So I had to be sedated. I had it done in the oral surgeon's office. I don't know if it was IV sedative or oral meds. I didn't feel any pain when he removed the two teeth. I was completely out. I thought IV is only at hospitals and not in doctors offices. So maybe it was oral meds, Valium and Percocet. The doc probably doesn't have my records since its been so long, but I can ask which sedatives they give to patients to sedate them when wisdom teeth is impacted. So if it is Valium and Percocet, then pap smear effects should be same. No pain, completely sedated. Anyone had their wisdom teeth removed and had to be sedated??

I have to be sedated for any procedures. Had to have a filling done and had to take valium, but it wasn't quite enough.

Gyno was pretty bad, but managed to find a really really nice one, who was really sympathetic.

Had to get intestines checked out a few times, had the worst anxiety and panic.

Doctors I don't mind other than the germ phobic problem I have, and the fact that doctors are generally useless and I have to tell them what to do.

Well I did leave a message with the oral surgeon. I haven't seen him in a long time, so hopefully they still have records of when I had to get wisdom teeth removed. I honestly don't remember needles. I don't remember bandages on my hands or arms. Probably then it was oral meds. Is Valium and Percocet strong enough to make people drowsy?? My gyno told me that mom would have to drive me to the gyno appointment and then drive me back. The gyno jokingly said to me "I will see your drunk self soon." I'm just so scared! I don't like strangers looking at my privates. Is that a common trait of women with aspergers/autism? Or is it just anxiety? I don't like to have many people looking at me down there. For those women who were victims of rape and incest, I wonder how they cope with such pap smears. My gyno did tell me that she has had to give women pap smears when they were completely sedated at a local hospital. I hope I don't go that far.

the thought of going to the gyno gives me heebie mcjeebies (and no i'm not talking cheeseburgers!) i was 18 at time of the first attempt for my sterilization procedure (at a planned parenthood in portland) the nurse gave me some pills (anti nausea meds for i guess to keep me from spewing and loopy drugs which wore off quickly ) oh just so they had to be sure they wanted me to pee in a cup for a pregnancy test (I've done this a million times. After the 10th I feel like one of Tom Kaulitz's groupies thank goodness all turned out negitive i mean i want a kid just not now.) and of course they came in and did a pap smear (which scared the daylights outta me that I screamed and they couldn't proceed on) which was nice...until the 2nd attempt which was the surgery (oh did I hurt that day?!)

I was at the hospital last week for an ultrasound scan of a lump just under my jaw, which can sometimes be painful. It's been recurring for a long time and I knew it couldn't be anything serious. There was a chance that the doc would want to aspirate it with a needle, if it looked like a cyst. There I was dreading this - no, not the ultrasound or the prodding or the needle - I was worried about what they might put on my jaw to stop any bleeding - maybe a plaster (bandaid) or cotton wool swab held on with tape? Thankfully, he thought I'd maybe had some salivary gland stones and they'd passed, so he didn't need to aspirate anything.

I used to have a terrible fear of going to the dentist and never went for about 6 years. The longer I waited the worse the fear got, as I thought my teeth must be in a terrible state, after such a long time. But, I finally plucked up the courage and pre-warned the dentist of my fear. The dentist repaired one filling and said that my teeth were in good condition. My fear totally evaporated during that first visit. Nowadays, I'd much rather go to the dentist than the hairdresser.

I'm scared of going to doctors, dentists, anything medical. I don't like the smells, and find it hard to explain things to them. There's only one doctor I'll see at my local surgery, if he's not in, I'll wait until he is. I've been seeing him for about 5 years, so I know him and he knows me.
Recently I've found an AS-specialist psychiatrist who I'm not scared of seeing. But before I found him, the therapist I had scared me loads and was always telling me off for things I couldn't help doing, she didn't understand me at all.
I had to have my stomach checked out by endoscopy and I was soo panicky they completely put me out for the procedure.

I don't like going to doctors. I can't go anyways unless I go to the emergency room because I have no insurance.

I haven't had a pap smear in over 15 years. I actually think I need to be checked out down there but won't get it done for so many reasons. One is I can't pay. I have no place to go to get it done that will do it for free. Planned Parenthood moved so now I'd have to take a bus to get there. I wouldn't let a male doctor do that to me. Even a female doctor would be uncomfortable. Also those exams are painful for me. Penetration is painful for me.

I also once had the people at Planned Parenthood thinking that my boyfriend was beating me up because I had a lot of bruises. I'm clumsy and bruise easily but I don't think they believed that.

They also are unwilling to respect the fact that I'm celibate. When I first tried to get my Norplant out they even said "what if you decide to become uncelibate". That's not even a word. It's not like I'm not having sex for some moral reason but really really want to. I don't have it because I don't like it. My mind will not be changed. I ended up having that Norplant in for the whole 5 years and my mother had to pay over $100 to get them to take it out or it would still be in me.

Also I can't really communicate to them how anxious I am so no one ever sedates me for anything. Especially if I'm not at home and I'm upset or panicked I'm more likely to just get more quiet and withdrawn. When I got some teeth pulled several years ago at first they talked about knocking me out and doing them all at once and then instead didn't give me anything and did one per visit.

another forum im on has been talking a lot about pap smears lately.

i haven't had one, i'm too scared i have been with my partner for six years now and barely let him look around down there. touching seems fine but examining just seems so wrong.

it's gotten to the point that i don't want to go to the dr for normal illnesses, because i think they'll bail me up about it.

I can't stand the thought of going to a gyno, and never had a pap smear The only time I let a medical professional look at me down there was my midwife during childbirth, and not before or after. They say you don't care about that stuff when you are in the middle of labour, but I still didn't like it. I don't mind my husband touching me doen there though, I guess I am fine with it as long as it is sexual

I am not a fan of dentists either, and I have been to the dentist alot, because I lost my front tooth in a bike accident when I was nine. Had to put it back in, and the pull it out again because it was dying and cut the root off and attach it on a bridge to the teeth next to it. Now that bridge has come lose and my tooth keep falling out. I really need to see a dentist, but I have been putting it off... I don't like the smells, the noises, the person with his/her hands in my mouth and the potential pain.

At first I was scared of having a pap smear done, but then I did, and it really wasn't that bad. It was over in all of a minute.

I don't mind going to health professionals. They (generally) know what they're doing, and can help when you're having problems.