I feel salty af about my obgyn appointment yesterday. Am I overreacting on this?
Post Content
TLDR: I feel like I was over billed for my appointment. Tell me if you agree or if this is standard. When I called to make the appointment last September (new to me provider, highly rated for empathy and kindness, lengthy wait times) I said, “I’m in perimenopause and I’m having a few concerns I’d like to talk about.” They asked if I wanted a pap, I said “no thank you, I won’t need one by then.” So I make the 45 minute drive yesterday and as I’m walking into the room I see all the pap equipment out. I say, “hey, I actually don’t need a pap” the nurse says “okay, well what do you want to see her about?” She covers the pap tools up while I briefly explain and she leaves. The doctor (30ish minutes late?) knocks and comes in on what I can only describe as exaggerated tippy toes? She introduces herself in kind of a tiny baby voice like, “hiiiiiiii (so softly) I’m doctor so and soooo. You have some quesssstions?” It’s really hard to describe how weird it was. Really threw me. All I could think was, okay, maybe that’s just her actual voice but as the appointment went on she would break character and her “normal” voice would come out. Bizarre. Anyway. During the 25 minute conversation I tell her I think I may be allergic to progesterone (she tells me that’s not a thing even though it absolutely is) and I just want to stop ovulating because it makes my POTs worse and I’m struggling. She agrees my cycles are irregular, shows me a diagram on Google of how periods work (wtf?) tells me I am too young to get my ovaries out because I need whatever estrogen I have left to protect my bones and if I was 50 maybe (I’m 42 now). She offers me different types of PROGESTERONE ONLY birth control because I get occasional ocular migraines and every other question I ask the answer is either “that’s not my specialty” or “I’ve never heard of that.” I am almost crying from sheer frustration at this point and she says “some women breeze right through menopause without even noticing it’s happening.” COOL. COOL COOL COOL. GOOD FOR THEM. At the end she made a huge production of being “sooooooo sorrrry I can’t help you (exaggerated sad face with baby voice). Maybe I can ask a colleague.” I got an estimate today for my portion of the appointment and that’s the part I’m actually most frustrated about. Tell me if this seems right: 99203 99386 Description: Office/Outpatient New Low Mdm 30 Minutes 307.00 Initial Preventive Medicine New Patient 40-64yrs 422.00 Insurance Covers 540.00 Your responsibility for charges billed: 189.00 I didn’t get a pap (as requested), I wasn’t examined at all, there were no meds or blood work or imaging scheduled. No referrals. In my portal afterwards I was sent a preventative medicine schedule for women over 40 but none of that was discussed in the appointment. I guess I feel like she’s over billing me here and I’m wondering if I can dispute it at all? Is it worth it or should I just pay the bill and never go back? Do we just hit 40 and have to pay more? I’m just so fucking annoyed. Menopause needs to be its own specialty. Some of these Ob’s look at you like they have no idea why you’re there. Where the fuck else are we supposed to go though? FML.
Details
- Subreddit
- r/Perimenopause
- Author
- u/Ok-Zucchini-5514
- Posted
- Feb 12, 2026 at 8:25 PM UTC
AI Analysis
- Medication
- progesterone, progesterone-only birth control, estrogen
- Condition
- perimenopause, POTS
- Barrier
- gatekeeping
- Geography
- us likely