by Rachel Burt, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Roswell OB/GYN…………………………………. You’ve been driving for hours, on your way to some great beach weekend, drinking your diet coke, singing to the radio, but darn it if you don’t need to pee! Where to stop – the dreaded gas station bathroom!?! Don’t panic… Sexually transmitted infections are transmitted through body fluids – semen and vaginal discharge. Infections such as chlamydia and go Read more
Am I too old to have kids?
by Rachel Burt, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Roswell OB/GYN…………………………………. Let’s talk about it… When our patients ask this question, they are really asking 3 different questions: Can I still conceive at my age? Am I at increased risk for having a baby with chromosome problems? And, am I at increased risk for miscarriage? At age 30, the chance each month of getting pregnant is about 20 percent. It is hard to believe, but even with a perfec Read more
Are we really done having kids?
by Rachel Burt, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Roswell OB/GYN…………………………………. Some women just know when they are done having children. These are the women who come in for their postpartum visits asking for urologist recommendations for hubby to go get the big V (vasectomy). If you are really 100 percent sure you are done with children, then go for it! We can definitely refer you to some great urologists. But, many of our patients are not q Read more
What is that horrendous odor?!? Could it be a forgotten tampon?!?
by Rachel Burt, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Roswell OB/GYN…………………………………. You are not the first and you certainly are not the last… every few months we have a patient that comes in complaining of a horrendous smell for the best Alpharetta Gynecology services. When I say horrendous – I mean you have started to wonder if your co-workers can smell you walking around the office. It is true that bad! But, don’t panic. Usually, this Read more
I’ve tried everything to lose this weight…
by Rachel Burt, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Roswell OB/GYN…………………………………. I hear the frustration in my patients’ voices and even see the tears. Weight control is overwhelming for many women. There are so many layers to this issue that I don’t even know where to begin… I wish I could simply direct this conversation to the health consequences of weight. I could easily rattle off the effects on cholesterol, glucose control, blood press Read more
I didn’t get my period, but I’m on the pill…
by Rachel Burt, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Roswell OB/GYN …………………………….. It’s the fourth day of sugar pills and no bleeding… you did everything right – didn’t miss a single pill, took it the same time every day but nothing – no period. Don’t panic, and contact an Alpharetta gynecology specialist! Many of the low dose birth control pills today keep your uterine lining so thin that it does not shed… so, you don’t get a period. Travel back in yo Read more
How do I know if I’m menopausal?
by Rachel Burt, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Roswell OB/GYN …………………………….. I wish there was an easy answer to this question. I get asked this question from patients as young as 35 to those well into their 50s. For some women, they struggle with menopausal symptoms for years. Other lucky women just stop having periods, do not have a single hot flash, and gracefully find themselves in menopause. I wish this experience for all my patients! If you are not so lucky, Read more
Why is this taking so long? When you wanted to be pregnant yesterday
by Rachel Burt, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Roswell OB/GYN …………………………….. You stopped the pill 3 months ago. You’re acting like newlyweds on your honeymoon, and yet your period came again – right on time! Ugh – you start to wonder if you are ever going to get pregnant?!? Ever since we became sexually active, it has been drilled into our brains that the moment we stop birth control, we’ll get pregnant. Everyone has heard about the t Read more
What’s the nuva ring?
by Rachel Burt, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Roswell OB/GYN …………………………….. Typically, my patients come talk to me about birth control during their annual exams. Some of my patients love taking the birth control pill. They never forget, set it by the toothbrush, and have been taking it nightly for years. But, there is another group of patients, the not so great pill takers. These are the women who have been taking the pill for a while but every few months they m Read more
Should my daughter get the HPV vaccine?
by Rachel Burt, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Roswell OB/GYN …………………………….. Yes – and your son should get vaccinated, too! HPV is the major cause of cervical cancer. There are 2 HPV vaccines currently approved: Gardasil® and Cervarix®. Both vaccines are highly effective in preventing infections with HPV types 16 and 18, two high-risk HPVs that cause about 70 percent of cervical and anal cancers. Gardasil also prevents infection Read more
