Reading Brittany E.'s review reminded me of my own experience with Aracea and inspired me to write my own.
I've suffered with pelvic pain for years, and after a particularly agonizing flare-up in 2011, I decided it was time to get help. I sought out Aracea because I was looking for a specialist who was experienced in women's reproductive issues/diseases. Dr. Mandi Beman seemed to be the best I could find in Colorado and I liked that her office was strictly focused on GYN, not OB.
THE GOOD- My first appointment was in March 2011. It was also my first ever GYN exam - I'd been putting it off for years due to anxiety. Scheduling was easy, the office environment was nice, and Dr. Beman was nice too...at first. Bedside manner was good and she made the exam as comfortable of an experience as one could hope for. I explained my excrutiating pain and was relieved when she was understanding enough to prescribe stronger pain pills that I so desperately needed (monthly lady pains are not often taken seriously by most doctors).
I suspected the cause of my pain was a disease called endometriosis and I asked her for the surgery necessary to diagnose it. Dr. Beman instead pushed for me to try hormonal therapy (which translates to taking birth control pills to prevent ovulating & menstruation altogether). I asked her about the side effects, and she assured me that most people really didn't have any. So I took the pills as prescribed...and barely made it a month due to the intolerable side effects (nausea, depression, lethargy, brain fog, mood swings, weight gain, and I still had the pelvic pain).
At my next appointment, Dr.Beman offered me different birth control pills to try. I requested surgery, preferring to know the actual cause of my pain, rather than taking drugs all the time in attempt to mask whatever it was. She agreed to go ahead with it and my laparoscopy surgery was done in May 2011. Endometriosis was indeed found and removed by Dr. Beman. She also placed a Mirena IUD at that time, which she talked me into trying to prevent the endo from growing back while releasing very minimal amounts of hormones (i.e. less side effects). Like reviewer Brittany E., I haven't had children either.
THE BAD- The surgery did not help me feel better in the sense that I felt pain on a daily basis, whereas before it was just excrutiating a few days a month. It felt like there was a burning coal inside my uterus ALL THE TIME and I had ulcers from taking so much ibuprofen. I also felt pain in my bladder area (which was new), felt fatigued, had headaches, and a weird rash that I'd never had before. I explained how bad I felt to Dr. Beman and her response was always, "Give it time. It may take your body a few months to adjust to the IUD." She convinced me to wait SIX MONTHS before finally removing the thing. It felt immediately much better after it was taken out. And, of course, she handed out different birth control pills to me like candy.
THE UGLY-Instead of putting my life on hold again by being a birth control guinea pig, I instead opted to try alternative methods to cope with my disease (diet, supplements, exercise, acupuncture, etc.). All very reasonable for someone with endo to try because, as of yet, there is no known cause, and therefore, no cure. These alternative treatments helped much more than hormones, but I did still struggle from time to time. Around May 2012, I returned to Aracea for my yearly exam and also to request help filling out forms for intermittent time off from work to cope with the disease. (Intermittent FMLA meaning very sparingly to take time for doctor's appointments or for running a little late some days due to a flare up of intense pain.) I was expecting to see Dr. Beman for the appointment, but instead I was seen by a different physician. I explained the FMLA request and she said she'd discuss it with Dr. Beman.
Dr. Beman later called me and essentially berated me for not having talked to HER directly about the FMLA. She said she takes time off "very seriously, because if you're missing work, that means that someone else has to cover for you." (Not that it's even her business but, she knew nothing about my job and when I missed time, I was the one who had to catch up on it.) She seemed angry and offended that I didn't want to try her "hormonal treatments" any longer, and refused to help me with my FMLA forms. She accused me of being negligent for not taking the birth control pills and even went so far as comparing this situation to a heart disease patient not taking their blood pressure pills! (Anyone who knows anything about endometriosis knows that there is no clear cut treatment because the disease isn't fully understood. Unknown cause + no cure = no universally accepted treatment!)
I felt that Dr. Beman became very dogmatic and lost all empathy for me as a person the moment I no longer wanted to accept her drugs. She was totally out of line. After this experience, I wouldn't recommend read more