Aracea Women’s Care

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

I would avoid this office if you have a choice– and here is why I say this:
I went to this practice as a new patient to get a yearly check up, and decided to try the IUD for the first time, which the Dr raved about. She said there were never any issues and the procedure is «quick and easy. You can come do it on a lunch break and go back to work.» She then told me that if I didn’t like it, I could take it out at any time.
When I went in for the procedure, I was handed off to a nurse practitioner I had never met, and was not even notified that it wouldn’t be the Doctor doing it. The nurse practitioner handled the whole procedure very poorly by not informing me of everything that was going to take place. So the entire procedure was surprise after surprise of pain.
Because they made it sound like I would be fine after, I scheduled a meeting for the afternoon. I left this procedure in such pain and so light headed, that I had to excuse myself from my meeting to go home and try to ease the pain.
The pain did not subside for days, it was extreme and friends of mine told me to call into the doctor, because they were all subscribed better pain medication if the basics didn’t work. So I called in, at first they REFUSED to help me, I persisted and they finally helped me.
The situation got worse when I had a bad reaction to the IUD. 3 weeks after my procedure, I was having anxiety attacks every day and night that quickly turned into panic attacks. I’ve never had these in my life and had to do my own research to find out what was happening. I called the doctors office to ask for their guidance and help in the matter, They were no help at all and refused to look into it further– claiming it was «all in my head» and in NO WAY could it be the IUD. That is NOT a good doctor or office.
The situation peaked when I almost had to go to the emergency room from my heart racing rapidly and the intensity of the panic attacks not subsiding for days or nights at a time.
Research I did on my own confirmed that there COULD be issues with an IUD– rare but possible– and to remove the IUD immediately if anything felt incorrect. So that’s what I decided to do.
I called in to set an appointment and expressed the urgency of the situation. They REFUSED to accommodate me in anyway and treated it like I was asking to come in for a general check up. I set the appointment for an afternoon a couple days out. But because the situation was escalating quickly, I went in first thing in the morning (right when they opened) to ask if they would fit me in quickly as an emergency to remove the IUD.
When I arrived, there was no sympathy from the office and when the nurse practitioner came out, she tried to tell me that the reason I was having panic attacks is because of my job– this woman knew NOTHING about me, and she cared little that I had never even had an anxiety or panic attack before this– but she wouldn’t see me until my appt time and then even told me she WOULDN’T take the IUD out if it looked normal, whether I wanted her to or not!!! I was appalled.
I had to leave and come back in the afternoon and demanded they take it out. When she scanned my body, she saw that it was inserted incorrectly to top it all off. When it was finally removed, i felt my body immediately relax and my heart rate slowed. My anxiety started to go away slowly day by day, after a week, I felt normal again.
I did some research after this experience, and a couple of additional pieced of info that they refused to tell me. The copper IUD should not be used on women who have never had a child before (which is me). It’s the largest one and you CAN have bad reactions to the copper. It is RARE– however, possible. listen to your body.
There was NO support from this practice when things were going wrong. I very rarely ever leave poor ratings, but this was such nightmarish service, that I feel strongly that people need to know how this practice handled this situation.
I left this practice and so did my friend, who witnessed the entire situation and was helping me through it.
I am truly a patient person, but I would AVOID this practice by any means– they do NOT care about helping their patients in the truest sense.

Wonderful staff and physician. This was a first appt at the office and from setting up the appt over the phone to walking out of the office after my appt, it couldn’t have gone better. The front office staff were professional and very friendly, the MA for Dr Beman was great and very personable and Dr Beman couldn’t have been any nicer and more informative about my issues and options available.
This office specializes in GYN issues and does not see OB patients which is a nice change of pace when you need more of a specialist to discuss further options. I highly recommend this office and thankful to have been referred here.

Dr. Beman is awesome but her office staff is HORRIBLE. Trying to get someone to return my call to try to schedule surgery that Dr. Beman and I have discussed has been impossible. I’ve called twice (including an employees cell phone number that I was provided) and submitted a contact form on the website to have someone call me and still nothing. This has gone on for well over a month. I finally just scheduled another appointment to see her. I will then discuss with her all the issues I have had with her staff and hopefully schedule surgery with her directly. I live in colorado springs and it’s a shame that I have to drive to Denver just to be able to speak with the doctor or anyone besides the receptionist (who does not speak clearly and, frankly, sounds medicated) for that matter. I am so frustrated but Dr. Beman was wonderful with me and she is the ONLY reason I will continue to subject myself to incompetence. I give Dr. Beman five stars and the office staff no stars.

I called aracea womens care because I’m new to Denver & needed a yearly exam and establish a Gyno. They were listed on my insurance. Their schedule was accommodating & I saw the nurse & nurse practitioner Sue. Everyone was very nice and thorough. Very happy with my choice to see them & will definitely go back. Happy!

My experience with Aracea has been all positive. I was treated like I had been a patient here for years from the first visit and my trust was there right away. I needed surgery and found Aracea online and liked what I read. My surgery was not the easiest and it was important to find a physician I was comfortable with. I felt nothing but optimism about moving forward after my office visits; I felt I was being heard. I liked Mandi Beman right away as a physician; she was a competent and confident surgeon. Dr. Beman has a warm and reassuring personality; that was a big deal to me. Carolyn is a supervisor here and is always great in helping with the any silly questions I have… in fact all the staff I met here including Dr. Yi have been great. I have a marked improvement to my quality of life and my overall opinion about visiting a gynecologist has changed for the better after my experience here.

I recently moved to Denver and made an appointment at Aracea Women’s Care for my annual. They are awesome! I got lost on the way to the office and was running almost 20 minutes late. When I called to let them know, they were very understanding and said it would be no problem to still see me. Even though I was late, they saw me almost as soon as I arrived. The PA was friendly, efficient and very professional. The women at the front desk were also very nice, and they welcome new patients with a free water bottle! Great experience.

I chose to do an elective procedure at this clinic, because the doctor recommended it and I thought it would have a positive impact on my life. I was quoted $ 300 dollars, then asked to pay almost $ 100 more at the time of checkout. I recently received another bill for $ 300 more!
I guess I should have done my own research, but I expected the truth from the doctor and her accomplices.
Every appointment I have been to has taken 45 minutes or more… But I only see the doctor for 10 minutes or less. Yeah, she is nice enough, but seems to have a lot going on in her life, that may be interfering with the level of care and regard she takes with patients. My mom is a doctor specializing in OB-​GYN, and she has always asked all the right questions, and spent her allotted treatment time (and then some) with her patients. Billing is straightforward — patients can make their own choices based on current, real information, not a parade of loose BS.
No offense meant, but next time I get my «lady parts» checked out, I am flying back to Hawai’i, and to a real doctor with real care for her patients’ well being.

It seems that the majority of docs who specialize in gynecology do so because it goes with obstetrics and what they are really interested in is delivering babies. I suppose I can understand that. But here is the thing: Not every woman is going to make babies. Some of can’t. Some of us aren’t interested. But we still need a doctor for our lady parts. And we would prefer to not be treated as a second rate patient.
Aracea Women’s Care does not do obstetrics. It handles the GYN part only. Hooray! And they are all super nice and professional. I’ve dealt with Dr. Beman only so I can’t speak to the other doctor but Dr. Beman is very professional and kind. The entire staff are all very pleasant to deal with. I highly recommend this office.

I will just be blunt, I got problems yo! I have been to countless doctors over the years. This is the first office where I feel that I am listened to and understood.
I have seen both of the physicians here and I love there approach. These two women have created a practice dedicated to women that have GYN issues, there is no OB in this office, no screaming kids in the waiting room, no pregnant women hogging the bathrooms. I have often felt when I am in OB/​GYN offices, that I am second best because I am not pregnant.
I have never felt rushed here, which is a common occurrence in many practices. The wait is never more than 10 minutes. The waiting room is comfortable, they have great mags to read too! The atmosphere in this office almost has a spa like feel. It has a very modern design, it does not feel sterile like most offices.
I have recommend Aracea to many of my friends.