Why does the medical profession !!!

[BlueDiamond]

Hello e1,

I been to two appointments today and at both appointments (dietician, not wls one, and laser hair removal ) both of them said that good ole phrase I hear on a regular basis " lose weight and your symptoms/problems will dissapear". even a little as a stone

Why is it with the medical profession thats all they seem to do , relate everything to weight issue and nothing else.

I am sure they all get trained to say this first before they find out about the patients history etc (hence judging a book by its cover). I would loved for me to have had a camera when I said to the appropriate ppl "excuse me I have lost weight (4st) and symptoms aint going all I got told then was " oh well done " keep up the good work, even dietician said I am doing eating all the right foods............like I not been trying lol..................Anyway rant over for the day...

All the best - MeJulie xx

 

[vanilla-cupcake]

I guess they say it cos in most cases weight is the cause, in my case anyway, I have only lost 16lb but so far my heartburn is gone, sore back is gone and so have my sore feet, I was told all 3 of these would go if I lost some weight and they have!

I know what you mean though it can be annoying

 

[Caroline101061]

I used to have a GP who blamed everything on my excessive weight - including the time that my eyelashes started to fall out! He never ever offered to help though - just criticized!

 

[Fashionably Late]

I cannot stand doctors anymore. They do not seem to understand medicine and deductive reasoning. Let's just base everything on weight. And for many people, weight isn't the problem. There are major underlying medical problems.

 

[archiesmum]

I had a doctor like that. All she saw was a middle aged, middle class, fat women who needed to lose weight and exercise more. Unfortunately for me she was so wrong. After several visits in a few weeks I walked into her surgery one day and she took one look at me and said "Oh dear I think we have to give you an ECG now"!!!! Long story short - it turned out that my thyroid had been failing for about 10 years and had stopped working completely. My internal organs were shutting down. No wonder I felt ill!! Always question them - check the internet - speak to friends and never be afraid to ask for a second opinion. I wish I had. Doctors are not infalable(?)

 

[SarahSez]

I used to get the 'lose weight' line for everything including varicose veins and hair due to PCOS - if anything, both of these problems have got worse since I lost weight ... go figure!!

Can you get laser hair treatment on the NHS???

 

[lamornamiss]

Dr's only look on the surface it's easier and quicker.
I'm told to lose weight my hubby was told to stop smoking and his heartburn would dissappear. He did, it didn't only after he had stopped smoking for 6 years did they find he had upper gastric problems that had left severe scaring in his throat (hiatus hernia among other probs) now he has to have a camera down his throat a couple of times a year, and eating can make him sick. So going for a meal has been a no no for the last 10 years.:cry:

I was told after loads of tests that i'd got PCOS was put on dianette (the pill) for 3 years then got pregnant in a month when i came off it. My son is now 5 and my periods have been normal ever since,even though i'm at my heaviest weight ever.

When i saw the weight management Dr i was told that i probably didn't have it in the first place and it was just my weight
God my gynacologist put me through lots of tests and scared the hell out of me talking about drilling my ovaries and allsorts. Just so a over qualified dietitian could say "its your weight luv"

 

[candie]

What p*sses me off is that many moons ago when I was 8st 4, before having my Daughter, the bloody doc never said anythingThen when I went up to 11 stone he said I was overweight (I wasn't)No wonder people get eating disorders
I'd kill to be 11 stone again

 

[zetacatty]

I think its a chicken and egg situation. Being fat makes us ill and being ill makes us fat! Thank god I have a very understanding doctor who is concerned about my weight, my health and has done everything to help me. He has even told the hospital that he wants to do all my after care. I think excess weight can cause health issues but also mask existing ones. At least when we've lost our excess weight it can't be blamed for anything. Mxx

 

[thinkbethin]

My asthma consultant always blamed my weight when I was hospitalised with brittle asthma. Onced he saw in my medical notes about the abuse I'd suffered as a child and then the blame was on that. What the f**k has that got to do with my lungs?? My own GP never mentioned my weight but when I asked to be refered for weight loss surgery he was very supportive and applied for funding straight away.

 

[lamornamiss]

. At least when we've lost our excess weight it can't be blamed for anything. Mxx

Wanna bet
Drs will then say "well you did lose all that weight and it has put a strain on your body as you don't absorb all the nutrients you need, no wonder you are feeling ill maybe you should have lost the weight by dieting "

 

[zetacatty]

...time to change doctors then! Lol.

 

[marky v]

we all know being 'larger' than normal is not healthy, but these docs are called ''GENERAL'' practitioners for a reason, they know a little about a lot of subjects, i remember seeing one of the Fat Doctor programmes on the box with Shaw Somers, and he said re morbidly and super morbid obesity, that when you get to this stage, just telling the patient to diet, will not work, when you get this big, your basal calorie burn is way higher than normal, you need more calories just to live a sedentry lifestyle, so going on a very low calorie diet won't help as your body won't respond, but saying that, my own health problems, which include sleep apneoa, high blood pressure, digestive reflux, and the onset of osteo-arthritis in both knees and ankle, can only be attributed to my colossal weight, ramble over!!

 

[fuze]

Interesting points..... I could say a thousand things for and against. I know how you all feel having had the same treatment as many of you. The only thing I can say is that not all doctors are like that and its important to remember that a lot of health problems are caused by obesity, (please don't bite my head off as I know not all problems are caused by obesity and i know its important to see beyond the weight). One analogy I can say is that doctors (particularly GPs) are taught that if you hear hooves think horse not zebra, in otherwords the most likely explanation is usually the simplest (eg. If a person is overweight and they have a problem that is associated generally with that extra weight then that is the most likely explanation). Ok so I know that is not always the case so that's why things should be re-evaluted if things don't improve. If your not happy with a diagnosis please get a second opinion as every doctor and healthcare professional has different experience (all have the same basic level of competence in order to practice but one may have had more experience working with/ managing the care of obese patients.
Anyway I shall leave it at that as I could ramble on all night. But I will ask you one thing, please don't hate all doctors, I maybe your doctor one day!!!

 

[phatmomma]

Not all dr's are bad but......... when i had my second daughter almost 12 years ago a few months later i was in agony, felt like my stomach and back muscles had collapsed, vomiting violently. Every now and then this problem recurred, i asked my GP about it and he put it down to the epidural i'd had when delivering my daughter. I soon got pregnant again and had no illness all the time i was pregnant (whoo hoo result) but fairly soon after delivery the episodes happened again. My GP kept with the original diagnosis, suggested losing weight, the usuall. Finally after a particularly bad episode i happened to get a different doctor i hadn't seen before who said the usual 'lose weight/diet' but also sent me for ultrasound scan at hospital. Within a few weeks i was having my gall bladder removed and had a lovely phial of gall stones to look at.

Motto of the story is as Fuze says not all doctors are the same but sometimes it pays to get a fresh opinion.

Oh and if you have gall stones apparently some hormone while your pregnant stops it playing up!!!

 

[Snowcrystal]

Hello e1,

I been to two appointments today and at both appointments (dietician, not wls one, and laser hair removal ) both of them said that good ole phrase I hear on a regular basis " lose weight and your symptoms/problems will dissapear". even a little as a stone

Why is it with the medical profession thats all they seem to do , relate everything to weight issue and nothing else.

I am sure they all get trained to say this first before they find out about the patients history etc (hence judging a book by its cover). I would loved for me to have had a camera when I said to the appropriate ppl "excuse me I have lost weight (4st) and symptoms aint going all I got told then was " oh well done " keep up the good work, even dietician said I am doing eating all the right foods............like I not been trying lol..................Anyway rant over for the day...

All the best - MeJulie xx

Well Julie I reckon it's when they just don't have an answer to give...they blame something else.

Hey...well done on that 4 stone...

(((hugs)))

 

[Snowcrystal]

I had a doctor like that. All she saw was a middle aged, middle class, fat women who needed to lose weight and exercise more. Unfortunately for me she was so wrong. After several visits in a few weeks I walked into her surgery one day and she took one look at me and said "Oh dear I think we have to give you an ECG now"!!!! Long story short - it turned out that my thyroid had been failing for about 10 years and had stopped working completely. My internal organs were shutting down. No wonder I felt ill!! Always question them - check the internet - speak to friends and never be afraid to ask for a second opinion. I wish I had. Doctors are not infalable(?)

Took a long time to find my failing thyroid too....How's yours now Archiesmum?

 

[Snowcrystal]

I think its a chicken and egg situation. Being fat makes us ill and being ill makes us fat! Thank god I have a very understanding doctor who is concerned about my weight, my health and has done everything to help me. He has even told the hospital that he wants to do all my after care. I think excess weight can cause health issues but also mask existing ones. At least when we've lost our excess weight it can't be blamed for anything. Mxx

You are lucky Marion....I too am very very lucky with my GP's...I have my favourite docs that I tend to ask for, one in particular because he is so familiar with my problems...but I'd see any of them (except one...no-body see's him).

And you are very right about the chicken and the egg regarding weight.

(((hugs)))

 

[fuze]

Just added a bit more to my origional post as was feeling a bit defensive (forgive me I'm starving to death on my preop diet and I'm a little moody lol)

 

[Snowcrystal]

we all know being 'larger' than normal is not healthy, but these docs are called ''GENERAL'' practitioners for a reason, they know a little about a lot of subjects,

Sorry, just my opinion but I don't totally agree with GP's being called 'general' for a reason...Some of them (like mine) have qualifications above and beyond 'knowing little about a lot'....However, as we have seen in Mini's some GP's and some consultants do lack compassion and have no people skills at all, or they are overly judgemental.

I remember a time when my GP and I were discussing some test I'd had and we were laughing about a consultants conclusion. My GP had higher qualifications that the consultant.

(((hugs)))