Does anyone else find the current weight categories slightly offending

[Tazz76]

This is something that has stuck in my craw for years. I wonder if anyone else has had this?

I have, like most people I would imagine had a long and difficult journey to get where I am now with my weight loss. For me the support I received didn't come into effect till last year. Previous to this my battle has lasted a total of 6 years! All the way through the one thing I hated was the way the medical profession categorise people who are overweight. Whether you're just overweight, obese or morbidly obese. (I think they are horrible labels to put on anyone.) One of the reasons I found it so offending was it felt like the GP's were using my weight gain and they said labels as an excuse to diagnose a problem. Whether it was my IBS or it was a problem with a joint i.e. my neck. I know that there is a lot of conditions that can relate to people being heavier than the average person And I know a lot of mine were due to my weight. But when you see 5 different GP's about a problem and they all say you need to lose weight even though a neck problem was the reason of me going and to my knowledge it has no bearing on weight gain. (Please anyone correct me if I'm wrong.) Then that became a pattern for every GP I saw, they never seemed to refer to their notes even though the previous GP would place it on the computer. They all seem to say it as a fall back just for something to say. It made me worse. It is like someone who has serious illness and is constantly picked on for having that illness. It made me feel worthless. I know my weight was a big catalyst for my depression. And the more they pulled at me over it, the more I got depressed and as a knock on effect the more I ate. And even when you start to lose weight They give very little support and tell you you're going in the right direction and how to improve on what you are doing to maximise your weight loss.

Has anyone else ever felt like this or had a similar experiences?

 

[Jozefina]

I really feel for you - my GP is an absolutely horrible man with the bedside manner of an old slipper. As far as he is concerned, every. single. health. issue is weight related - even the tonsillitis that I had in 2011. He always lectured me unendingly about my weight (whilst not offering any help with tackling it) and once told me that when he looks at me all he sees is "a big ball of fat". Charming!

I knew he'd never ever support my bid for WLS so I just bit the bullet and went private.

Interestingly, my (lovely) surgeon told me that his sister is a GP and she doesn't get "how to handle" those with weight issues either. New GPs get no training in obesity medicine apparently, although he said he recently gave a lecture to a group of newly qualified to improve their awareness.

Best of luck - I'm a month behind you, you had your op on my birthday x

 

[rudders]

I dislike alcohol, gave up smoking 2 yrs ago and had my bypass on Monday.
I can't wait to hear what my dr will blame should I need to visit him later in the year. He'll be stumped!

 

[Tazz76]

I really feel for you - my GP is an absolutely horrible man with the bedside manner of an old slipper. As far as he is concerned, every. single. health. issue is weight related - even the tonsillitis that I had in 2011. He always lectured me unendingly about my weight (whilst not offering any help with tackling it) and once told me that when he looks at me all he sees is "a big ball of fat". Charming! I knew he'd never ever support my bid for WLS so I just bit the bullet and went private. Interestingly, my (lovely) surgeon told me that his sister is a GP and she doesn't get "how to handle" those with weight issues either. New GPs get no training in obesity medicine apparently, although he said he recently gave a lecture to a group of newly qualified to improve their awareness. Best of luck - I'm a month behind you, you had your op on my birthday x

Oh wow what nasty person (words stronger come to mind but they can't be posted here). I don't get why they think they it is ok to talk to people like that. I know the NHS are making cut backs but is people skills one of them? I really feel for you and what you GP said to you is shocking! My mum is having a battle with the GP's at the moment they have given her medication that is known to cause weight gain and they still have the cheek to have a go at her about her weight. The NHS is crazy no matter where you look there is people crying out for help like what we have had. Some senior people that are high up in the NHS have already commented on how many thousands of people are overweight and yet they refuse to acknowledge the problem as they don't give the appropriate training. I do understand that people will refuse to change, and that is there choice. But they should tar everyone with same brush!

How are you finding your recovery? x

 

[Jozefina]

I know, he's awful; the only helpful thing re dealing with the practice is that the receptionist has had a bypass and so now books me in with the other doctor instead because she's only too aware of how vile this guy is on the subject of weight and bariatric surgery.

Your poor mum! Is she on steroids? I packed on a ton with those.

Not too bad a few days out thanks - early days but I'm feeling great x

 

[Tazz76]

I know, he's awful; the only helpful thing re dealing with the practice is that the receptionist has had a bypass and so now books me in with the other doctor instead because she's only too aware of how vile this guy is on the subject of weight and bariatric surgery.

Your poor mum! Is she on steroids? I packed on a ton with those.

Not too bad a few days out thanks - early days but I'm feeling great x

Yes she is. But she is also Statins, Metformin for diabetes. Mum was on another tablet prior to the Metformin called Pioglitazone, which she ballooned on. The doctor refused to believe that the Pioglitazone caused the weight gain but eventually took her of it and her weight slowly started to decrease it has caused some damage to her. as her weight never returned to normal. The nurses and the doctor both on separate occasions as had her in tears because of the horrible things they said about her weight!

Good I'm glad your feeling well you will only feel better as the days go on. Congratulations on your new life

 

[Yvessa]

THe problem is that too many people still see our obesity as a choice we've made between the leafy green salad and the custard filled Krispy Kreme donut. My slim friends choose the donut. I always went salad. And yet...here we are. I was and am lucky in that I have a GP who gets it. Who will refer someone for WLS and fight for them to get it and recommend it to them! But I do feel lucky to have that support when really, we should all be entitled to it.

 

[AlphaEcho]

I can't believe how lucky I am with my current GP after hearing your experiences, I transferred practices after being completely misdiagnosed by a GP who wasn't fit to even practice in my opinion - on reflection I don't know why I didn't refer him to the GMC.

My current GP who is the Senior Partner at the practice has been nothing short of amazing with his treatment of me. We get on extremely well and he has done everything he can to help me with my weight and has never once used any of those medical terms of obese, morbidly obese etc to describe me. Unfortunately the local clinical commissioning group weren't so helpful and I had to go private to get things done.

As I said I feel very lucky with my GP and it's a shame that all of them aren't as good.

AE.

 

[Karlos]

But when you see 5 different GP's about a problem and they all say you need to lose weight even though a neck problem was the reason of me going and to my knowledge it has no bearing on weight gain. (Please anyone correct me if I'm wrong.)

Well who do you think has the better chance of being correct here?, you with no medical training or the five GPs who are qualified and went to university for years passing lots of assessments and examinations along the way? I'll go with the qualified doctors if that's OK.

When huge it puts a huge strain on our musculoskeletal structure and pulls it out of shape causing misalignment of the neck that leads to pain and even degeneration of the joints. I know because I had the same thing with my neck. I suffered terrible problems with my neck and chest pre op both conditions all but disappeared as my weight dropped to normal. I'm not saying our conditions are the the same, and whilst I agree being a lard arse made it easy for the medicos to hang a label on lots of my issues in all of them the doctor was bang on the button. People of normal weight don't get as many complaints or illnesses as us fatties do

 

[Tazz76]

Well who do you think has the better chance of being correct here?, you with no medical training or the five GPs who are qualified and went to university for years passing lots of assessments and examinations along the way? I'll go with the qualified doctors if that's OK.

When huge it puts a huge strain on our musculoskeletal structure and pulls it out of shape causing misalignment of the neck that leads to pain and even degeneration of the joints. I know because I had the same thing with my neck. I suffered terrible problems with my neck and chest pre op both conditions all but disappeared as my weight dropped to normal. I'm not saying our conditions are the the same, and whilst I agree being a lard arse made it easy for the medicos to hang a label on lots of my issues in all of them the doctor was bang on the button. People of normal weight don't get as many complaints or illnesses as us fatties do

Sorry Karlos you misunderstood what I was saying or maybe I didn't put it across correctly, if that's the case I apologise. But there does seem to be a few people who experienced similar issues and all with different experiences. I used my neck as an example instead of say a knee or ankle joint which is as you know a weight baring joint. I have no doubt that they were aggregated by weight gain. And I agree with you with regards to the strain on the musculoskeletal structure and is going to increase the heavier you are. I'm not saying weight gain doesn't play apart in some if not most body conditions. What I was saying was that some GP's were quick to say your overweight therefore that is your problem. Before they had even asked any questions about the issue. My neck was an injury due to disk problems from a Martial Arts injury I had suffered over 10 years ago when I was very fit and not carrying any weight whatsoever. The problem had flared up do to an injury at work. The doctors all had the details in my records but just didn't look through the records far enough even when I had indicated the year I had been to see them about it. I still do have problems with it issue to this day

 

[moomoo1]

im half and half here I too like many have had everything under the sun put down to my weight and it can be frustrating, but I don't have any problem with the label morbidly obese , obese or over weight or fat as it is what I am and as much as it can be reworded or pussy footed around the term is spot on , I am morbidly obese at the moment sometimes we need to call a spade a spade! that said there is no need for gps to be as offence in bedside manor as some are , im lucky I have a fab dr who has supported my weightloss greatly also applying for my funding for revision work

 

[NT1977]

I don't have a problem with the labels at all, it is what it is. I have more issue with the whole BMI calculation which I think is too restrictive and does not take into account peoples own attributes and health issues. i.e. whats healthy for one is not for the next, we are not all the same and therefore cannot be moudled to be the same.

However, my doctor does not like BMI either! he believes in a healthy diet and exercise, not the magic number on a chart as he calls it and has been extremly supportive of me from day 1. I would find it frustrating if every issue I went to the doctor with was found to be as a result of my weight. Even when I had a PE it was me who brought up my weight, not my doctor. he was more concerned with activity levels, if I had flown and if I smoked!

I do believe that some doctors are not well educated on weight management and the mental affects of obesity BUT they are GP's they are not specialists, I would not go and see a Brain doctor about my knees so why would I expect the GP to be able to specalise in weight issues. there needs to be a balance.

It's very sad that people have such a mixed service level from the NHS, my experience has been a fantastic one, even though I didn't qualify for my band on the NHS i have had nothing but support and encouragement in so many other ways.

NT

 

[Bookie]

I had that a few years back, when I kept on putting weight on and not understanding why (damn Provera!), I was eating sensibly, not grazing, exercising, all the right things, but still ballooned... went to see this GP (not one of the regulars) to ask him about this new treatment I had heard had just been made available on the NHS, called Orlistat (that tells you how long ago this was, lol). Well, I never even got that far. I started mentioning weight gain, he just handed me a sheet with a 1000 calories a day and dismissed me out of hand, never even listening to what I was trying to tell him! Butt-hole. I had gone in looking for help, and I came out crying about my weight for the first time in my life. I am still angry about it now.

 

[Tazz76]

I had that a few years back, when I kept on putting weight on and not understanding why (damn Provera!), I was eating sensibly, not grazing, exercising, all the right things, but still ballooned... went to see this GP (not one of the regulars) to ask him about this new treatment I had heard had just been made available on the NHS, called Orlistat (that tells you how long ago this was, lol). Well, I never even got that far. I started mentioning weight gain, he just handed me a sheet with a 1000 calories a day and dismissed me out of hand, never even listening to what I was trying to tell him! Butt-hole. I had gone in looking for help, and I came out crying about my weight for the first time in my life. I am still angry about it now.

All of these accounts are pretty shocking really, but also there has been some good points raised. One in particular being about GP's just being that, 'General Practitioners'! I don't know if anyone else has a practice like mine. But my GP who I saw nearly all my life retired around 8 years ago. I was never told who was going to replace him by the practice! So when I made an appointment it was a case of Dr Smith is free today! The next time I made an appointment to see the same doctor I discovered they had left and Dr Brown had taken their place. And this has continued to go on with GP's arriving and leaving hence the different doctors I referred to in the opening post. All were junior doctors they and all had a crap bedside manor and all kept having to go and ask senior Doctors what to do, about the variety of problems I had. So every time I saw a new doctor I had to trawl through the whole of my medical history, which was very upsetting and annoying then the weight problem cropped up. Your over weight so there for A,B,C,D and so on. It wasn't until last year after repeated requests that I finally found who my official GP was, and I got a little more help and support.

 

[Karlos]

Sorry Karlos you misunderstood what I was saying or maybe I didn't put it across correctly, if that's the case I apologise. But there does seem to be a few people who experienced similar issues and all with different experiences. I used my neck as an example instead of say a knee or ankle joint which is as you know a weight baring joint. I have no doubt that they were aggregated by weight gain. And I agree with you with regards to the strain on the musculoskeletal structure and is going to increase the heavier you are. I'm not saying weight gain doesn't play apart in some if not most body conditions. What I was saying was that some GP's were quick to say your overweight therefore that is your problem. Before they had even asked any questions about the issue. My neck was an injury due to disk problems from a Martial Arts injury I had suffered over 10 years ago when I was very fit and not carrying any weight whatsoever. The problem had flared up do to an injury at work. The doctors all had the details in my records but just didn't look through the records far enough even when I had indicated the year I had been to see them about it. I still do have problems with it issue to this day

I understood your point Taz, but again although most medical people would look at the fat first and allow that to determine their line of diagnosis, in most cases our fat is either the root cause or a huge contributing factor in almost every illness or condition that we are suffering.

My neck was caused through an injury I received as a loose head prop in a scrum playing for my school. It caused degenerative arthritis that flares up when I experience trauma or significant events. It flared up when I had surgery, then again when I was really ill and nearly died a couple of years ago, it's making itself a nuisance right now after my chemo changed and I had to spend a week in hospital. So although it was caused when I was as fit as a butcher's dog, and you'd think what's this **** got to do with being fat? The weight of all our fat pulls our skeleton out of shape including our necks, so it's not surprising that any injury or pain we feel in our neck is going to be exaggerated by being huge

 

[robina]

my gp's are lovely for the most part just a little clueless at times because of my weight. everythings put down purely to my weight and im just shoved on more and more pain pills and antibiotics till it came to a head with my left side turning purple, swelling and me crying in pain. the doc in a&e was horrified that i hadnt been refferred to anyone and had me admitted to a ward where a lovely doc came to see me and said "i see you were diagnosed with x when u were 18, well that explains your size oh and you have Y so you will never be able to lose it" ummmm thanks doc lol. he did put thru several referrals for me so i shall forgive his bluntness

 

[Tazz76]

I hope things move in the right direction for you soon Robina.