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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To refuse to be weighed by my GP/nurse?

69 replies

jessicalivesnextdoor · 25/09/2014 16:17

I have to go to the doctors and whenever I'm there he always wants to weigh me and take my blood pressure. Am I allowed to refuse to be weighed? Will he tell me off or give me a lecture? Or refuse to treat me?

I know how much I weigh and I don't need anyone else to tell me.

OP posts:
PrettyPictures92 · 25/09/2014 16:22

It depends, are you getting any type of medication? Some medication relies on the doctor knowing your weight to know the correct dosage you get, so if you refuse to let him know your weight then he can refuse to give you certain medications. Same as with blood pressure, some medications you can't take if you've high or low blood pressure.

Or if you're over/under weight then he may just want to keep an eye on it so if any other health problems come up he knows how to deal with it?

HTH

sticklebrickstickle · 25/09/2014 16:23

I suppose it depends on whether knowing your weight is necessary for him to advise or prescribe treatment. Sometimes your GP might need to know your weight to prescribe you the correct dosage of medication, but otherwise I suppose if it really bothers you you can refuse for him to weigh you.

That said I always find it a bit odd when people don't want others to know their weight as usually you can make a good estimate as to whether somebody is over/underweight by looking so if someone is the sort to judge you on your weight they've probably already done it based on your appearance.

OldLadyKnowsSomething · 25/09/2014 16:23

I imagine that the dosage for some medicines might by worked out on a per kilo basis; a seven stone woman wouldn't need as much as a seventeen stone man, for example. And some medications can affect your blood pressure, so there could well be a good reason for that, too.

LadyLuck10 · 25/09/2014 16:24

He's there to help you and advise you when he sees something that needs attention. Why on earth do people get so defensive about this?

smokeandglitter · 25/09/2014 16:24

They will ask you why but they won't refuse to treat you unless your weight is needed for something eg. local anesthetic

Would you be happy to tell him your weight? I refuse to be weighed by everyone (very triggering as constantly weighed through my teenage years with ED and school weighing me was a trigger for the start of ED) and am pregnant and won't let them weigh me. I've had to explain why and I will and do give them my weight but not get on the scales.

I think if you look severely under/over healthy weight they will probably want to know to suggest things to help, or you may need a BMI for treatment/diagnosis - so for Anorexia Nervosa you are diagnosed partly if your BMI is 17.5 or under, though you can be ED-NOS with a BMI above that or I believe to be considered for gastric band on NHS you need to be above a certain BMI - or at least my friends parents were told they did and had to be weighed.

TheWitTank · 25/09/2014 16:24

The only reason I've ever been weighed at the doctors is when pregnant routinely and when I was given medication where the dose was based on body weight. Never been weighed for anything else. Are you under/over weight? Is the doctor concerned by your weight?

myusernameis · 25/09/2014 16:24

I suppose it depends what you're going for and if your weight is relevant to that. If you have an ear infection I don't see why they wouldn't treat you if you refused to get weighed as I can't see it would have any bearing. If you want the pill however, maybe they can refuse without weighing you as being overweight can be a risk factor. *

  • I am not saying those examples are factually true so if I'm wrong please don't shout at me!
MrsCosmopilite · 25/09/2014 16:28

I don't think the doc would refuse to treat you.

Is there a reason you don't want to be weighed? Have you asked why you 'need' to be weighed and have your BP checked every time?

I'm just registering with a new GP and their questionnaire asks for weight & height - presumably so that they can offer dietary advice to anyone falling outside "normal" BMI.

wonkylegs · 25/09/2014 16:28

Why don't you ask why they want to measure you?
Whenever I have a consultant appointment they weigh me & measure my height. It helps with them tracking the effects of my disease.

Original poster
jessicalivesnextdoor · 25/09/2014 16:36

Thanks. I don't think I am overweight or underweight. I'm 5'4 and weigh 8 and a half stone, although I've been told I look like I weigh less than that so maybe I look underweight even though I'm not Hmm. Is that even possible?

OP posts:
Tabby1963 · 25/09/2014 16:39

OP, I was having a health check recently and was weighed and height done (lost another half inch Sad).

My eating has been quite stable recently and I didn't want anything to disrupt it so I said I didn't want to know the weight number because it would just obsess me (long term serial dieter who is obese yet again). So nurse just wrote it down and didn't tell me. I could have refused to stand on the scales but I know that records have to be kept.

Perhaps you can do the same, explain that you don't want to know the number (because it may be a trigger) but they can write it on your records.

Original poster
jessicalivesnextdoor · 25/09/2014 16:40

I'm on antidepressants and I don't think my weight would be relevant for that.

I've only really been visiting my GP on a regular basis over the last year or so. I hadn't been for over 7 years before that so I don't even know if this is just the done thing these days Blush

If he wants to weigh me when I go would it be rude to ask why?

OP posts:
VikingLady · 25/09/2014 16:44

My GP a couple of years ago used to weigh you at every visit and also measure your waist. He said it was an NHS initiative to monitor obesity in the uk, and he insisted all doctors were meant to capture the data regardless of what you went in for.

Oddly, my current GP never mentioned it.

Lorelei353 · 25/09/2014 16:46

I'm never weighed at my GP (except when pregnant). It's definitely not rude to ask why - it's your appointment about your health. You should know why anything related to you or your health is being done.

Goldengirl1979 · 25/09/2014 17:01

Been weighed at doctor and comments made before. Think it used to happen more when I lived in a less "nice" area. New doctor doesn't seem to care so much.

it's funny as I tend to oscillate around BMI 25 and so one doctor will be like Happy Face = "correct" weight, then a month or so later & I've happened to gain a couple of pounds and it's all Sad Face = few pounds overweight. I think it's amusing and feel sorry for them really that they have to do this charade - but could totally appreciate why you may not want to do it all.

Never thought saying you can monitor but I'd rather not know thanks - that would be an interesting tactic.

WorraLiberty · 25/09/2014 17:04

Do you lack control in other areas of your life?

This is a very weird thing to want to control

You say "I know how much I weigh and I don't need anyone else to tell me."

It's not about you needing to know, it's about your GP needing to know.

plecofjustice · 25/09/2014 17:15

Some medications require weight not just for dosage, but for a risk assessment. The risks of the Pill, for example, increase with weight, and there is a point at which the risks outweigh (excuse me!) the benefits.

Your weight is a medical fact, your GP isn't taking it for any other reason than fact.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 25/09/2014 17:18

I would guess that your dosage may be dependent on weight? GP may also be assessing weight gain as a side effect of the medication.

mrsravelstein · 25/09/2014 17:19

it's not remotely rude to ask why he wants to know. and of course you don't have to be weighed if you don't want to, unless it's for a medical reason.

i saw a hopeless lunatic GP recently who wanted to weigh me and check my cholesterol despite the fact that, as i happened to be mostly naked showing her my sore back at the time, she could see perfectly well that whatever problems i might have, being unfit ain't one of 'em! no doubt just ticking boxes for some random NHS thing.

RedToothBrush · 25/09/2014 17:20

If he wants to weigh me when I go would it be rude to ask why?

I don't think its ever rude to ask why a doctor wants to do something.

The only problem is that it may well depend on your doctor as to the reaction you get; a good doctor won't bat an eyelid and should explain issue, one who isn't quite so good, may be difficult about it.

I am wondering if, given that you are on antidepressants, you suffer from anxiety too. That would make why you are asking make more sense and it would give you a 'legitimate' reason to ask (you don't need a reason to ask - it just makes gives a clinical reason that doctors should be extra sensitive / wary about)

RevoltingPeasant · 25/09/2014 17:22

Worra I suppose the point is, why does the GP need to know.

The OP is not obviously underweight or overweight - I'm about 5'4" and 8.5 stone is a nice healthy slim weight for me - so why make it a focus? Weight isn't the be-all and end-all with regards to health and it's silly to take up precious time in appointments if it's not relevant (if!).

Chopstheduck · 25/09/2014 17:23

I think you do have a right to know why, and you should ask if it bothers you.

I also look thinner than my weight, so I rather dislike being weighed too! It's muscle in my case, giving me a technically overweight BMI, but I am an exercise fiend and have quite a muscular build. I don't think it is odd at all not to want to be weighed.

cherrybombxo · 25/09/2014 17:25

I get weighed every time I go to get a prescription for the pill but I am a good 40lbs overweight (working on that, I promise!) so he has to check my weight and blood pressure because the pill can affect those. I'd never refuse but I can see why people who have struggled with EDs would.

WorraLiberty · 25/09/2014 17:26

Worra I suppose the point is, why does the GP need to know.

I'm sure the GP will answer that though

Szeli · 25/09/2014 17:29

some antidepressants dosage does work on weight btw