to think that you should still be taken seriously by your GP if you're obese?

[parabella]

Just came back from the GP where we discussed some symptoms that are worrying me. First thing he says is 'well we won't do anything 'til you lose weight'.
Now I am losing weight but it's a slow process (lot's of weight to lose). Shouldn't I still get treated even if I'm not thinner yet?
I was quite persistent and he ended up telling me about potential cancer symptoms which I have and which he's agreed should be looked into further. But I have noticed his default attitude is to just say lose weight and expect me to leave. Does anyone else feel like this at the doctors?

Jorah - you are spot-on! I know taking more exercise would help me, but when I do, it makes my knees so painful, I can hardly walk.

Could you afford going to a gym? Increasing muscle mass will also help you keep your weight under control, and some machines might not put as much pressure on your knees.

@YouGotta: I know someone who has type II diabetes, and never was overweight. She constantly gets told that she "shouldn't have" diabetes. She actually has been keeping it under control with low carb diet ever since diagnosed with prediabetes, but that's not a choice for someone who already has full-on diabetes.

What I find so strange is that they will immediately prescribe insulin for someone with diabetes (even though that has a potential to make type II worse if diet isn't changed) but if someone has a knee problem that could or could not be caused by obesity, they just say "Let's wait until you aren't overweight anymore before we do anything about it. If you can't lose weight, that's your problem."

Vestal - I did join a local gym, and at my best, I was going three times a week, using the treadmill (gentle walking) and the weights machines. After each session, I could hardly walk back down to the car park, my knees and ankles were so sore, and it got worse during the day.

The thought of how difficult it was going to be made it harder and harder to make myself carry on going. That made me more blue, and when I am more depressed, I struggle to go out at all, even to things I enjoy doing and that don't give me pain.

SDTG

If you can, I really really really recommend going to a different doctor and getting some physio for your knees if you're not already getting physio. Just the simple core strength and balance exercises have made it possible for me to do more and more - I'm currently doing 8hr shifts on my feet every day, walking the equivalent of about 5 miles a shift, and it's nowhere near as bad as it would've been without the physio.

It is absolutely shit when doctors won't help you, and refuse to see that you're doing your best to help yourself but need a little extra support. I was told for years by doctors that I was "just double jointed", just having growing pains etc. I'm 21 and know that chances are I'll be in a wheelchair before I'm 40 because my hypermobility is so severe and causing so much damage to my joints, because it was never picked up on and taken seriously until two years ago.

I did join a local gym, and at my best, I was going three times a week, using the treadmill (gentle walking) and the weights machines. After each session, I could hardly walk back down to the car park, my knees and ankles were so sore, and it got worse during the day.

Ouch, that sounds painful!

I'm in a gym that's for health first and foremost, and they have some machines that I believe wouldn't put any weight on the knees. Not sure you can get that anywhere, though.

Jorah - I will go and ask about physio - dh has health insurance and I think that would include physio for me.

I am trying to convince myself to go back to the gym too - maybe just doing the weights machines, until my knees are stronger.

I work with a twat of a GP. His standard response to any women asking for his help is " jump on the scales" and "when was your last smear test".

What I find so strange is that they will immediately prescribe insulin for someone with diabetes

Err no we don't. There's a ladder of treatment first and insulin is way up the ladder

I do sympathise, OP, I've worked with some HCPs who can't look past the obesity. However IME the vast majority of patients do underestimate how greatly their lifestyle impacts on their health, whether it's their diet, smoking, drinking, inactivity etc.

Swimming can be great for those who struggle with weight-bearing exercise.

YANBU and your post reminded me of this meme.

I slipped a disc in a bad ice skating accident once, that was blamed on me being overweight. I have asthma which is triggered by a dust allergy which is exacerbated by cold air and that was blamed on me being overweight. For 3 years I walked around with I untreated asthma because (and I quote) "everyone who is overweight has a bit of a wheeze".

Wow thank you for all your responses. It's actually a problem with my nose, a sudden inability to smell anything and a couple of other things I won't go into. GP admitted it sbould be looked into so I'm being referred.

I have been refused treatment on a shoulder because I was too fat. Took 6 months of rest and then gradual exercises in water that I made up to fix it but apparently my fat was making it sore (not the fact I was in a car crash the day before it was sore and had previously dislocated it) but it was down to my fat.

I was told at 7 by a school doctor that I was fat and no one would ever love a fat person and I was disgusting! My mum still talks about how appalled she was as she was there at the time. Seems they have not yet learnt how to speak with decency to ppl who are struggling with their size. However, I now get as pedantic with any doctor who tells me I am overweight as they have yet to measure my weight....weight is measured in Newtons not Kg.

I can understand why a Doctor would tell you to lose weight first for certain problems - bad knees or joints, flat feet, high blood pressure - weight is a pretty obvious cause of those (or at least would probably make symptoms worse).

But problems with your nose? I can't see how weight is hugely relevant tbh.

Presumably it's the other problems which are felt to be weight related rather than the smell issue. So not sure we have enough info to pass comment.

Insulin often makes patients with type 2 diabetes balloon - almost everything else is tried first. The very first step is usually dietary and lifestyle modification. Even with a normal BMI some people can cure their Type 2 DM with weight loss.

What's the condition OP? Is it weight-related? Many conditions are caused by obesity and will be cured by losing weight.
I have a condition that is more COMMON among those carrying excess weight - I'm fit and healthy - BMI 21 - my consultant said her default suggestion was that patients lose weight but obviously couldn't give me that advice.
Funny thing is I belong to a Facebook group of fellow sufferers and losing weight does not improve the condition.

Even if a condition is improved by losing weight, that is often not the be-all and end-all of treatment - if a patient has high blood pressure, losing weight may help, but they may also need drugs to reduce their blood pressure in the meantime - so they are not at risk of a stroke. Flat feet might be helped by losing weight, but orthotics might be needed too.

And as some posters have said, there are some conditions that affect the joints, but won't be improved by weight loss - like rheumatoid arthritis - and if a patient is just sent away to lose weight, because the doctor has lazily assumed that their joint problems must be down to their weight, their condition won't improve - and in fact more damage, avoidable damage, could be done.

I also think some doctors are quite ignorant about dieting and weight loss - like my GP who told me filling up,on veg was a bad thing 'because vegetables have calories too'. I still kick myself that I didn't say, "Well - 10g of grated cheddar contains 42 calories, and won't fill you up much, but you could have 180g of broccoli or 245g of lettuce for the same amount of calories - so, you can eat plenty of veg and feel full, without having too many calories - how is this a bad thing??"

The really weird thing is the RA drugs made me lose 2 stone in 5 weeks...

the best I can manage at the moment is not to get bigger
This is about where I am - amid a relapse of CFS and trying to hold my mood and addictive behaviours steady. A good doctor would understand and acknowledge the wisdom of this. SDTG you talk a lot of sense on this thread.

Lots of misinformation about diabetes mind which is a shame.

The more I read about obesity the more I think we don't understand it very well - 'we' the public, and 'we' in general medical specialties. It does seem that the body starts to metabolise differently at a cellular level and resist weight loss. I hope that the 'caveman'/low carb/paleo diet will gain mainstream acceptance as being the only thing that seems to alter this 'disease state'.

OP I would be furious if I were you as the loss of smell is potentially serious and needs urgent imaging - has he referred you to ENT or booked an MR? Hopefully both and I hope it's nothing to be worried about.

I'm afraid of medical appointments for this very reason, ever since I went to see a GP about an ear infection and she launched into a very aggressive rant about my weight. I was so upset I didn't eat for two days and then binged massively. It sent my back into depression, which I had just managed to overcome.

I then moved surgeries and got assigned a GP obsessed with weight. Like others in this thread have said, his first reaction to any complaint is "can you get on the scales?" and then he tells me my BMI as if I've never realised before that I'm fat.

I now avoid seeing any kind of doctor unless it's unavoidable which it unfortunately often is as I'm type 1 (i.e. not weight related) diabetic. My diabetes team are great and avoid lecturing me about weight but I still have an irrational fear that they will stop helping me or turn every appointment into a weight lecture.

I was talking to a colleague recently who said he doesn't see doctors because he smokes 40 a day, and they never listen to him and instantly attribute any problem to that. I said yep, it's the same when you're fat.

I wonder how many people like us there are, afraid to seek help?

I was thinking this the other day! I'm really struggling with my asthma at the minute, to the point where I'm waking up with it every two hours, and they just tell me it's because I'm fat. Yeah, like I can't fucking well see. I'm size 16, I know I need to lose some, but I'm not exactly being cut out of the house yet. They just lecture me about losing weight, it's hard to lose weight when you can't move for fear of triggering an attack. It's made me feel really low this week, and guess what I do when I feel low.... Eat! 😭

My mum had this, she is seriously overweight, nearly 30 stone, every time she goes to the doctor she gets the same response 'Oh well if you just lose some weight it'll be fine.' She complained of pains in her legs and kept being fobbed off, being told it was her weight. She saw a different GP who referred her to a specialist and guess what? Turned out to be Fibromyalgia

Sudden loss of smell, if not due to congestion/colds/flu etc needs investigation pronto.

I'm very overweight. I now weigh 17.10 stone. 6 months ago I weighed 25 stone.
It's only now, that I'm starting to lose a bit of weight that I'm being taken even slightly seriously by a certain GP at my practice.
I've had severe unexplained abdominal pains for well over a year now & it was always put down to my weight, now, I've lost over 7 stone and the pain is just as bad, worse even. My GP is most annoyed at this and has said "well I expect it'll go once you reach a normal weight". I'm not holding my breath.
But yes, I have found in the past that pretty much everything that's wrong with me has been attributed to my weight, sore knees and hypertension I agree with, and both of those have improved a lot since getting smaller, but chronic ear infections and arthritis in my wrist? No, they're not happening because I'm fat, please stop saying they are.
Op, I hope your nose problem turns out to be something trivial and easily treated. Good luck.