To think no I bloody do not want to know what I weigh so just shut up about it!

[HarrietKettleWasHere]

Ugh I'm so annoyed.

Went to GP today to get contraceptive pill. Had blood pressure check and went to step on the scales, and I said politely to lady GP 'would you mind if I don't know what my weight is, I'm just going to step on but not look'

She said, 'why on earth not?'

So I said 'because I used to suffer from an eating disorder, and the numbers will say I'm a lot bigger than I would have been happy with back then, so I'd rather not obsess about it'

GP 'so how would you know if you were overweight, you won't even be able to work out your BMI'

Me 'I go by how my clothes fit, or belt hooks and that' I'm a size 10, so not really at a point where I'd worry I was overweight, although of course mentally I'll always think I'm positively rubenesque)

GP 'well with vanity sizing nowadays I think you really need to be aware of what you weigh, so you can deal with weight gain at the first sign'

And then she told me WHAT IT BLOODY WAS.

Rationally it's fine, it's a healthy weight, mentally I am now looking at myself in elephant proportions and feeliing enormous.

Why can't people just bloody well LISTEN and they think they know best and just do the thing you asked them not to anyway?!!

I have my first wedding dress fitting next month and I'm freaking out about that now.

thats awful! please do complain if you feel up to it. GPs can be so shit about mental health they really do need to get better training and they wont do if no one complains. Theres no way she should have done that.

I find it absolutely amazing and horrifying that a HCP would have so little awareness and sensitivity to these kind of issues. It's just awful.

I hope you're ok op. There's arseholes everywhere

Absolutely complain! What a cruel and nasty thing to do to someone who has suffered from ED! If you are a 10 FFS, that's good enough and you are not a problem waiting to happen.

I'm fuming on your behalf love :(

That's appalling. Telling people their weight if they don't want to know because they are burying their head in the sand about being overweight would be one thing. But you clearly have no weight problem and have very good reasons for not wanting to know. Definitely complain.

This weight -> health nonsense has gone completely out of control. I am furious on your behalf.

I don't believe it's true that people need a number to know whether they are putting on weight; or that obese people got that way without realising. There are so many complex reasons behind all this and this simplistic number bashing is counter productive.

I believe the GP is so wrapped up in this current obsession she couldn't even really process your perfectly reasonable request.

yes, complain.

Oh my God that's awful. As someone who struggles with weight and food I get it. I hate when people comment about either and it's taken a lot of effort to learn my triggers and avoid.
By all means as a gp, check weight and comment on suitability of treatments but that should be under the caveat of patient wishes. Especially having been given a very valid medical reason.
Why is mental health never taken as seriously as physical?

Totally empathise OP, I now refuse at any medical appointment to have my weight checked, unless essential, unfortunately brings back bad memories of attending slimming clubs from age 8 then on and off through my teenage years! (Mother obsessed about looks/weight), also being weighed in front of other people constantly - no wonder I've experienced depression most of my adult life. I know I need to lose weight but don't need to be told! Hold your head high, enjoy your wedding dress fitting and complain about the GP.

I think you have every right to complain, the GP should have respected your wishes not to know your weight, you had very good reasons.

Incidentally, I've never been weighed to go on the pill, and I was put on it reasonably recently (this year) and I'm by no means slim (size 14 and 4 months post giving birth) Is being weighed a new thing?

I wish I'd complained about a gp years ago. I went about bleeding between periods and she just went on and on about my weight. Yes I was very overweight but I was under investigation for the bleeding and was told any sign of it not letting up to go back.

She even brought my then husband into it and asking about his weight.

Asked about my contraception which at the time I wasn't on anything and then she went on to say I'll never have children as it'll take me too long to lose the weight and then I'll be too old for ivf!

I was really tempted to go back at a size 10 with my positive pregnancy test!

However I'm now on the pill and have been since Dec 2016 and never had a check on it. I'm now about a size 14 with a bmi of 28. I just got my next 6 month worth today. I'm wondering if I should put on an appointment to make sure it's okay?

Complain to practice manager. You did not consent to being told your weight & in addition you explained a medical reason for this.

I'm sorry this has caused you upset

You made her aware of your eating disorder and told her that you did not wish to know your weight. She should have respected that.

10 is a gorgeous size - sorry the gp didn't listen OP

Please complain. I’m appalled by he way you were treated. If you call the practice and say you want to complain they will tell you what you need to do. Or it might say on the practice website.
Please don’t let this set your recovery back.

Well I'm not particularly tall....only 5:5. I suppose there's a chance I could have looked a bit dumpy to her and I have a stupid apple shape. So I don't know. I just got the impression she was a bit no-nonsense and thought I was being a bit affected about it. I hadn't actually seen her before, you have to take the first available appointment with whoever at our practice.

I wouldn't see her again anyway as she the kept trying to push the bloody coil on me and sighed when I said I wasn't interested (I had it- the bloody thing made my life a misery and I had to pay privately to get it out!!)

Thanks for all your lovely words though.

Please complain. Refuse to be weighed in future. If you are challenged, ask the GP or nurse the last time the scales were inspected for accuracy by a suitably qualified Weights and Measures Inspector from the local Trading Standards department. Ask to see the certificate. Without a recent certification, how would anyone know if the scales were accurate?

Well, if she kept trying to push the coil on you when it didn;t work for you, then she's a shit.

I had a nurse who kept lecturing me on my weight until I snapped after she popped out to do some copying and came back stinking of smoke.

"you can't criticise me for my health choices when you nip out for a fag in the middle of an appointment."

You made an absolutely reasonable request. You should complain in writing so someone can explain to her how ill-advised her behaviour was. She needs this to bring her practise to an acceptable standard.

I always ask for my weight in kg as it means nothing to me. Wouldn't matter of they said 60 or 90. I have no emotional attachment to kg. I don't weigh myself, I go by my waistband and how i feel and look. I know when I am at a healthy weight.

I'm with ShineyShooney here. I'm sorry, but you're evidently not on top of your ED if you define yourself by that number.

IMO, you'll be reinforcing how you feel if you get involved in a complaints procedure. You may well not see her again, and can request not to.

We're going to have to get more used to frank, impersonal assessments of our weight, as obesity (not that you are, OP!) will be the next generation's big killer.

Oh do complain, OP. She sounds awful. The GP is the one with a problem, not you. And pear-shaped is very much admired where I live.

The reason you didn't want to know was valid, but she shouldn't have gone against your wishes in any case. I'd definitely make a complaint, that was really crappy of her to do - she's the only one who needed to know.
Vanity sizing is bollocks anyway because it's so inconsistent - I ordered some size 18 Tshirts online once, when they arrived they were nowhere near that (they were more like children's shirts)!

You told GP about a medical condition and how you manage it and she didn't respect you

GP should have the basic knowledge about ED and how they manifest and treated you accordingly.

What’s offensive is that she thought she knew better than you, when you’d told her you had a ED in the past. Ironically, the fact she told you isnproof she clearly doesn’t.

Stupid woman. She could do a different person serious harm with that kind of attitude. Hate doctors with a God complex.

In the case of your surgery giving a first come first served service, you HAVE to complain, otherwise you’ll get that incompetent idiot again.

How dare she foist her opinions on you, how dare she ignore your clearly stated and completely reasonable requests.

For those who don’t understand how knowing your weight is such a big deal. - I have a binge eating disorder - dieting triggers this, weighing myself triggers this because it makes me want to diet. I gain weight when I diet because it triggers bingeing - one of the approaches to treating binge eating disorders is to stop dieting and stop weighing yourself and paradoxically when I follow this approach my weight goes down and stabilises, at 5ft 8, I sit at a healthy size 12 and have a healthy approach to food, that is, as long as I avoid dieting and weighing myself. I’d call that as “fixed” as I’ll ever be!