To think my doctor is wrong and also shit?

[PipGirl404]

I'm aware I do not have a medical degree, and she does, but I can't help but wonder.

2/3 months ago went in saying I have extreme period pain, and I'm sweating constantly at night. Cold sweats and I'm drenched so I have to get up about 4/5 times in a night to either wipe myself down or change etc.
She asked how my bowels were, I said fine, she then proceeded to diagnose me with IBS and give me peppermint capsules ??? I insisted on blood tests and they all came back fine.

So as of today, I'm still sweating buckets at night and it's at the point I'm delirious with lack of sleep. I phoned and explained everything, told her (new, different doctor) my periods are still extremely painful etc. She asked about my weight (so I gave her it, and my height) and she said my BMI is close to 30 so I'm obese, and that's what is causing the sweating. I said I've been this weight for years and I'm more muscle than fat etc and she said "I would recommend you lose 15kg and this should fix your problems. If not, come back"

That's it. End of story.

What the fuck?? I can't even register with a new Dr for a second opinion and there's only the 2 above doctors at my practice 😭

I’ve gone from 8 stone to 11 stone in the past 4 years (I’m 5’2”) and my night sweats and general sweats BF have definitely increased a lot.

It’s one of the reasons I want to get fit again.

Just because you’ve always been this weight doesn’t mean that the night sweats aren’t caused by sweat?

30 is quite a high BMI.

@WreckTangle95 thank you, very much. It feels wrong to me too.

Yes the sweating has been nightly for about 4 or 5 months now. I've tried lots of things to not drinking anything hot or cold for 3 hrs before bed, I've changed to silk sheets, then cotton sheets, then bamboo sheets. I've tried wearing jammies and not wearing jammies I've tried sleeping on a towel, I've tried socks and no socks nothing seems to work. Duvet is a 3.5 tog too so not overly cosy!

Ffs of course it’s not your weight. Your doctors are rubbish.

I’m very overweight and my doctors obviously advise me to lose some but I’m never dismissed like that - they’re always thorough and kind and take time to consider issues.

Definitely look for a new surgery.

Caused by weight not sweat!

High bmi issues generally don't happen instantly, they can be a gradual build up. You might have been fine at bmi 30 before, but your body decided enough was enough 3 months ago.

However, if you're a serious weight lifting (and you would need to be to have enough muscle to have 30 bmi! - I weight lift 3 times a week and have a Bmi of 25) then I presume you have a PT. Get them to measure your body fat. You can then take this back to the doctors to support your argument. Also check which blood tests were taken - doctors don't order everything at first just the basics. They seem to be ignore your painful periods, which I assume are also a new thing?

@PipGirl404 sounds like PCOS

Have you tried looking into pcos?

www.morelandobgyn.com/blog/pcos-symptoms-treatments

What blood tests did you have?

louise great minds and all that .

Probably as identifying as it gets but here's the only proper full body one I have.

The blood tests they ran were blood sugar, liver, thyroid, and something else...

I asked about hormones and she said because my periods were regular that my hormones were fine & didn't need investigating.

It could be hormonal changes in which case the extra weight won’t be helping. I’d imagine they’re trying to rule that out first off and then if there’s still a problem without the weight then they’ll have a better idea what else to try.

OP, when you say you had bloods done and they all came back fine, do you know exactly what was tested and what were the results? Was it a FBC, U and E, which hormones? thyroid function and so on? What was the GP trying to exclude? It might be helpful for you to know what, if anything, has been excluded. I would keep a track of the numbers as if diagnosis turns out to be protracted, this might help you.

Remote diagnosis isn't satisfactory. Given the symptoms are persisting, the pain you mention and that you are trying to conceive (I know it's on hold [which I wouldn't mention]), if it were a family member, I would be encouraging them/you to ask/insist/get a referral (probably initially to reproductive but you might find some of the initial screening help track down the problem. If necessary I would justify this given that you had been TTC for over a year without success and that this is of 'overwhelming' concern to you. Remote diagnosis if unsatisfactory but if you must google symptoms, do you have any symptoms of PCOS?

Good luck.

Sorry, OP, have just seen you posted saying some of the tests.

I don't have any answers but I am experiencing the same. I've always had painful periods but I have endometriosis but I've been waking up wet with a cold sweat most nights for the last 6 months. All tests come back normal for me too and I'm still no closer to finding out what the cause is. I'm nearly 27 and I'm not going through the menopause.

I very much doubt your weight is the problem, i think you are being fobbed off and your dr is shit

Errh unless you carry a lot of weight on your back, you are no way near being heavy enough to have night sweats.

Thank you Zilla I really appreciate it.

I can't quite remember exactly what was done but the Dr said it was very comprehensive and they all came back fine. I had to do it fasted if that helps at all?

BMI of 30 is high. Am not surprised they suggested you lose weight.

What were the blood tests for?

@elc19 sounds exactly like me. It's bloody rubbish.

For everyone saying PCOS - can you develop that randomly or is it something you're born with? I donated eggs about ... 3.5 years ago and nothing was mentioned then when I had scans etc.

I'll definitely lose the weight while we're all in lockdown anyway. At least when I switch doctors and if I'm still having these symptoms I can explain the history a bit better and hopefully won't get fobbed off again.

Night sweating can be caused by a whole host of things, some sinister, some not so sinister, most not even slightly sinister.

The fact that they have come on suddenly and stayed is quite odd, however.

The painful periods could be a host of things, too. Have they always been like that? I think you should push for a gynae referral, also as you’ve been TTC for a year or more.

Going back to the sweats, have you any other symptoms that you’ve noticed? But which may not be as obvious as the sweating? Any aches or pains, any weight change, any vision changes or any weakness anywhere? And also, have you had any changes to your lifestyle, circumstance or mental wellbeing?

Look into menstrual migraines. My gynaecologist told me it was a sudden drop in hormones triggering extreme period pain, profuse sweating and vision disturbance- was basically referred pain. Didn’t feel a single damn thing in my head - no headache. Zomig fixed it. Your doc is shit.

Loads of people think they're all muscle, but aren't. If you were she would pretty much be able to tell by looking at you. You would have to be a devout weight trainer, semi-pro or something. Women don't tend to build bulk that way easily, anyway.

A bit left field but you didn't happen to change matress around the time this started? Or get a memory foam topper or anything? An ex of mine developed awful night sweats when we shifted to a memory foam mattress.

Fasting would be for the 'blood sugar' you mentioned to rule out diabetes. To be fair, regular periods are one sign that hormones are normal but you are presenting with symptoms and have been TTC for over a year. Not for me to say but don't mention you've stopped TTC for COVID and use that delay and overwhelming worry to get a referral if needs be to get to the bottom of this. It's not impossible that although you've regular periods that you have a problem regarding TTC that you would want sorting while young.

Good luck.