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 😭

Sounds similar to me though my BMI is normal, I have had many scans over the years, sometimes show cysts in my ovaries and sometimes not, never really got a diagnosis but recently changed to a different contraceptive pill (different hormone) and the night sweats have almost gone, my periods are still pretty heavy and painful though. I was due to go back to the gp this week after 3 months on the new pill but haven’t gone back as they are only taking phone appointments (and the wait is crazy).

The main symptoms of PCOS are irregular periods, extra body And facial hair, acne, weight gain or difficulty losing weight, fatigue, losing head hair, mood swings and depression/anxiety are very common. Many women with PCOS also have vitamin d deficiency or thyroid issues, and often insulin resistance. Period pain and sweating, alone, wouldn’t necessarily indicate PCOS.

You really need to get further tests done, either with an endocrinologist (IME better at dealing with PCOS) or a gynaecologist.

Push for further tests you are fully entitled to a second opinion. Not the same but for years I suffered with awful debilitating painful periods, heavy bleeding and mood swings. I was bounced between pills and tablets they give people to stop bleeding following child birth for every period until finally I was given a scan and my uterus was beyond saving, I had a full abdominal hysterectomy at 35. It was the best thing I did, but you know your body and if something isn’t right push for it!

Two questions:

Is the sweating experienced all the time or just during your period?

Do you take ibuprofen/neurofen to relieve period pain?

If so, then it's probably the ibuprofen causing the sweating. Ibuprofen causes night sweats.

People on here are really fat phobic you'll not get much sympathy sorry. There's a podcast called she's all fat. They talk about being dismissed by doctors due to weight. Regardless of how much overweight you are. I've experienced this when I've been overweight for ages and just developed the issues. Also many people who are fat do not have these problems. Turns out I've got fibroids and adenomyosis.

@FreakStar

All the time, doesn't get any worse or better during periods.

No ibuprofen as I've had stomach ulcers, just Paramol for 3 days (dihydrocodein and paracetamol)

X

I've had PCOS, fibroids and endometrial cysts while having regular periods. They were heavy and painful though. It's simply not true that regular periods mean you have no gynae issues.

Egg donation can affect your cycle. 15% of women experience changes afterwards. But there are only short term studies on the impact of egg donation not long term ones.

@useryokyesno

I'll give that a listen as I'm really into podcasts at the moment.

Yeah, I'll definitely take the advice and lose the weight but it's a shame that she pinned all the problems on my weight alone, despite being this weight for a long time!

You got any lumps anywhere? Lymph nodes? Can you check?

@hoggleludo

Just done a check - no lumps anywhere that I can feel!

OP isn't fat, she's posted a pic of herself. Totally normal size.

Can I just point out to everyone banging on about “insist on a scan or referral” pretty much ALL secondary care services across the U.K. are NOT doing routine work because of C19 - so there is literally no referrals etc your Gp can do right now. They cannot refer you to a gynaecologist etc even if it was the right course of action - you may just have to wait.

(I’m a Gp and am having this conversation a hundred times a day at the moment)

Btw. My friend felt horrific. She went to the dr. Said I can't lose weight. He said your problems are all caused by your weight. She lost something incredible like 7 stone. Still sick. So went back to the dr

She had a HUGE under active thyroid. Now I work with pituitary patients. So I know thyroid tests. Her tsh was over 100!!!!! All of us were like. How are you even alive?!?! And standing? Working? I mean the girl should be dead!

So keep pushing. You know you own body. Like she did.

That's good, it's another thing you can rule out then.

Like others have said, it sounds like something hormonal then, that's usually the cause of sweating at night.

I suggest that you do drop some weight as BMI30 is generally quite high, particularly if you are TTC.

It can be narksome when the GP seems to deliver a reflex response that loosing weight will sort the symptoms out BUT you will soon find out as you loose weight if the night sweats reduce. If no change after a drop down to, say, BMI2, then I’d get back pronto to get a referral to a Gynaecologist.

That you were an egg donor (for which thank you) & would have been using prescribed medications during this process, & your long term use of Sertraline, should be taken into account so that a Gynaecologist referral is made soon.

If you are TTC you do not have all the time in the world as months can drift into years - & this should prompt your GP to get a move on.

Seeing as I work with hormones.

I'm betting hormones. Your weight. Your period issues. The sweating. Guarantee it's hormones.

However for that you'd need an endocrine dr. Pm me where you ware and I'll let you know the best in your area.

Have you considered doing any private blood tests? I sometimes use thriva.co to keep an eye on vitamin and iron levels for issues I've already seen GP about. (There are other companies, i only have experience with Thriva. You take blood samples at home, post them and the results are reviewed and explained by a GP)

Wouldn't normally recommend using them to try and solve something that's undiagnosed, but given the situation, it might just give you a clue to take to someone new when you can?

@EmAndes

She was fasting. Plus hbac1 is on a full blood work up anyway.

OP isn’t underweight, not sure why people are saying she is when clearly from her photo she isn’t. She works out, weights, gym so BMI does not really give a clear idea. I always here personal trainers at the gym saying BMI is a load of rubbish because if someone is carrying muscle it can show as a high BMI when actually they are very fit. OP obviously isn’t fat.

Personally, and I have no proof whatsoever, I'd guess it may be a long term reaction to the egg donation. You have to suppress LH release by the pituitary, have injections of FSH or hMG, and one injection an injection of HCG. That's fairly major hormonal intervention.

You really don't look very overweight to me but I definitely find a poor diet affects period pain.

I hope you can follow up further. I would also questions thyroid ( did blood tests check this?) and pcos.

Maybe keep a symptom/food diary during this time if no referrals are available. Eat healthy (maybe you already do), drink lots of water. Multivitamin and exercise.

There are, for some reason, no ling term studies into the consequences of egg donation. It's been flagged up since it started becoming more common in the 1990s but still no studies despite individual cases of quite serious problems. Egg donors are told there's no evidence of serious long term problems and that's only true because there are no long term studies...

I just want to say that you hardly look obese!!! I can't imagine that the perhaps little amount of extra weight you are carrying is a huge factor. If you can't lose some weight fine, but I'd push. You do not look unhealthy to me. BMI is a measurement that is not always accurate.

You're being dismissed because of your bmi, by your GP and posters here it seems. I would definitely ask for further tests. Do the sweats coincide for your time of the month or are you always the same way?