To be fed up with medical professional bias

[Tobeginatthebeginning1]

So I am obese. Yes It is not great but I am trying my best to work on it whilst dealing with unrelated medical conditions, Low mood, anxiety and stress. I am extremely active. My stress relievers are getting out in the country walking and wild swimming.
Dh is probably average weight but only stays like that by eating nothing all day and one meal in the eveningwhich isn't balanced . He does very little exercise and already is on statins and drugs for High Blood Pressure.
On my last Doctors visit I had an average blood sugar test done without it even being explained to me. The GP was surprised and almost disappointed I felt when it came back fine and than suggested I do a little exercise. So clearly because I am obese I could not possibly be walking every day training for Ultra events and swimming twice a week. My diet is also now better as finally I am getting treatment for MH issues so hoping to improve my fitness further.
DH had a call from same GP as his recent blood tests came back potentially a diabetes risk. But in his case it couldn't possibly be right as he isn't overweight so it must be the meds he takes. So reduce meds and repeat bloods etc.
No wonder obese people have worst outcomes. Reckon much is to do with everything being blamed on their weight and not being taken seriously

@Thedogshouses ·

"Say what you like about stigma. It's human nature, people judge you. Otherwise Adell would still be fat"

We are talking about medical professionals who are paid to be objective, regardless of the personal judgments /prejudices are eg.race, religion etc etc.

Yes but can you imagine how frustrating it is. Fat people are not the same as BAME. And generally not happy and confident in their skin. Have you ever met a fat person who wouldn't buy a magic wand to make them thin? Is anyone ever genuinely in love with being fat apart from people who get paid for fat porn?

Thanks @Libertybear80 for that link very interesting.
@Thedogshouses well done on your weight loss, but some of your posts are coming across to me as if it's @Tobeginatthebeginning1 's fault that she's been dismissed because of her weight/ size? As if she really wanted to be slim she would be? This might not be your intention but just how it comes across to me. To me it's denying the fact that weight bias does exist and is harmful.

@Tobeginatthebeginning1 just to clarify, I don't think it's your fault at all, and believe you when you say you're treated differently depending on your size. It sucks.

@Thedogshouses ·

"As I said, there is treatment. I had pcos and hashimoto and went from 103kg to 58kg. It's not rocket science, you eat less and you lose weight. That was 5 years ago and I bless every day and the 3 grand it cost"

Ha also have pcos as well as hashimoto, the difference to people without health issues like these is that the eat less for a normal person is v different to the eat less for someone with these issues, like I said I am now losing v slowly on 800 calories, I was on 1200 for years, which for most people would result in a loss, even with 10 hours of cardio a week I just maintained at best. So I can never go over 1200 cals a day, it is v limiting compared to what most people live on.

Most people on 800 calories a day would lose much more than I do.

All is not equal when it comes to dieting, feeling frustrated when it is harder for you than it is for most is probably v normal. Being treated poorly by medical professionals is not acceptable.

@Menora DH has already had his knees done. Bastard arthritis.
@Thedogshouses You do know that it doesn't take alot to gain 3 stone in 3 years. Since January I have lost maybe 10 pounds as I was still isecwrely stessed. . Finally ds who tried to kill himself 3 years ago us no longer self harming so I suspect things might start working again .

YANBU. I've been obese most of my adult life. The pandemic really kicked my arse into doing something about it for a variety of reasons.

I run at least 30 minutes 3 times a week, do strength training, do yoga and my diet is 1,200 calories a day or less all accurately weighed and counted and have plateaued at BMI 34 since last summer (was previously BMI 45 so massive improvement).

I've had my thyroid checked and it's normal.

Despite this, I'm still treated as though every single thing that's wrong with me is because I'm a fat lazy slob who eats too much by pretty much every HCP. Ear infection = lose weight, broken wrist = lose weight, anxiety = lose weight. You get the idea.

I agree I'm statistically more at risk because my BMI is high, but what I really hate is that HCPs don't bother to listen to me or read my notes that clearly outline what's changed. Treat the person not your perception of the person.

There is a similar thing for anyone with mental health issues - chest pain? difficulty in breathing? mystery symptoms? must be anxiety/psychosomatic!

It's when they say "you could try some gentle walking"
At the time they said that I had a horse so everything that comes with that including yard jobs plus riding, was doing spin classes, weights, aerial hoop, pole fitness..

Absolutely YANBU OP. That combined with being a woman makes it even worse (there's a current thread in Sex and Gender about women being half as likely to receive drugs for fatal bleeding). It's awful, many times issues get overlooked as being down to weight. Once I found a GP that listened to me and ran tests when I had a problem and didn't just tell me to lose weight, I stuck with her.

Yes I am absolutely saying that the OP has a choice, not with diets or slimming world or weight watchers but with surgery.

I hear you! Turns out I have lipoedema, I'm never getting thin on diet and exercise alone. I have excellent blood sugars, I can work my heart rate on 85% of max for an hour or 95%, I have a diet that would.make a personal trainer cry tears of joy, but the fatphobia kicks in and people cry "you're still unhealthy!" even though it's just not true. You have to develop Teflon skin about these things because some people really believe in their core that it is wicked to be overweight, no matter what the details.

Thank you for everyone's replies. Very interesting to get different views Sad to see it is a common theme.
.Not interested in having surgery. It may be right for some people but not me as I would worry about being able to fuel my body sufficiently during endurance events.
Plus I know I have lost weight before and I will do it again. Ds is finally turning a corner and I can concentrate more on CBT for me.
I suspect I just need to change GP'S because I was given the wrong treatment for 4 months by this particular GP so I suspect that she never even believed I had the condition I should have received stronger treatment for. Certainty almost every issue I have is either put down to medication side effects, anxiety or weight.