Everything is because I’m fat.

[Fbshe]

I went to the doctors today, I keep feeling really faint and going dizzy. My doctor suggested it is because of being overweight (she had taken my weight and height while there). This has really upset me because I don’t believe this is the cause, I’m 5 foot 1 and weigh 10 stone (fluctuate to slightly under sometimes but this is what the scale showed today). I genuinely think it’s my build and can’t be helped, I’m a 30HH bra and naturally have a big bum, when I was 14 I was 7 and a half stone and still had a massive bum while the rest of me was bones.

I cannot lose weight, I ran a marathon 2 weeks ago, I weight train twice a week, I run 3 times a week and I walk the dog for 1-2hours a day, longer on weekends. I have reasonable meals and no snacks, I had 2 slices of toast for breakfast with a small amount of butter, some frittata for lunch with a couple of cherry tomatoes and a 320calorie ready meal for my tea. I’ve had 3 glasses of sugar free squash and will have another before bed.

I asked the doctor for help with weight loss if she thought this was the cause but she suggested smaller meals and increasing activity levels. I don’t know what to do.

I feel like complaining to the surgery because I’m no closer to knowing why I always feel so lightheaded and I’ve been made to feel really self conscious with no real support. Am I being sensitive or is this reasonable?

I doubt it because I recently went on the pill and started it correctly and haven’t missed any. I suppose there’s no harm doing a test to check.

Doctors like that are so infuriating, they're basically saying 'come back when you're a perfect patient'

Even if you had a much higher BMI than you do, health problems should be investigated by doctors because that's what they are there for. This kind of thing really puts fat people off seeing the doctor - they're told to lose weight (not news to many fat people) but the doctors are too lazy to actually investigate whether there's another problem - they just see the fat, not the underactive thyroid or whatever.

I had that. I listed everything I did from riding my horse to pole fitness to lifting weights to spin classes
"Could you do some gentle walking?" Was what I got

This doesn't make sense. If you're 5ft 6, you're not overweight at 10 stone.

I can't see where @stravaig said she's 10 st

OP I just you recently started the pill, have these symptoms started since then? That can also cause these symptoms but they may improve over time

You say yourself, could POSSIBLY hinder weight loss efforts. I don't think this has been proven conclusively.

Ironically, all this points to the fact that it's probably in the patient's interest to not be overweight if they want to be taken seriously by their GP.

Of course whether it should be that way is a different matter.

Ah sorry. She said BMI, not weight, but in any case OP's BMI must be around 26 so just over the healthy range and I'm surprised someone at that BMI would need to lose 2 stone to get back into the healthy range.

Non-overweight people get fobbed off as well. They can always find something you're not perfect at or just do the usual 'go home and come back if it's not gone in a few weeks/months'. Then when you come back give you the cheapest medication for something that it might be to see if there is improvement, rather than spend any money and time on test or referring to a specialist.

No it's not a different matter.

I'm more overweight than OP and my last 3 visits to GP have been because of 1. infected insect bites, 2. side effects from gall bladder removal, 3. mental health issues due to a severe phobia.

Would it be OK for my GP to fob me off because my BMI is pushing 30?

My daughter is a similar height and weight and has similar dizzy spells. She has folate anaemia and needed to up green leafy veg intake and added in a wellwoman supplement.

I would be insisting on some blood tests.

@Gnomegnomegnome
GetOurraMeWay
He looks like a skeleton!! What is wrong with you all!?

THIS

Must be well under 1000 cals, which is enough to keep a small person alive but not enough if they do any kind of excretion.

Your metabolism which actually slow down.

My daughter has PoTs - one early way to tell is buy one of those finger pulse oximeters from Amazon for about £20. In the morning before you get out of bed take your heart rate - then stand up for 5mins unaided and take your heart rate again. If your heart rate has gone up more than 30 beats a min in this time tell the doctor and ask to be investigated for pots.

Electrolytes could be low?
Anemia?
Too much exercise - high levels of cortisol causes midsection fat?
Just throwing out ideas...

Low blood pressure (hypotension) is a potential cause of dizziness and lightheadedness and merits further investigation. Some people tend to have low BP naturally, without any sinister cause; treating it may be as simple as introducing a little more salt into the diet. (Don't try that unless a doctor tells you to!). But yes, definitely seek a second opinion and it's certainly worth mentioning that your blood pressure has previously been found to be on the low side.

@Fbshe i would suggest for you to have your eyes tested.
you could potentially having something called benign intracranial hypertension which is common is females with high BMI.
This can be potentially detected by your optometrist and would require hospital attention.
not trying to scare you but better safe than sorry!

could be vasovagel syncope which can be triggered by IBS

This was for PP mentioning IBS not OP

Did your doctor not order any blood work? I can't see how she could dismiss your concerns without running a full panel

let us know if you ever get to bottom of it.

If you've trained for a marathon and that's all you eat on a daily basis then I take my hat off to you because I'd be faint and dizzy if that's all I ate, without doing that much exercise. I suspect that's barely 1000 calories a day which is below your BMR (base metabolic rate - the amount of calories your body would burn if you stayed in bed all day). I honestly think you need to eat more and drink more water.

@Coronationstation I agree tbh my immediate thoughts was NOT eating enough and stressing out the body. She's in her early 30s, very likely not perimenopausal and has to fuel up for all the exercise she does. She's a young woman and needs to eat more ( and hydrate more)
I highly recommend slowing down and doing strength training and pilates in lieu of a that cardio!

I suddenly developed dizzy spells, GP prescribed Stugeron, standard sea sickness tablets. They did not help. I could not turn over in bed let alone get out of it, everything was spinning. Heartbeat under 30, great for a Kenyan athlete, less desirable for me. DH rang 111 who sent an ambulance which took me to hospital and I was fitted with a pacemaker the next day.

OP, don’t let your dizziness be dismissed.

I called today and said to the practice manager I wasn’t happy and didn’t feel listened to. I had a telephone appointment with a different doctor and have to go for a blood test first thing tomorrow.