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?

Good! Well done OP.

That's great news OP. I'm useless at complaining in situations like that, so well done. I'm glad the other GP actually listened to you.

Just reading your comments about it being so difficult to manage your weight and how few calories you eat - my mind immediately went to Thyroid or PCOS (insulin resistance type).

Thyroid especially can slow the metabolism and cause heart/vascular issues as well as difficulty with loosing weight.

This won’t go down well but it’s the truth

Some drs are hard working, some …. aren’t
the latter is use loosing weight as a one size fits all dx and because they get paid well regardless of their performance there is no incentive to provide good care to their patients.
this only applies if they are making any effort to do testing etc
you don’t sound overweight at all

That's simply not fat, and certainly not fat enough to cause dizziness.

You've got a lower BMI than probably 2/3 of the population. There'd be an epidemic if dizziness if that was the simple cause.

Bizarre. Bless you, what a horrible thing for the doc to say as well. 🙄

F* your weight, it's a lazy, good-for-nothing doctor that disregards your symptoms because you're fat. I'm irate (maybe even irrational) because that attitude killed my brother when he was in his early 30s. He went to the doctor who told him his constant back pain and digestive issues were because he was fat, didn't eat right or exercise enough. Actually, he had colon cancer. Had the doctor taken his complaint seriously and run some tests, they would have caught it early and he would still be with us. What if you have a partial blockage in your carotid artery or something equally serious?

YOU know your body.

YOU know there's something wrong.
Don't let that fat-shaming sham of a physician kill you. Drop the guilt and shame you feel about being fat, quit making excuses for your body shape, and get the medical care every human being deserves.

I’ve not read he whole thread-sorry now-you need bloods-to include thyroid, ferritin, b12 & folate and vitamin D. HBA1c too. A week of home bp, diary of food and symptoms

insufficiency in any of those can cause all the symptoms you are describing IMO

and then a review-well that’s what I’d be doing 😄

hope you got listened to xx

This doctor is shit. Ask for a second opinion. It’s unlikely you’re an unhealthy weight to the extent of giving you health issues if you’re weight training and weigh 10 stone.

Don’t let your health suffer because of this doctor’s incompetence

Have you had you had a blood test? Could you possibly be anemic? I am and dizziness is and shortness of breath are some of my symptoms when i dont take iron.

They said my BP was fine, but my friend who's a nurse said I should be dead it's too low. At the time I was dizzy and felt faint a lot. I was told to stand up and move more slowly 🙄

I upped my fluid intake by a glass of water a day. My BP is still great but I don't suffer that dizziness anymore.

Ref your size, @Fbshe yousare stacked not fat. And by that I mean fit. Honestly if BMI was correct, how come so many fit men are obese?!

I'd ask at the gym for some personal training to help you address stored fat. But you're likely right, it's your natural shape. However if you want it to change, it can be changed over a period of time with the right training.

Good luck.

Are you? My BMI chart says mild overweight at 26.5 BMI. Or about 7 pounds.

Well done OP, sounds like you had a hopeless doctor and I hope you get a better one going forward.

Are you veggie by any chance? I found when I was marathon training, when I first went veggie, I wasn’t getting enough protein. I supplement my iron and protein intake now when I’m doing heaps of running.

You’re doing tons of high intensity exercise, you should be taking a close look at your nutrition and definitely not looking to lose weight! You sound like you have an amazing figure. Hopefully the blood test will throw some answers your way anyway.

all the best OP!

I've not read the whole tread, but stress can make you dizzy.
Also, if you body has muscle, then it can make you body weight higher.

I feel like any doctor who weighs you when you’re clearly not overweight is just clutching at straws. Puts me in mind of the total incompetent who left me with no dignity after my mum+baby 6wk postpartum check. When I told her I was worrying about my BF son’s slow weight gain/reflux, she said ‘I mean I’m not a mum myself but some of my friends who are mums have said they supplement with a bottle at night’. Twat.

Hi. I’m not saying it’s water related but this shook me. 2 pints of water throughout the day isn’t enough fluids. I’d feel drained and faint and all sorts of poorly

Jeez, you’re not even fat though! FFS, that is crappy doctoring. You sound in good shape.

Yeah that’s POTS or Orthostatic Intolerance. You can tell if you HR increases by more than 30bpm going from lying to standing or for Orthostatic Intolerance you BP will swing considerably one way or the other to compensate was the pooling blood when standing

Using BMI is ridiculously outdated and biased towards certain groups of women. Can’t believe the doctor is blaming BMI

Running won't help you lose weight. You need to aim for a heart rate of 80-120 to really burn fat. I also wonder whether you're eating enough food to encourage weight loss. Hope you get some answers x

Might be low blood pressure, more common than POTS. Can you buy a blood pressure machine and do a week’s readings?

I’d be asking for blood tests and considering B12 injections.

No not veggie, hopefully this different doctor will listen more.

To be fair to the GP, the OP hasn't said whether she's of European descent. If she's from a South or East Asian family then she might be significantly overweight at that BMI.

The use of a square law in BMI tends to make the definition of "overweight" overgenerous for short people and harsh for tall people in general anyway - it's an oversimplification which works best in the 5'5"-6 foot kind of range.

OTOH my money is on the simplest explanation that the GP was being a dismissive arse.

Good luck with the blood tests OP. I hope you either get some simple fixable explanations for your symptoms or they resolve themselves.

I also drink around 3 pints of dilute a day, the water was just what I had missed from my first post. I don’t think I drink too little at all, I actually wondered if I was drinking too much and that causing it.

I run because I enjoy it not for the weight loss, I try count calories for weight loss.

How is your blood pressure? If it keeps going down low, that could cause faintness. Sometimes it can be more serious than hypertension. Did you have a thyroid test? An underactive thyroid can slow you right down. These two together can be a real problem.

Worrying about weight can slow you right down too. It is not always what you eat either: it can be a matter of WHEN you ear. Eat your biggest meal in the middle of the day. That way you can work it off and your body will become used to taking in fuel and using it up. Do not eat a large meal in the evening. It will lay on your stomach at night and be stored in the body as fat, then you wake up sluggish in the morning and unable to work it off. It is always better to have a good breakfast, because you will work it off during the morning.

You put petrol in your car before a journey, and the petrol gets used as you go along. Same with your body. If you fill a car right up to the top, it has a good chance of not going at all. It also makes the car heavier, so that it doesn't do as many miles to the gallon.

It could be that you are too tubby for your height. There are some foods and drinks that may seem of low calorie or none, but the taste of them can make you eat or drink more without your realising it. Plain water is better to drink.
I always think that we need someone to make a McDonald flavoured lettuce. Just imagine that!