To think I still deserve medical attention despite being overweight

[Frequency]

Every time I have a medical issue and seek help for it I get told to lose weight, which is fair enough, I understand that, but that is all the support I get.

For example, I went to the GP recently about crippling pain in my left knee. I can't walk far, I can't sleep, and it often escalates into shooting pains up and down my leg or stabbing pains in the side of my knee which make it really hard to concentrate on anything but the pain.

I was prescribed 3 months of Orlistat. Nothing for the pain in my knee, just three months of weight loss drugs and told to come back after I had lost 5% of my body weight to discuss my knee.

I've been on it for a week now. I still cannot walk or sleep and last night another condition I have had previously flared up which I think is related to the Orlistat/weight loss/diet.

It's something I have had previously, only ever when trying to lose weight. It's like a really sharp, unbearable pain across the top of my stomach. The pain is so bad it causes vomiting and shortness of breath. I would honestly rather spend the rest of my life in labour than to experience that pain again and now it's back. I've only had it once up to now but I know the pattern, it will become more and more frequent until I'm having daily attacks that last hours. If I seek help during an attack, then I know a Dr will take one look at my weight, tell me it is because of all the fatty food I eat, and send me away in tears to buy myself some Gaviscon and lose weight.

It never happens when I eat fatty food it happens when I try to lose weight but they never believe me.

So now I am stuck, I can either be fat and never walk without pain again or I can continue losing weight and have hours of childbirth-like pain every day.

AIBU to think it shouldn't be like this?

'And yet still get injured and treated!the point is that dangerous behaviour (being overweight/rock climbing) should not negate being offered treatment'

The benefits to being fit and active doing outdoor activities far outweigh the risks associated with any injuries whereas there aren't any benefits to overeating.

Just take painkillers op whilst the weight loss meds work

Ask to see a different GP or go to the walk in centre.

It’s ok them telling you to lose weight but they still need to treat the issue. Yes it could be from excess weight but there could also be many other causes, DVT being one of them. They shouldn’t just ignore this.

For every stone you're over weight there is 7x the pressure through your knee. Most likely you're chronically inflamed if you are obese. Chronic inflammation causes and excerbates muscular and joint aches and pains. Weight loss and making lifetsyle changes to reduce inflammation will absolutely help. Weight loss can trigger gall stones which is exceptionally painful. Ask for a scan. Pancreatitis also can cause severe abdominal pain. I thoroughly recommend starting to read or listen to books and podcasts about health and weightloss as the research now shows that calorie restriction can lead to yoyo dieting due to the effects on metabolism. The books which I found very interesting were The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, Fast Feast Repeat by Gin stephens, Why we get sick by Benjamin Bikman and Ultra Processed people by Chris Van Tulken. Dr Chatterjees podcast is fantastic as is Intermittent fasting stories. Intermittant fasting is very good at reducing inflammation, promoting cell regeneration and reversing many health conditions. Combining this with avoiding Ultra Processed food will be life changing for you I promise. But you have to commit to it for a good year and for your life. Good luck

Pain certainly sounds like gallbladder / gallstones based on where you’ve said the pain hits.

I won’t reiterate some of the comments above re weight etc but would suggest, if you have someone who could, that at your next GP appointment you take someone along with you to help advocate for you.

I had to do this for my Mum a few years back when she was having frequent, recurring and back to back chest infections that never seemed to properly clear. GP was just fobbing her off with an inhaler and short term prescriptions of antibiotics.

After my intervention, where I explained (quite graphically) just how much of a detrimental impact this was having on my Mum, she got referred to a specialist clinic who prescribed a constant low dose of antibiotics and she hasn’t had a chest infection since.

Good luck!

I think you need to go back and really advocate for yourself.

Say « I am very aware I need to lose weight - I am taking medication for that and following a plan. I don’t think that needs further discussion. I need you to help me with my knee pain whilst I am losing weight. What’s happening now is not acceptable and is affective me every day. »

Make a fuss. Insist on a second opinion. Take a friend who can back up what you’re saying. Take control!

Of course you deserve medical attention even if you are overweight. Painkillers, investigations for arthritis, gallstones etc, even if they are weight-related. And you should get them with compassion. Same as if you had consequences of smoking, drinking, and every other behaviour-related ill that we may cause ourselves.

But responsibility for ill-health and consequences caused by weight (and the others) still lies with you. We live in an obesogenic society - gaining weight is easy, and because of evolution, losing it is hard. My experience is that people think everything bad they have done to themselves (or, more sadly, had done to them) can be fixed with a medication or therapy that is externally applied. It can't - the work is always internal, and and the only person with responsibility or power for our own health is one's own self. Please, please lose weight - whatever it takes, it has huge widespread systemic effects.

(This does not mean you shouldn't get pain relief whilst you are doing it!).

Any knee injury will be exacerbated if you are significantly overweight. Any treatment of it will be affected by the weight. Losing weight is likely to improve it simply by taking the pressure off the knee and any further treatment then has a much better chance of making a real impact. That is why GPs are so slow to refer on- at least that's what mine told me.

They will keep pointing out weight issues repeatedly. I have asked for help with my weight and had absolutely none except to walk every day and change what I eat. In the end it was getting me down so much I have got my head around diet and exercise - but the issue is mental not physical. I know what I should do, I just could not motivate myself to do it.

I agree that small changes can have impact but you have to be able to motivate yourself.

OP should definitely be referred for tests regarding the stomach pain.

Losing weight may help relieve your symptoms but it's obvious you have something else going on with your knee that needs investigation. At the very least you should have a physio referral and an MRI done, it does sound like an injury but worth ruling other things out. I would absolutely change GP, change surgery if you need to, you're receiving substandard care from a GP who clearly has a personal issue with people being overweight. I'm not sure the pain you're describing is due to losing weight, the only way losing weight would cause that is if you're changing your diet significantly and it's aggravating your gall bladder. Pain like that absolutely requires further investigation, it doesn't sound like heartburn or reflux which would be solved by gaviscon. I'm sorry you seem to have such a rubbish GP. Being overweight can cause tons of issues but the treatment you're getting is verging on malpractice. Change GP.

Go back to the GP and tell them you need an ultrasound scan for gallstones. Explain how the pain is preventing you from following a diet plan so they need to help you get this treated so you can diet better. And ask them ro prescribe you some painkillers that won't trigger the gall bladder pain for your knee.

I know the type of pain you mean as I’ve suffered with both gallstones and pancreatitis (chronic, still have it). I’d say it’s almost certainly the change of food, so the excess of veg /
salad. You would be better eating a calorie controlled diet as you wouldn’t get the pain as you could eat your same food, but less of.

Dont take dietary medication. Just change your mindset and your diet. You don’t need to deprive yourself of nice food, and just live off lettuce and carrots. That’s a myth. As long as you eat everything in moderation, you will lose weight. I had a fall when I was a teen and cracked my kneecap. I didn’t need an op for it, but noticed through the years that when I was even slightly overweight I had a nagging ache in that knee when I walked, but when I slimmed down, I never had any pain, so it is true that carrying excess weight does exacerbate bone or muscle pain.

You are either spectacularly missing the point or being disingenuous. No one has advocated for being overweight.

The point is that people should be treated for injury and ill health, regardless of whether their actions have contributed. People love to say that obese people have brought it on themselves. Well guess what, so do other people.

I have any number of problems caused by repeated injuries snowboarding, mountain biking and climbing. Does that mean my problems should be ignored? Should I (when younger) have been told to go away and be less active to see if that helps? No of course not. Well, why should it be different for obesity.

Similar to you OP - was fobbed off about knee pain for a couple of years until I insisted on a scan. I had a massive meniscal tear which had happened while exercising to try and get fitter and lose weight. Had pain like you are describing. Was fobbed off with antacids despite having classic symptoms of gall stones. Had to insist on a scan. Am now waiting for surgery. All I can say is to ask for help losing weight so they know you are trying, but keep going back with the problems you are having and try to stick to the same doctor each time. I also found (and I hate myself for this but I was desperate) taking a male relative into the consult seemed to change how things went.

I had a vile gynaecologist who told me that my malignant melanoma (which is hereditary) was the result of my being overweight. She also told me that the difficulty she had getting the camera into my uterus was because I was overweight. I was screaming in pain. Apparently if I was thinner it wouldn’t have hurt. I made her stop, made an appointment with another gynaecologist and there were no issues. Some people are just cunts and shouldn’t be doctors.

No of course not. Well, why should it be different for obesity.

Because us fatties deserve it. Thats what it boils down to. People think overweight and obese people are stupid and lazy. Nothing will convince them otherwise therefore we deserve everything we get.

I'm so sorry that you're dealing with this and you absolutely deserve medical care beyond just being told to lose weight. There is a podcast called Maintenance Phase and the hosts discuss this exact issue very often (among many other topics around debunking wellness trends and weight stigma) and are just wonderful supportive voices. I hope you get the medical care you need!
Here's a link to one of their episodes:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/glorifying-obesity-and-other-myths-about-fat-people/id1535408667?i=1000592041617

@Frequency If I were you I'd copy this post by @Sam0207 into a notes app and show it to your GP and insist you're tested for these issues!

Something is badly off if you're sweating and vomiting etc after eating these foods and someone needs to help you find out what is wrong.

I'm so sorry you're experiencing prejudice and incorrect assumptions when you try and get medical help for your pain, it's very unfair.

Push and push and push with your GP to test for gall bladder / hernia / allergies or any other condition that could cause these symptoms when eating these foods. If the GP doesn't help, switch GPs and push again. And when you at last get an answer, complain loudly to all those who dismissed you previously.

Yes, this the the correct response for the doctor in my opinion. The dismissiveness of certain practitioners is scream worthy.

So sorry this is happening to you.

Weight shaming is a thing, I agree with previous posters the NHS has a long way to go.

We all know that excess weight, drinking, smoking, lack of exercise, being under hydrated and poor sleep have on our physical and mental health.

I would not be told to go away for six months and sleep better then we will address xyz medical issue. Of course you need parallel treatment.

Remind your GP that even thin people can have knee problems.

I totally understand. My mum smokes and she gets told everything is down to that. However joint pain has been well studied in people who are bigger and obese.

Might be nothing @Frequency but after my last post I googled 'pain, sweating, vomiting after eating salad trying to lose weight' and lots of links came up to something called 'dumping syndrome'. They mostly said that this syndrome occurs after surgery, but I found a link that said "But in rare cases, dumping syndrome can develop without a history of surgery or other obvious causes." https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dumping-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20371915

The same page also says "especially after a meal rich in table sugar (sucrose) or fruit sugar (fructose)." which made me wonder about that banana that made everything worse.

YABU for not taking responsibility for your weight.
YANBU to be upset with your Dr

The NHS is on it knees. People need be more accountable for their health, where they can.

I swim a lot. When I first started I swam every single day and I lost about 2 stones in the first month. I had to do over 50 lengths a day.

it’s wonderful on the joints.

Bloody hell. If you have imbalanced electrolytes then you really need to see a nutritionist or dietician. Ask to be referred.