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?

This is absolutely infuriating and utterly sickening. OP has a history of anorexia. One of the most (if not the most) deadly mental health illnesses. And people like you are telling her to restrict her eating which is shameful and dangerous.

@Frequency I’m even more annoyed for you now, knowing your history. I’ve only skim read your posts and I think you said your GP doesn’t know about your ED history. I would tell them. In fairness they can only act on the information they have and though I still strongly believe you should be treated regardless of your size, the ED history should at least change their treatment of you. And if they won’t help you by offering you suitable pain relief or a referral, I’d be complaining too. Like you say, you need to live and use your legs so getting physio or pain relief might help that in the meantime and then you can become more active, regardless of your weight. If you can afford it, I’d recommend a private physio appointmet..mine cost me £75 and it was worth every penny.

I too, gained loads of weight as a result if recovery from an ED. It’s a battle that some people have no clue about and for that they really should be thankful.

@BeretRaspberry I agree some comments on this thread are a disgrace. I think there are a lot of women on MN in denial about their own eating disorders and they are attracted to threads like this like a moth to a flame.

I don't know much about weight loss or EDs or weight loss drugs. But it seems to me you should see another GP or go private if you possibly can. Yours seems a complex case and seeking medical advice on here is a bad idea.

Best of luck.

I can see both sides here. Firstly NHS guidelines recommend weight loss is priority if it could be causing ailments you are wanting to be treated for. The cost to the NHS is substantial for people who effectively won't help themselves. I know this isn't always the case. But they will always assume this.

But on the other side weight loss will always be hard or impossible with the pain your experiencing. I'd request another doctor, even consider changing surgeries. Deal with the issues that are chasing the worst pain first. This will help you in the long term. I too am a little overweight a d had similar responses. I was often told to lose weight and my other issues would rectify themselves. But I couldn't lose weight I'm in a wheelchair and have partial paralysis so none of that was easy. It took a decent doctor to realise dealing with my pain would be the best thing to start. I've since lost a little weight which actually made things worse. But my doctor asked for a food diary and realised I'm actually eating half the calories I'm meant to. I also have trouble swallowing so she has come to realise my weight is caused by a combination of my medication and my condition. I now have pain managed to a decent level the majority of the time and she has made a not eon my file to insist that other doctors do not direct me down the weight loss avenue as it could be detrimental to my condition. I swim regularly which is one of the only exercises I can do. I think you really need to be assessed properly by a doctor who isn't set on the weight. Someone else mentioned gallstones and that could be a cause. But continuing the fatty foods could also be making it a thousand times worse until your gall bladder erupts which is excruciating. I've had it and it's the worst pain ever. Worse than giving birth. It could also be psychological. Maybe try making a list of what you eat now and instead of looking at a crash diet or anything drastic look at swapping for slightly healthier options. For example My husband's diabetic and loves sausage rolls and pastry. We have since found a healthier version using wraps instead of the pastry and they don't spike his blood sugar as well as helping him lose weight. He struggles with pasta so we now use keto style recipes. We don't go all out keto but some of the recipes are better for his diabetes and also help us both with weight. We swapped sandwiches for wheat wraps we eat plain popcorn with spices on instead of crisps that kind of thing. It doesn't feel like a diet as such. Starbucks type egg bites are a great snack. We also eat a lot of zero carb foods. I will quite happily eat a whole bowl of peas and sweetcorn just for the sweetness.

I can see both sides here. Firstly NHS guidelines recommend weight loss is priority if it could be causing ailments you are wanting to be treated for. The cost to the NHS is substantial for people who effectively won't help themselves. I know this isn't always the case. But they will always assume this.

OP has a history of anorexia. As far as I’m aware, weight loss should never be prescribed to people with a history of this.

So did you try antacids as the doctor suggested previously or just say no it's the diet?
The pain meds they would give you are ones that affect the stomach lining cannot be taken long term if you didn't have stomach issues but as you already do it's not suitable ...the other option is surgery not good outcomes if you're overweight.
Have you tried acupuncture that can help the pain?
A diet plan like slimming world maybe better than more medication but you do have to really want to lose the weight.

It’s chicken and egg. I’m sure the knee pain has added to the weight gain. OP needs help with that. The shaming towards people who struggle with eating - something we all have to do to survive - is appalling.

There's been some progress. I work in a hospital and make a joke when working on one of the wards that deals with joint replacement about coming to see them soon which started us talking about my knee and a very nice nurse immediately went to get another very nice but very important looking lady to come and see me.

I'm assuming she was a consultant as she has her own office and the doctors generally have shared offices.

She's surprised and disappointed that no examination was done on my knee. She thinks the GP has diagnosed me with osteoarthritis just because of my weight when it could be several things, it could also be osteoarthritis but without an X-ray it is impossible to say for certain.

She looked at my knee and noticed a lump on the back of my knee, which I'd noticed but assumed was just a big pimple. She thinks it is a Baker's Cyst, probably caused by the sudden increase in activity I had when I started my new job and went from a desk to wandering around a massive hospital for 8 hours a day lugging PCs and monitors up and down stairs.

It's smaller now than when I first noticed it which means it has burst and is leaking fluid into my calf which causes agonising pain (the stabbing and shooting pains I've been getting) but can only be treated with time and pain management. She's annoyed I wasn't given pain management and can see no reason based on what I told her about other medications I am on that I wouldn't be able to use Naproxen or something stronger.

She put me on the system for an X-ray, which I had, but she can't guarantee my GP will look at it or do anything with it since they didn't request it. She said to mention it at my next appointment and if I don't get anywhere to go back to her and she will look at it. That way she can confirm or rule out osteoarthritis. She couldn't put me on the system for an MRI as that's not a drop-in service like X-ray and she can't make me an appointment without me being referred to her. I can't self-refer to her.

If it is osteoarthritis she can refer me to physio and give me some exercises to do and I can ask the GP again for pain management while we work on building up some strength in my knee. If it's not then I need to push for an MRI to rule out ligament damage which is just as likely as osteoarthritis going on the pain I'm describing. It could also just be the Baker's Cyst causing the pain and it could clear on its own in a few weeks but without further tests, we won't know.

I didn't mention my diet or stomach to her because she's a joint specialist but she did say she is sick to the back teeth of her patients being prescribed Orlistat with no other support in place and she will be writing another strongly worded email to the GP's and prescribing nurses in our Trust.

You don't know who she was this person who examined you and booked an xray yet you work there? You had an xray the same day whilst at work?

I'm glad you're pleased with this development but going forward always ask for at least a name of someone who kindly if rather misguidedly intervenes like this.

I bet you're gp will send an equally strongly worded email in response.

She's not sending an email to my GP, and yes I know her name but I'm not going to post that on MN. There are group email addresses (for want for a better word) that go out Trust or department-wide.

They're used quite often when there are procedural updates instead of some poor sod having to sit and CC in every single GP in the Trust.

So pleased for you @Frequency. At least you can move forward somewhat. And I bet it’s a relief to have someone to actually listen to you and hear you instead of just fobbing you off.

I completely agree ! Luckily our GP is ace and has never done this to me .
I would like to add that I HAVE lost weight . From size 28 down to a 12 and am in NO LESS pain now than when I was morbidly obese . To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. It hasn't even bought my blood pressure down, so there's no guarantee it would help with the pain although you would feel better in yourself, as I do . Ask to see a different gp if you can't get listened to 💐

No of course you wouldn’t post her name on mn , my point was you said she was a nice lady who had a nice office but didn't seem to know her role.

Anyway as I says you seem pleased with this intervention so that's good.

Great update op, if you work for an nhs trust they may have occupational health physio. This is usually so much quicker than other routes. If you email occ health they will be able to let you know their provision.

Have you any idea how many people work in a typical hospital? It would be impossible for me to know all of their job titles and names.

@Applestrudel71 I'm contracting at the moment but the agency I am with also have an occ health department so if it comes back that it is OA then I'll get in touch with them.

Otherwise, I can self-refer to an NHS physio or the NHS has videos of simple strength-building exercises I can follow. She advised me not to start any yet because if it is ligament damage or something else I could cause myself more damage.

I haven't read through all of the responses, but feel in general, while many medical problems are made worse by age/weight/smoking/drinking/etc for sure....my experiences of going back and forth to the GP a lot and not getting anywhere, actually made me change GP practices eventually.

For example, I went back and forth to the GP for 5 YEARS from 2014 to early 2019 with persistent headaches/sinus pain almost daily. I was taking loads of painkillers by this point and yes I know, about re-bound headaches from them, so I'd take different kinds/brands. I had to beg, literally cry at the GP, for a hospital referral. They scanned my sinuses and stuck a camera up my nose and I ended up with a high dose of antibiotics and amitriptyline.

Later that year, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. It was only because I saw a Chinese locum doctor who thought to take my BP, that I got the vital BP meds. Came off the Ami to see if the BP meds would stop the headaches, which they did 60 percent of the time.

I'm pretty convinced that clearly previous GP's hadn't taken my BP because I'm not overweight and only early 40s. I think if I'd been obese, I would have been treated differently and quicker. I'm still on my BP meds now and HRT, another thing I had to push the GP to get.....You're not having hot flushes, you can't possibly be menopausal! Strangely I was skipping periods for 3 or 4 months, but no investigations unless I wanted to get pregnant, one GP said.

Seriously, English doctors' in my old practice are complete rubbish !!!

OP, I hope you are able to get the treatment you deserve for your knee/stomach.

Some of the comments on here regarding weight loss, come across as probably accurate, but very harsh.

Has it improved now OP? Are you able to move around? are you able to now clean?

😂

It turned out to be a Baker's Cyst. All fully healed now. I have no signs of arthritis and have lost over 5 stone. My ED behaviours are slightly worrying but I'm trying to keep that under control.

If you want to AS all of my posts you might do well to actually read the threads to check if I am posting about something traumatic like the sudden death of my best friend or my anorexia.

I've just mopped the kitchen floor since you're interested. The house smells all fresh and bleachy.

wow lost five stone in 3 months?!

All the sweeping and mopping!

Mounjaro, at a push

yep it is

Excessive exercise and severe calorie restriction, actually.

As I said I'm trying really hard to keep my ED under control and I've just managed to up my calories from 350 a day to 500, so I'd appreciate if my contributions to a cleaning thread didn't drag my weight and diet into the mix.