An NHS rant

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I’ve always had problems with my left ankle and knee, it stems from a fall on a night out that I never got physio for when I was a lot younger get than I am now.

I’ve always been obese.

But since then whenever it plays up, I always try and see my gp and it’s always the same “just lose weight, we can’t do anything, physio can’t do anything”. It’s Lways been the same despite me saying it was impacting my weight loss.

Two weeks ago on a run, I pinged my knee and since then it’s only got worse. I can’t bend or straighten it, I’m in pain literally every day, I’ve not run for 2 weeks. It’s getting worse.

I put in my form that I’d lost 100lbs in the last year and they’ve given me an immediate appointment. Why am I suddenly more worthy of treatment?

there may be some real medicine behind their advice though even if they haven't explained it that well - obesity is a chronic inflammatory state and chronic inflammation can increase the risk of retinal problems. It can also affect intra-ocular pressures and may make surgery more challenging (particularly central obesity). Obesity doesn't make in to the 'core' group of risk factors for retinal detachment, but if you google the association there is lots of work that suggests that there actually is some science behind it.

But that doesn’t change the fact that obese people are being left with medical conditions, often worsening their quality of life and thus their ability to lose weight. In any event, losing weight is a long term change and health conditions should be treated as and when they arise, not 2+ years down the line

here here op.

I’ve just come to the conclusion the nhs just do emergency surgery and the patient had better be prepared to draw their own conclusions, some of these things I’ve gone through totally preventable. When they were diagnosing diabetes I should have gotten a diagnosis for lymphoedema instead. Athletes foot not that serious they said 5 years ago when they wrapped that up in diabetes, now paying the price.

Gutted all these injections have done is get me unknowingly fit enough for going through for theatre. Apparently the former 20 stone me would have died on the table and by heck at times do I strongly wish that had happened, hate this fight of not knowing what happened during the last dash to theatre.

At least they’ve stopped saying do I feel diabetic
Now it is what painkillers am I on, without anyone really listening or making suggestions. Being on medication long-term can’t be good.

For every excess pound of weight it exerts four times that on knees. So just ten pounds and it's 40 pounds on knees.

So that means an injury shouldn’t be treated?

It’s actually disgusting.

at the end of the day, my problems are still the same. Just they’re happening in a different body, so they’re taken seriously

I get it. I had a huge pre op where they were worrying about my BMI etc, I turned up and they said oh you don’t look like your BMI. I found out that was because the consultant had estimated it as 40! It’s not! He hadn’t even weighed me

8.5hrs under anaesthetic and I was up and moving an hour after and discharged the next day with no painkillers needed (and doing laundry!) back to work after just over 3 weeks

They said most people are off work for 8 weeks minimum

I try extremely hard not to judge anyone; and as an overweight person myself I know the stigma that can run through medics… I’ve felt it from colleagues. So yes, that’s definitely a thing.

however, there is some fact that underlies the concerns about general illness and a whole bundle of conditions that link into the issue of fat being a state of chronic inflammation. So it really can impact with almost anything. And is almost as bad as smoking (which also impacts on almost all tissue). That’s not a reason to ration treatment, but sometimes the doing of something is worse than not doing it. That’s a hard concept to grasp sometimes.

anyway. Congrats on the fab weight loss OP

It’s ridiculous OP the amount of ‘it’s weight related’ gas lighting that goes on in NHS is disturbing and disgusting.

I’ve always nipped weight gain in the bud. I’m short and don’t carry it well. After fertility treatment, miscarriages and pregnancies I was still able to rein it in, but was a dress size higher than previously.

I have long covid. Amongst the whole range of shit that was suddenly happening to me and that I didn’t have a clue about was sudden and excessive weight gain. It was Kafka-esque. Fatigue was put down to being overweight or having young children. Being unable to exercise due to heart going nuts when I even got out of bed was down to being overweight. It was like having an accident where you lose your sight and being told that the reason you had the accident was because you were driving blind. I was concerned about the sudden weight gain and impact on all these other sudden health issues and asked for help - none available. I asked them to check my records, showed them a recent photo.

A couple of weeks after my next covid infection, I’d had excruciating stomach pains getting worse over the week. I eventually went to casualty, got scanned, given morphine etc - appendix, inflammation and bloods suggested an infection. I got a bed about 6am and was woken about 8am, with them wanting to discuss surgery. One of the nurses bluntly told me to stop eating so many chips. Those were her words.

I took my husband to another appointment and specifically asked the consultant in the appointment not to mention what I weigh in front of my husband. He agreed and then a few minutes later stated my weight. I felt really vulnerable when he did that - I’d taken my husband as I wasn’t well enough to drive, brain fog was extra bad that day and I wanted to remember, I’d had to ask husband to help me wash beforehand which was hard for both of us and this bastard consultant couldn’t even give me this one tiny thing. He even got the weight wrong too!

I’m partially through my fourth year of this and there’s so little help on any of the health issues that have arisen and I normally come away from appointments feeling worse that I’ve wasted my time, energy, money, health, opportunity to do something - however small - with my family in the days following appointment. I feel like I’m often just not believed when I say how little I eat now, or how little I am capable of doing now - or if I am believed being essentially told there’s no help for whatever health issue I’ve gone for. The unsolicited comments on weight though and suggestions I do things like ride a bike or join a gym when I’ve been begging for help and am mainly housebound, often bedbound are something else.

Anyway, a long way of saying, I agree that people who are overweight are often treated like shit in healthcare. I can understand things like delaying surgery, but to not give you access to any help when it’s available is so wrong. Well done with your weight loss. I hope you finally get the help you deserve.

For the last couple of years I've had some awful knee pain that would sometimes stop me in my tracks when walking. I wouldn't see a GP because I know that they would mention my weight. Since October last year I've lost 4.5 stone and haven't had so much as a twinge for a couple of months. So clearly in my case at least, weight was a major factor.

Congratulations?

in another anecdote, I’ve been fighting for the last eight years to get help with chronic sinus issues. It was confirmed today that these are down to a thickening of the sinuses, not my weight as I was told so many times in the past!

OP, would you mind sharing how you got this diagnosis for your sinuses? I can’t seem to get any help on this isssue (well, try a nasal spray for a few days, hearing loss advice is “hold your nose and blow” - both really useful), but it’s only been three years for me!! Eight years 😔.

It’s a six of one half a dozen of another isn’t it, from your point of view at least.

The point is the only person who can solve the dilemma is you, which you have to a large extent done by losing so much weight. so congratulations, I hope they now come up with treatment options for you.

I think it is no good moaning that the NHS is monitoring and denying access to treatment when it knows that outcomes will be less favourable, because we all know that resources are limited. I would be angry if I was denied treatment and knew I was put on a waiting list behind people who were not prepared to tweak their lifestyle to facilitate a better outcome for their problem.

I pushed and pushed. Every time I had an infection I called the doctors, was usually prescribed antibiotics and sent on my way. One day I managed to get a great doctor who saw me face to face, saw how miserable I was and how often I’d been on antibiotics and referred me straight away. I made sure in that appointment to say how often I was on them, I was worried about antibiotic resistance and that I didn’t want to keep on like this

The point is every single health condition is put down to your weight.

my sinus issues aren’t down to my weight. Being denied physio for a sprained ankle that’s now worsened should have never happened.

I get pissed off when I’m put behind people in the queue who aren’t working, thus affecting my ability to work. Guess we’re all different though. I also get pissed off when I’m put behind judgmental people who think I’m worth less than they are because of my weight

Well done on losing all that weight, it's hard work.

I guess they want to rule out obesity as a cause of aggravator, which is sensible really because it is for a lot of illnesses and ailments.

Thank you

Have you got a link please?

Op what you’re not getting and are defensive about is that your weight severely affects any decisions being made about your health, there are strict guidelines that must be adhered too. Being obese severely impacts the recovery time from major surgeries. A lot of a surgeries will also not be performed if the patient is obese. There are reason why IVF on the NHS have an upper and lower BMI restrictions. Obese people aren’t being targeted, it’s because it lowers your chances of certain treatments working. Obese patients are more likely to suffer from complications so it’s unsafe to do so. I can give you more information if you want to inform yourself.

But it’s not just surgery is it? I’ve been denied antibiotics because of my weight!

Chronic sinus issues aren’t always caused by infections, hence why you probably haven’t been prescribed them. But you also brought up antibiotics resistance, so yes if you’re on them constantly, like you said you were, they will be less effective or not work at all. If you’re not obese now, why are you still ranting?

‘I get pissed off when I’m put behind people in the queue who aren’t working, thus affecting my ability to work.’

I think this is just wrong - should we prioritise according to salary or prioritise according to recovery time and who can get back into the workplace quicker?! Should we say that those unable to work due to disability or because they are caring for a severely disabled child should keep being pushed to the back of the queue?

Well apparently we can do that to people who are overweight.