Not telling GP

[Seriestwo]

I’m on mj through voy, and it’s working well. I was shamed when I spoke to my gp about going on injections so I’m reluctant to buy from suppliers who (do the responsible thing and) tell your practice you are buying from them.

anyone got other suppliers who will do it without telling GP? I want to compare prices

I’m for and well, just fat, so I don’t want to have the argument with my doctor. He just thinks I should run more - but I’ve been very fat for 30 years and nothing has worked until now!

Your GP needs to know what medications you are on in case they need to prescribe you something else, or if you end up in hospital needing medication for any reason. Medications have interactions that can cause serious issues.

If you don't want to talk to him about it, then don't. But be serious...didn't shame you for asking. He gave you the correct, sound medical advice.

A vast, vast number of medical conditions are caused by, made worse by or at the very least not helped by being obese. Doctors want people to take responsibility for their own health. If you tell a doctor that you're not sleeping, they'll give you all manner of lifestyle changes to make before giving you Zopiclone.

It's not nagging, it's doing his job. If you told him that you drink a bottle of gin every day, he'd 'nag' you to stop drinking. If you told him you hit yourself on the head with a hammer every day, he'd 'nag' you to stop doing that too. He's telling you the truth, you just don't want to hear it.

Silver believe you me the GP knows what else is prescribed.. when I get these letters I make a note and update your prescription list.
To the OP .. I am sorry that you had experience like that and felt shamed.. I try to operate a “weight neutral” practice . If you can then challenge your GP .. take someone with you.
Tp people who say they use providers who don’t inform their GP .. that’d highly unethical.. weight loss drugs can have severe side effects and you may come to harm.
PS I am an overweight GP who has tried wt loss drugs.. vomitted constantly so stopped.
Best wishes to those struggling.

Weprescribe never have told my GP. (Message me if you want a discount code for weprescribe) I was then able to use another provider to get a little stockpile before prices went up.
The other prescriber did send a letter to my GP so they do know.

there is lots of evidence of women being dismissed by medics, it’s quite well understood. I am one of them and I understand my obesity and my dismissal, but, thanks.

It is unethical, I know. It is short righted and unwise - but not all GPs are great with fat, middle aged women who just won’t help themselves. I understand why he’s frustrated - he’s about my age and one of those silver fox triathlete blokes. He’s otherwise fine, but I’m not entraining having the fat conversation I’m not stupid, but fat people do tend to be seen as fundamentally too thick to stop shovelling food into our faces by eg medical people who have limited understanding of weight issues. I have failed to manage my eight for my entire adult life, if I can shift another stone I can exercise without joint pain and then I’ll manage. I have made an active choice - trial this alone, if it works then I’ll tell him. If not he doesn’t need to know about yet another failure. It is up to me, and I accept that it is suboptimal.

and for a vast number of conditions it becomes rather academic whether or not a patient is overweight or not. They have the complaint and it needs dealing with. Yes being overweight may complicate matters but in the immediate term bugger all can be done to change it. Lots of GPs act as though telling you you’re overweight magically makes something better. Whilst in the long run loosing weight may well be hugely beneficial you can’t just instantly loose the weight so the complaint still needs investigating and treating. But sadly so many GPs act as though just telling you it’s because your fat means they no longer have to do anything more.

The evidence is shifting that weight is more than calories in/calories out.. genetics, hormones, stress make huge difference.
I am a bit cynical that weight loss drugs a whole answer .. I have tried them. There is huge uptake but what happens when you stop.
I have found that the best thing for me is Pilates.. changes my shape and I feel stronger .. I tell middle aged women ( like me!) to think about being strong.. not thin.

Can you try a different GP? My GP has been supportive of me being on WLI. I was 14st when I started so at 5ft 5 was obese.

Thank you

Yes, @LunaTheCat that is my aim. I need to move more but moving is hard when you are sore and knackered because of fatness. I can now get up the stairs without pulling on the bannister and am walking every day and swimming when I’m not crushed with self consciousness. So I feel better, but I couldn’t have done that with the weight I have shifter, it is much easier to move and motivate already. I need a lifestyle overhaul. I’m hopeful.

@nellietheellie75 i could but I’m reluctant because he has been my named GP since my kids were small and there is some family history that is useful for him to know - which contributes to my obesity, of course. He’s generally fine, I’ve taken his comments personally which he won’t have intended. I just can’t be bothered with the same curricular argument - I am doing this as a trial. If it works Great. If I need medication for anything he’ll guess as soon as he sees me, won’t he? So it’ll be a non issue if it works - I just can’t be bothered with another lecture/shame/blame chat. I’m not stupid, I do understand, but, despite that, I can’t change the size of my ass!

I’m with Voy and they certainly haven’t informed my GP as they don’t know who it is. In answer to your original question, I know that Bolt didn’t used to routinely inform GPs, and they are cheaper than Voy. If this has changed then I’m sorry, but it’s worth checking out.

Health Express do not inform your GP if this helps. I am aware they are not the cheapest supplier though if this dictates your decision.

If someone extremely overweight keeps going to the Dr with knee pain, what do you expect the Dr to do? If they simply send them away with strong painkillers each time, they're effectively enabling the problem.

I don't believe that Dr's are turning away people who require urgent treatment/medicine because they're overweight. But if someone isn't willing to make the effort to address such a core health issue, why should a Dr waste NHS resources on them unless it's absolutely necessary?

I have used chequp, numan and juniper. There is usually a section which asks whether you want to add your GP details. I always say no. It hasn't been a problem for me getting injections.

It’s mandatory to have your gp informed now op. Howver you don’t need to discuss it with them. If you do need regular appts with your gp for other issues, you do not need to discuss the drugs, you can discuss weight loss etc, but it’s your choice if you raise the drugs.

I totally believe you about your GP being dismissive re health conditions having had very similar experiences over the years!!

I am amazed though that Voy are still getting away with allowing patients to opt out of declaring. I started out with them in June last year and was very appreciative of that! However, this is now mandatory and they will fail a GPhC inspection when it happens!

Initially, I felt very strongly about my gp not knowing due to the attitudes you have experienced but I have to say that has now passed and every single one of my medical people know and I don’t care what they think! I’ve lost 120lbs and am fit and healthy and living proof of the power of Mounjaro so they can all fuck off with their uneducated and prejudiced bias!!

I am sorry to say that I think you will struggle to find a pharmacy that doesn’t inform your gp now but if I hear of one, I’ll let you know.

Many GPs are hostile and enjoy having a go at you anyway. I've not been overweight for most of my life but still doctors have had a good shame of me when I dare to go in and ask for medical care. So I think the WLI are a red herring. If it wasn't that it would be something else.

Our doctors shamed me for going in with a UTI I couldn't shift, then had a go at me for not calling them earlier when it turned into sepsis, then had a go at me for going in when the hospital said I absolutely must attend with any further UTIs. It doesn't matter what you do. You see it on here. NHS workers feel embattled, so some of them take it out on their patients.

I just, you know, don't go to the doctor unless I'm dying and accept that for whatever reason doctors disapprove of me. Given that there's nothing I can do about that, I may as well look after my own health without reference to their approval. I suggest you do the same. You're the one living in your body, after all. The GP can disapprove all he likes, but you don't have to know or care about it really.

Can you change GP? I can honestly believe your GP fat shamed you - ours did the same to my DH - offered no real advice but some derogatory comments when my DH said he didn't want to go on medication for a health issue.
We saw a different GP (in the same practice), who was informed , compassionate and used motivational interviewing and evidence based interventions to support DH.
Overweight/obesity is very much a multifaceted, systemic public health issue and telling someone to 'eat less and move more' is not useful.

Unless your gp practice is a lot better than mine all they will do is file the email your prescriber sends them.
I have seen the emails in my medical notes but my gp had no idea I was on it till I mentioned it in a consultation.
I would swap to a more informed gp if you can though. Yours sounds like he knows very little about weight loss or obesity.

My GP surgery got in touch with me when they got the letter because I am on HRT. Just to make sure I understood the risks with my progesterone. I agree with the pp though - if you don't have any contraindications you won't hear a peep.

I imagine they will be getting loads of these letters. Your GP will now be seeing people all the time who are on WLIs.

We get huge numbers of weight loss drug letters at the practice. We screen to make sure we know of no contraindications then file.
It is really important to know if you are on these meds so if you present with abdominal pain we know to assess you for pancreatitis or if you have other symptoms they could be related to nutritional deficiencies.
Are there other GPs within the practice that you could see if you don’t get on with your current one?

I’ve seen lots of comments on line about gp’s being unsupportive of these meds, a lot of it seems to be based in a mixture of ignorance and bringing their own personal issues in.

ive also been fat shamed by a doctor, an older male gp, i was 11 stone, 5 ft 7, so within a healthy bmi, went to the doctors as I didn’t feel well, exhausted, and just not right, wanted to see if he would run some blood tests. He told me “id feel much better if I got all that weight off” and refused to run the tests as I didn’t need them, simply I was fat . I was genuinely shocked into silence, sort of nodded meekly and left. Then was furious with myself for not saying something. As I wasn’t fat. Just in his view a woman with a 24/25 bmi was too fat for his liking.

my current gp is a lovely woman, who is well educated on the meds, has been prescribing them for over 20 years, and who recommended them. She told me They have staff training days where they have the staff all educated on the different trial results, ie cardio vascular, etc from the drugs, so everyone is up to speed. Not just for these drugs but for many. Other docs at the practice are not so enthusiastic. And anecdotally it seems the older they are the worse they are, or if they have personal weight issues.

not all gp;s are good people. Not all are good at their jobs. And as no one is in there overseeing what they do, the ones who are shite can be very shite indeed.

While I understand the convenience factor OP, I'd still want a new GP.

If he genuinely thinks eat more move less is sensible medical advice to someone who's experienced long term obesity, there's a competence issue here. I'd wonder where else he's letting his feelz get in the way of providing appropriate medical care.

But they do Kimura they absolutely do turn people away with a go loose weight and it will be better. Yes in a lot of cases loosing weight may well help. And it may well have prevented the injury in the first place. But once injured loosing weight isn’t necessarily going to fix it.
You ask what I want, I want them to at least examine the knee in question. Basic checks. I went with a client earlier this year to a GP appointment for ankle swelling and pain. I had told the receptionist I thought it was an infected insect bite. But the GP clearly hadn’t read beyond swollen ankle and started giving it har on loosing weight to my client. If I hadn’t been in the room and repeatedly asked him to look at her ankle as well as pointing out that I had never heard that being overweight increased your risk of being bitten by horseflies. She has a severe infection which was spreading and a serious sepsis risk but he would have quite happily sent her packing with a flea in her ear about loosing weight.
I could give you lots of examples I have personally seen as a carer of basic care being denied because someone is overweight. It happens constantly.