Doctors

[LC_Dave]

In Australia there is a real lack of obesity specialists.

The so-called obesity specialists we have in the two main cities - Melbourne & Sydney - are really stomach staple specialists.

I have found visiting the doctor a complete waste of time.
Albeit I am young and have nothing wrong phycially - except obesity.

If I had diabetes, heart problems or high blood pressure that would be another story. I definately think people should see a doctor about that stuff.

But doctors are uppity, cold bastards at times. They don't understand your postion and offer no solutions. I've been reffered to weight watchers - but thats about it.

Has anyone else in the triple digits club experienced this?

LC_Dave
There is one Doctor I admire - Dr Atkins - but he's in NY!

[hjackson]

I've had doctors I hated.
Here's the thing: most doctors are just regular people with highly specialised training. Any intelligent person could understand the science behind medicine. The real talent in medicine is two fold; first, a talent for problem solving under pressure, and second, an ability to relate to their patients.

If a doctor can not make his patients feel as though he's focussed on helping them while he's with them, then there's no reassurance that he's actually going to help them. I had a doctor who, just week and a half after my appendectomy, spent less than a minute in with me when I came in complaining of horrible coughs that really hurt my incision site. He said I had gout when I was 19. What a lot of patoot! I spent more time avoiding him when I needed to see a doctor than anything else. I changed doctors.

Every person deserves a good doctor. I looked for a doctor who would treat me, if not as a peer, then at least as an intelligent human being who was competent to assist in my own treatments. My surgeon was that way, my current internist is that way, my former "ladY" doctor was that way. I expressed to my doctor how much it meant to me to be treated with respect and how much trouble I'd had finding a "lady" doctor, and though I've not yet seen any of the people he's reccommended, I hear they're good people.

Ask around. See if you can find a doctor that people really like, see if he (she) is accepting patients and is covered by your insurance (Though I don't know how it's handled in Australia). Change doctors. Don't be afraid to switch again if you think you need to. This is your health, and you need a doctor you won't dread visiting.

[DeeX2]

I rarely go to a doctor, unless I cant get my head off the pillow or something. I think the last time I went to a doctor was a year ago, but that was when I first started low carbing and Dr Atkins recommended a complete physical in his book. Before that it had been when my son was born.

Most doctors that I know, push the low fat diets too. Course we all know they dont work for us.

And something else I hate the word obese, it sounds to much like beast. Im not a beast, Im fat! :D Doesn't make me less human though, you know?

[OKwoer]

Dave,
I definitely feel your pain. I've never had any major ills which is amazing for someone my age and my size, but when I've been forced to see a doctor, I always get the same thing, "you need to lose weight." And it's always said like I've never thought of that before and that if I just go home and turn the right switch it will just magically happen.

My current doctor is actually a former college classmate. She is terrific. I told her about my new woe expecting to get a lecture on the food pyramid. Instead, she was encouraging and said that science has a lot of catching up to do with effective weight loss. She told me to go for it and let her know how it was going because she wanted something to try for herself.

It's definitely a journey to find a doctor who not only treats your ills, but who tries to understand you as a unique person. Keep trying man...it's a pain but once you find the right doctor, you'll be happy you kept looking.
God bless,

[DWRolfe]

I once chose a doctor based on a thin friend's recommendation...
...and I should have trusted my instincts which told me not to let a thin friend suggest a doctor. And sure enough, and soon as I saw this doctor, I knew he was predjudice against fat folks. He was so rude to me I can't begin to put it into words.

Then another friend (also a big guy) recommended a doctor who also has weight issues of his own. He is the best! He understands my issues and is supportive of my efforts. It makes all the difference in the world to trust and feel safe with your doctor. He knows I am on Atkins and is willing to support any weight loss efforts I attempt.

Don't be afraid to ask about a doctor's philosophy. There are plenty of doctors out there. Find the right one for YOU!

Donald :wave: :wave:

[upncomer]

I have always hated the doctors - specifically for the reasons listed by all of you above. Five years ago I had spinal surgery (weighed in at 185 lbs), and two months later I had to have emergency spinal surgery because of an infection that set in on my spine. The stupid (and VERY thin) neurosurgeon thought that I got the infection because of my WEIGHT!!!!

Since the surgery and all of my meds I have to take now BECAUSE of the infection, I gained over 100 lbs. Needless to say, I did not have a very high opinion of doctors at that time.

Now, I have a female doctor who has a small weight problem, so she can really relate to the problems of losing. The last time I saw her I had already lost about 15 lbs - she wanted to know what I was doing so SHE could do it!!! :D

I need to see her at the end of April - I am looking forward to her expression when she sees how much I've lost! :thup:

[ldypgmr]

A week ago I had my second set of lab work drawn. When I went to get it drawn, there was a note on my chart from my Dear Dr. to check my weight. So I am proud of the weight I have lost and I gladly stepped on the scale. The lab tech called the weight to the nurse who immediately said something about I was loosing weight tooo fast and needed to get an appointment with the Dear Dr. Well, if you know me, this request was completely ignored for I don't think I am loosing "too fast".

BUT as we all know, nature can turn against you at any time <g>.
On Sunday I went swimming for the first time in 6 months. The rash I had was completely healed and I just knew it wasn't caused by swimming. WRONG...without 4 hours of getting out of the pool I was covered, completely covered in a rash that looked like I have the chicken pox! So you guessed it, I made and appointment to go to the Dear Dr.

As I am waiting in the lobby, I see another women come in, about my size, then another, larger than me, and then another and another and I am thinking -- "Is this fat woman morning?"

I start out with the Dear Dr.'s P.A. He is very cute so I didn't mind. He wants to put me back on prednisone...which makes me gain weight rapidly. I told him I wanted something else. He told me this was it, take it or leave it. As he closed me chart he saw two notes. DON'T GIVE PATIENT ANY MORE PREDNISONE. DR. MUST SEE PATIENT ON NEXT VISIT! So he said well he could write the script I must see the Dear Dr.

Thirty minutes later the Dear Dr. came a stormin' in the room. I was loosing weight toooo fast, didn't I know what that did to my body??? Didn't I care about staying healthy. I just held up my hand and asked..."have you seen the lab work I had taken last week?" Well she looked at my chart and said it's not here, and it's doesn't matter, you can't pull down your lipids that quickly. I simply said..."I will not talk to you about diet, until I know the results of last week lab work." So she said let go have someone get them.

Twenty minutes later she came back in the room with the results in hand looking very much in shock. "How did you do this???" "I've never had anyone lower their levels this dramatically so fast" This is when I told her I had started the Atkins diet. You can probably hear her saying: "That is the most unhealthiest way to loose weight.....blah blah blah" So I said, what in my lab work shows that it's unhealthy? Am I loosing weight?? Show me where this is bad. Well she couldn't. She then asked what I was eating and I told her of the bacon, sausage, steak, chicken etc. She asked me about calories and I told her I was averaging 1700 to 2000 calories a day. She didn't believe me. So I told her if she had an internet connection I could show her my journal on fitday.

We went to her office and I took her to fitday...'How is this working...this shouldn't work...' I explained the Atkin's philosophy and explained that I am "starting week 8". This is when she told me she was late to a meeting and that I, I was going with her. I said I need to get to work. But she told me no meeting, no medicine. Sooooo I went. Well guess what...It was fat woman morning. She put together a support group for about 20 woman and was encouraging them on Low Fat. She had me explain how much weight I had lost, she shared my lab work. The ladies instantly started questioning me about my diet...I explained that this is not a diet but a WOL. Then about the WOE.

'Oh, I couldn't live without sugar or bread' is what I heard from the group. The best comment was from one lady who said "But I thought the Dear Dr. said this was an unhealthy diet".

Bottom line, the Dear Dr. is now going to research Atkins. She admitted she was so against it, and had persuaded people not to try it based on other Dr.'s opinions. She is totally stumped and is now opening her mind. Who said you couldn't train your Dear Dr. ?

Dee
(an ex-nurse <g>)

[Lessara]

I like to think I'm training my doctor. He was very against me doing LC but after seeing my 40lb loss and the many results of the pluther of blood tests he did to me. He can't help but agree this diet works without hurting me. I do have to do blood tests every three months but to me its proof that LC works! :D

[Victoria]

Wow! Dee, what a story!!! You are a great testimony to what really works! I hope those FAT women "heard" you. I would love to have seen your doctor's face when she looked at your lab tests. Makes me want to get my lab work done, just to prove to my doctor that it IS HEALTHY. The year before I started losing weight, the doctor sent me to a dietician. I talked to her about the Low Carb kind of approach. She reiterated what I had heard, that it was bad for your liver and kidneys. So I didn't try it. Now...after much reading, I found it to work and be the only way to turn this weight thing around. The ironic thing is that when I was young (10 or 12 or so) my doctor said I should just cut out the bread and eat more salads. Isn't that what we are doing? It's funny how "knowledge" continues to change. You have to find what's true and what works for you. My approach with doctors is to avoid them at all costs unless I'm terribly sick. And then I usually treat myself with Echinacea or other herbal remedies. Most people I know get sicker from doctor's interventions. So many people take medicines that conflict with each other or CAUSE other problems. I know there are times I will need a doctor, but I try to stay healthy so I don't have to see them too often. ;) Victoria

PS. I do have a Nurse Practioner that is a gem. She is somewhat overweight, so I don't feel judged by her. She makes me feel comfortable and was open to my approach to weight loss.

[Slbray65]

Great Doctor's stories...

I have one. Once I went in for a sinus infection. I got the MA instead of the Doctor. We talked about my sinuses for a few minutes then as I got ready to go he asked "Have you thought about losing weight?"

Hmmmmmm......Have I thought about losing weight. Well, I weigh over 300 pounds...do you think that thought has ever crossed my mind? I'm a woman and I'm overweight. How about I think about it 700 times a day. How about...what the heck does that have to do with my sinuses? I was flabbergasted. I think my mouth fell open.

He handed me some booklets on weight loss. I stood there shocked. I finally said, "Yes, I have thought about weight loss. I have even been on a diet. But today, I came to see you for my sinuses, so unless my fat is causing my sinus problem, I don't think we need to discuss weight."

Then he stood there looking flabbergasted.

I know that fat is the root of many health woes...but not every medical problem I have had has to do with my weight. I get sick of Doctors who pawn off every problem on weight.....

Shelly

[ldypgmr]

Hi All, especially Victoria and Shelly...

I agree Victoria, I only go to the Dr. when I have no other option. I am getting more and more into the natural healing.

Shelly I love it...Unless my weight is causing my sinus problem... how kool.

Dee

[HelloKitty]

It's sad that a lot of doctors are still in the "One Diet fits everyone" mindset and that if something's working for you, it can't be so if it's not what they say. :mad:
:clap: WTG Dee!!!!!!! You showed your doc!!! :clap:
Sadly, my doc issue was before I gained weight. I was 145 lbs, lifted 3X a week and worked out all the time. The skinny little witch informed me that I was obese (I'm 5'6) and that I needed to lose 20-30 lbs. Needless to say, I haven't been back in years. I can't imagine what she'd say about me now. :rolleyes:

:wave:
Melissa

[Victoria]

Melissa,
Where was your doctor getting her info? I was totally thin when I was 145 at 5'6". She was probably looking on some impossible chart. I always hated those charts!!! Just had to say that!!! ;) Victoria

[HelloKitty]

But seriously, I have no idea. She wouldn't tell me. All she would do was say that I needed to lose and that the only way was low fat/ 1200 calorie per day (Which, I'm sorry, but I was bulimic for years prior to that and had finally gotten that under control and she knew it. Fat was really something I didn't need to hear at my size.) My friend was doing LC at the time and I was told the horrors of what she was doing to herself and that I was not to even try it or I'd get even more fat. :rolleyes:
As far as size, at 145 I could buy clothes from the boys department at the store. (hey, they had some cool stuff!!!) The only thing that was "big" my chest. :o
I completely agree with the craziness of those charts. It's ridiculas.
(Side note: she's a doctor who's afraid of hospitals and is the mis-diagnosis queen.....) Thank God she's retiring after 6 whole years!!!!!!!! I hope she chokes on one of her low fat miricle foods. :D
I hope one day to find a LC friendly doctor. :)

:wave:
Melissa

[Lisa N]

Here's another story about doctors who blame everything on yoru weight...

I've been overweight since I was a child. When I was 11 or 12 I started having problems with my feet hurting whenever I had to be on my feet for more than an hour or two at a time. Doctors all said "you need to loose weight, no wonder your feet hurt!" and I believed them. I wound up working for a doctor for a few years and one day he saw me come limping into the office and asked me what was wrong. I just told him..."Oh, my feet always hurt and I know I need to loose weight". He looked rather surprised, said "that's nonsense!" and pulled me into an exam room. He examined my feet carefully and then flexed one of them...I nearly came off the table it hurt so much! At that point he stated, "It's not your weight. Your achilles tendon is too short and when you wear flat shoes, it stretches it and makes it inflamed. THAT'S why your feet hurt, not your weight! You need to wear shoes with at least 1 inch of heel on them". Problem solved...just like that! My feet have rarely caused me problems since that time. And to think...I suffered with sore feet for 20 years before someone looked past my weight to discover the real problem. Just goes to show you...sometimes doctors need to look past your weight to find the real cause of the problem and most of them don't.

[wbahn]

I, too, have had my moments with the prejudices of the docs. I see doctors very seldom - a total of five time in the last eleven years.

I went to see a doc about a headache that wouldn't go away after a week. He immediately launched into my weight telling me about the heart disease risk and the blood pressure risk and the diabetes risk. And then he examined me - and my blood pressure was barely above normal and, when he got the lab results back, admitted that there was absolutely no sign of diabetes or blood indicators for it and that my cholesterol was not obly acceptable but was actually quite a bit better than his.

I had another doctor - a flight sergeon - whose assistance took my blood pressure with a normal cuff (my bicep is 17" in girth and most normal cuffs are for arms up to about 13" to 14") and it was sky high, high enough that it would fail me for the exam (prevent me from getting an airman's medical certificate). He was more than willing to prescibe BP medication then and there after lecturing me about how this was caused by me weight. In an effort to get me my medical cert, he had me lie still for about ten minutes and then the BP was taken again, it came back at nearly the same value. So he came in with the prescription and stopped and asked what cuff had been used. He then asked for the other cuff to be used instead and my readings were very normal.

So he tore up the prescription and then mumbles on about how that didn't mean anything about how my weight was ruining my health as he signed my medical.

[hjackson]

Actually, I'm more than a little concerned.

I've never seen the doctor I'm going to see on Tuesday (19 March); she's an orthopedist.

I went to my doctor and told him about my knee troubles; when it was still bothering me after 3 weeks, he set up this appointment with an orthopedist. Now it's been about 6 weeks, and it's still really bothering me, more than it ever has before. My doctor had given me some pain pills for it, but I'm having to be careful and ration them, which means I'm not always taking them, even if I'm in a LOT of pain.

I'm afraid this orthopedist is going to try dismiss my knee pain to weight. I've been overweight a lot longer than my knee has been bothering me like this (I've always had trouble with this knee, but this is different, more constant, and more painful). Not only that, I'd think that, as I'm losing this weight, if the cause was my weight, the pain would be lessening... and it's not, not really.

If she does, I may not have enough "kahones" to confront her directly, but I would go back to my regular doctor and talk to him about it. I just hope I'm worrying about nothing.

[tangible]

After "listening" to all the Dr. stories, I realize that it must hurt to be a victim whether it be of one's appearance or another's prejudice such as people's pre-conceptions of us because of race or religious affiliation. :cry:

Being a victim should make us stronger and more sensitive to how we behave towards others.

I'm glad for the support available here where kind hearts :rheart: reach out to each other. There is way too little to go around.

Thank you all. :angel:

[Lisa N]

Hjackson...

If you are very overweight and experiencing joint pain, most doctors will at least recommend that you loose weight, so be prepared. Having said that, any doctor who will not look past your weight and try to rule out a medical cause before coming to the conclusion "it's just your weight" is not a very good doctor in my opinion. People don't have joint pain "because they are fat", although the excess weight does put extra strain on your joints that can lead to a medical problem or worsen an already existing medical problem. The fact remains, that if your joints hurt, there IS a medical problem that needs addressing. Inform the doctor that you are working on the weight issue and insist on a thorough physical exam of the problem knee if they try to brush you off with the "loose a little weight" speach. Remember...if you will not advocate for yourself, who will?

[hjackson]

I have fantastic doctors!

When I went Tuesday, her assistant asked for my height (5'2") and did I happen to know what I weigh? I very excitedly and proudly told her I did, I'd weighed yesterday and was down 14 pounds to 222. Instead of being sheepish and ashamed of my weight, and the implied lack of control, I spoke boldly and proudly of my weight LOSS and thus, the control involved in that. I don't think my weight came up again.

No X-Rays, no CAT scans, no MRIs, she just fondled my knee and asked questions. The pronouncement was two-fold... Chondromalacia Patella and Synovial Plica. I've irritated the underside of my patella, and it's rubbing wrong on my bones. There's a fold normally present in my knee, and it keeps getting pinched and thickened with irritation. (You can look these up on WebMD, for more information.) She gave me some Physical Therapy excercises to do (Straight leg raises) that should teach me knee to work the way it's supposed to, and Ibuprophen to reduce the inflammation in my knee. If this works, then the pain will go away. If my knee is still bothering me in six weeks, desepite the anti-inflammatories and the PT, then she may have to do minor surgery to trim out the fold.

She was very pleasant. If you happen to be in the Shawnee area, and you're looking for good doctors, there are several at the Medical Center Clinic!!

[HelloKitty]

Congratulations on having found a great doctor, Heather! They are rare indeed.
You are doing fantastic on you losses!!!!! Keep up the good work!!!!! :Party:

:wave:
Melissa

[tangible]

Gret newz Heather!

Glad to hear that the knee problem is hopefully treatable. I've had some interesting knee pain & sprains & always avoid going to the Dr. because I don't want to hear surgery.

I know at least 5 people, (none of them overweight, by the "weigh") who had knee surgery last year.

I'm willing to try the physical Therapy route first.

Keep us POSTED. :wave:

[wbahn]

Congrats on both the weight loss and the, hopefully, treatable knee. Hope the therapy takes hold.

Keep the Faith!