Doctors just blaming without checking
By emeraldisle
@emeraldisle (13139)
United States
December 9, 2006 9:50am CST
I was curious to see if anyone else here has had this happen. I've talked with some on line and in person who have so wanted to see how wide spread this is.
Now I will be the first to admit I'm over weight. I have been all my adult life. I am not as large as some but I'm not a skinny person. It really irritates me when you go to visit a doctor and they just assume that whatever is wrong is due to being over weight.
Last year I went to see my doctor and I asked him about the edema I was having in my feet and legs. I'd never had a problem with this until recently. My feet would get so bad I couldn't put my shoes on. He looked down at my feet and stated "It's due to your weight. There is nothing to be done." I was a little shocked by this because this was a new problem not something I've battled with along with my weight all my life.
A couple of weeks later, still dealing with the edema and not getting any better. In fact everything I tried for it was making it worse, drinking more water, drinking other things that are diuretics (like Crystal Lite). Then I found out that the bottled water I was drinking was purified with minerals, one of which is Magnesium Sulfate. I'm highly allergic to anything that has Sulfa in the name (Sulfa, sulfates, sulfides etc). I stopped drinking it and within a day I lost 10lbs. All water weight of course and my feet were starting to get back to normal. After another day they were fine and I haven't had a problem since.
This doctor though didn't even think to check that I might be having an allergic reaction to something. He just took a look at me and said weight. This is not the first time this has happened. I had one doctor actually say my manic/depression (bipolar) was due to it.
Has anyone here had similar happen to them?
1 person likes this
32 responses
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
9 Dec 06
Yes and if it is not the weight they blame it on it is smoking and basically I think that is just their excuses
I have Illnesses with my Lung and one minute they say caused by smoking and then of all a sudden I have a weak Lung which was never detected and then it must be in the Family so which is it
A lot of People smoke but don't get this Illness as young as I have
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
9 Dec 06
Nice to know I'm not the only one. I've had them blame smoking on things as well. Even when it's not that but acutally caused my allergies again. Got to love those things hehehe.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
9 Dec 06
Hehehe I might have said the same thing to him. It's more irritating when they got all preachy about things they do themselves.
Right now I have a good doctor. I went in to see them because I suffer from ashma and allergies. She never once mentioned my weight or the smoking. She treated what was wrong and didn't try to blame it on something else. It was refreshing.
1 person likes this
@brokentia (10389)
• United States
10 Dec 06
My son was born with sleep apnea. At first, the doctor told me that I was just over reacting because I was a new mom. New mom??? This was my seventh child!!!
Then at 6 months, he told me that he just wasn't mature yet.
Then at one year, he told me that he would have to take steriods to help him mature.
Again later, he blamed it on allergies.
Fine, different doctor. They said it was allergies and he went through different types of medications. Again, another doctor, and he said that he just had small nasal passages and gave a nasal spray to open up his airways.
Then, he was severely injured and the nurses saw first hand his sleep apnea. At this point he was almost 4 and the sleep apnea was very very scarey.
He had to have a oxygen monitor on him because he would drop down too low and we would have to rub his chest or wake him up to ge him to breathe.
Finally...after 4 long years of doctor after doctor...a doctor finally listened.
They found that his tonsils and adnoids had grown to the point that it was blocking his airway. It was also pressing on his inner ears that he could hear us. We had to start teaching him sign language. He was also still wearing 12 month old clothes because the lack of oxygen was not allowing him to grow...he weighed a whole 25 pounds at 4 yrs!
But they did surgery and found had they not, one day he would not have been able to breathe. He now can hear...and is wearing size 4 clothes at 5 1/2 years. He weighs 38 pounds and still growing like a weed! Thank goodness I found a doctor to listen and nurses to back me up!!!
1 person likes this
@brokentia (10389)
• United States
11 Dec 06
Yes, there are few out there. We just have to find them. :)
And I am very greatful for my sons doctor! He is doing wonderfully now!!!
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Dec 06
Oh I feel for you with that. I know how dangerous sleep apnea can be. We had to fight with my niece's doctor to get her tonsils and adnoids out as well, even though she'd had an ear or throat infection every month for a year.
Finding the right doctor can make all the difference in the world. It sounds as if he's doing great now but it's a shame he had to go through all that first.
There are good doctors out there. They just seem few and far between.
@marciascott (25529)
• United States
10 Dec 06
You are right, some doctors don't know what they are talking about. that's why you need to get second oppinion. always, sometimes even I third oppinion.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
11 Dec 06
Oh I agree and I tell people if you don't like what you hear check with another doctor. Sadly there are far too many quacks out there and not enough of the really good ones.
@gabrriella_a (453)
• Romania
10 Dec 06
i am nit overweight myself but my best frineds is. Even though her in my country doctors are a little differnet when it comes to overweight people the situation is not that bad YET!! It happened to my friend ones and she was shocked . I mean the doctor looked at her and treated her in sucha way that... she was disgustted!! It should be done smth about this stupid doctors!!
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Dec 06
I feel for your friend. I hope that is the only one she ever experiences at it.
@kerriannm81 (3)
• United States
10 Dec 06
yes i work in a doctors office. I am a medical assiatant. It bothers me when i hear the doctors blaming weight on every illness. don't get me wrong, weight does cause fatigue, stomache problems, acid reflux...and so on.. but it needs to be adressed,with lab tests etc.. before you can say weight.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Dec 06
Thank you for that response. It's nice to hear from a professional who has seen it happen. I agree wieght can cause a lot of problems but it's not the blame for everything that could be wrong. I hope you let your doctor know not to do it.
@dreamr802 (985)
• United States
11 Mar 07
I had something similar happen to me too. I was having severe migranes and it was all of a sudden and the Dr told me it was due to my weight and stress...so I tried losing weight and I did I lost 10 pounds but the migranes were still really bad to the point where I had to go to the hospital. It turned out that when I thought about it, the migranes started when I went into my sister's bedroom or when I was in an enclosed space with my sister. (most ppl would find it funny being 18 and allergic to their sister haha). But seriously our friends from England sent her a french perfume that had jasmine extract in it. After running tests, we found out that I'm allergic to jasmine. I can't go anywhere near it in an enclosed area and if I'm around flowers I have to be careful....but what was worse, I had to deal with the migranes for an extra week because the doctor just blamed it on my weight.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
11 Mar 07
Oh I know how that goes with jasmine. Many perfumes have that as a base. I'm allergic to it as well along with rose and gardenia. Two others that are often used in bases for perfumes and scents. Makes it miserable I know.
I'm glad you found the true cause and I hope you let that doctor know about it. Some just seem to like to blame everything on the easiest target and not bother to really check into things. It's sad that they do that.
@funnysis (2619)
• United States
10 Dec 06
I have had it happen many many times and I have learned you just have to educate yourself and when they throw that at you then you are ready to go back at them and call them out and make them deal with the problem.I am bipolar have been all my life it was first diagnoised as a blind temper comes to find out I have both.If you ask your doctor to tell you how they come up with that answer and never settle for what they say because you have the right to know everything.I had a recent experience my liver enzynes and glucose came back high on three different test results in less then 2 month period so I ask my doctor why was she not checking for diabeties as it runs in the family,she did a 2 hour fasting to find out I am glucose imparied so I figured in over 3 months she would have rechecked and hasn't so I am gonna ask about it.So it is a wide spread thing but people need to no that they do have a say about their heath.Happy holidays
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Dec 06
Sometimes you have to nag them about tests. You'd think they'd have it in your charts or something but I don't think they look.
It's also good that you knew what it could be. Doing research can make a difference. It's just sad sometimes we know more then the doctors.
@Antianara (608)
• Australia
10 Dec 06
doctors are always doing that, I think they do it because it's easier than doing a little searching to find what's actually wrong.
@funnysis (2619)
• United States
10 Dec 06
They do it because they can get away with it the more knowledge you have the better you can make your visit if the dr. makes you well first shot in do they make alot of money no so they throw you an answer you will except and move on if you ask well how do you figure that by only looking then you back them in a corner and force their hand.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Dec 06
Good answer. I try to write everything down before I go in so I don't forget anything. I look up what I can and try to figure things out myself so that way I know if he's BSing me or something.
@wvchell78 (564)
• United States
20 Dec 06
I am overweight and I have had a doctor tell me he could not properly treat my illness until I lose weight. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and the doctor told me that he would not prescribe me prednisone until I lost weight but that was the medication that I needed to put me into remission. He told me he wouldn't prescribe it because I was overweight and it causes weight gain.
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
10 Dec 06
You are not the only one, and I unfortunately have dealt with this issue in the past with being Diabetic, and now on Insulin to where one Doctor was like loose weight and you may not be Insulin Diabetic. They are always blaming weight on things. I am Insulin Diabetic due to other Health issues due to having Chronic wounds that take more time than normal to heal, and other Health related issues. I at one time had gained 20 pds. since being put on Insulin, but I have been able to take 10 of it back off. I could probably loose 25 pds. at most and be Happy, but it is a struggle due to I cannot walk much etc. without being in pain.
Doctors and Nurses could learn a lot a lot of the time about bedside manner, and usually when they are thinking they are only trying to help, they are hurting us more in the end.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Dec 06
Oh I hear you on the bedside manner, especially with nurses. My sister is a nurse so I know what all they go through but som of the, and she will agree, should never have become nurses.
I know how hard it is to try and lose weight when you are limited due to other health problems. It makes it very difficult especially when a doctor says "Well just go and excercise." I wish it were that easy.
Good luck hon
@msunderstood (46)
• Australia
10 Dec 06
emeraldisle what would they blame it on if you didnt have other ailments hmmmm? why cant drs just say they dont know. i have found drs in my area that have said they dont know and try and treat symptoms and send me to specialists that deal with ailments not just use excuses
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Dec 06
Well I think too many of them here are stuck on MD meaning Medical Diety. They like to pretend they know everything and if they don't I have seen some be very intimidating to patients. It's crazy.
I'm glad you have had good experiences. That is how it should be. They should admit they don't know and do the lets find out bit. Wish they would here.
@hannarose27 (514)
• United States
10 Dec 06
I agree that alot of doctors would rather put an easy answer on things like weight smoking, and stress. I feel that alot of them are overpaid Quacks. It took me a long time to find one I like now my whole family sees one doctor. After I leave his office he'll call after hes done some research on whatever weird problem we've had. I don't want to go into details about what it was. With my old doc. I started checking online before I went to the doctor so I would have some ideas. Then when I would go see him I could through out some possibilities that he would have to check. I don't take anymore crap. One time I went to see him he told me my cough was smokers cough and not to worry. It turned out to be a upper resperatory infection. That was when I found my new doc.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Dec 06
Good that you found a new doc. Yeah mine also tried to blame my asthmatic bronchitis (which is inflamed by allergies) on smoking. I've tried not smoking and with smoking, doesn't effect my lungs either way.
@sj_chaudhry (1537)
• Canada
9 Dec 06
yes i had faced similar problem. after having baby i went to doctor for normal check up and i am on thyroid medication. i was feeling worse and had feminine disorder... i told her that do check my thyroid level..but she continuously refused to check it that its normal, and i went to visit her for 3 months months but she never asked me for thyroid medication, my other illnesses.. she just always beat about he bush and rushed for other patient. and fianlly i swtiched to other doctor she is fortunately good. she sent me to lab test for thyoid and it was too low that i was at life risk... she immediately changed my dose and since then ia m feeling better. so, dear its often ahppen these doctors just concerned about number of patients rather then their health.:-(
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
9 Dec 06
I'm glad that you changed doctors. Many seem to over book and want to rush through each patient and not really check out what is happening with them. They don't seem to listen half the time. When we get advice from them that doesn't sound right we need to get second opinions. And then switch :)
@Jahnya (142)
• United States
9 Dec 06
I had an opposite problem. I had one doctor try to blame my depression on a tyroid problem and tried to medicate me. When I took her test results to my psychiatrist a few months later. He could believe that she tried to medicate me even though the test results showed normal. Sometimes they want to over medicate sometimes they just want you out of their office. Needless to say I changed general practioners.
@siddharth_sampad (319)
• India
10 Dec 06
these days doctors have a lotta responsibility but also again they neva wanna take the blame..... last yr my dad's best frn had to go thru some bad experiences bcoz of this
and now his family is suffering... though now its quite ok
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Dec 06
Sorry to hear someone had to suffer because of it. I am glad to hear though they are doing better. Doctors to me at least like to act like they are infallible, which is so not the case.
@beckyomg1 (6756)
• United States
9 Dec 06
wow, that is a great discussion, i did not know that the waters have that in it. i also am allergic to sulfates, but i know alot of doctors just assume things and dont go as far as they should.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
9 Dec 06
Some do. The one we were using was by Nestle. Sulfates hide in a lot of things. If you are allergic to more then just sulfa itself then you need to check. Many meds have it in there as an inactive ingredient. Like sodium bisulfide. I've had to do a lot of searches on meds and not all places will list all the ingredients, only the active ones and that is sometimes not enough.
I had one respatory therapist argue with me while I was having an allergic reaction to Albuetrol Sulfate. He kept saying it's not a Sulfa and I shouldn't be having a problem with it. I finally just looked at him and asked him what the first five letters were of Sulfate. He finally backed down and they switched my medication but I was ready to strangle him because of it.
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
9 Dec 06
Actually, my doctor has usually been just the opposite: You are overweight,but it does not seem to effect you negatively. My usual thing, even with some checking, is that "You've got a little arthritis there" If we cannot figure it out, for me it is arthritis. Of course, that would be better if I lost weight. My other pet peeve is that problems with my hands are automatically "carpal tunnel" lets run an electrical current through you to find the blockages. It certainly pays to be an informed medical consumer. I turned down cox 2 inhibitors for my arthritis--and with the big vioxx thing, I am glad I did. In all fairness, my doc. will discuss alternative treatments with me, like vitamins, and topical treatments. Have you tried filters at home for your own tap water? That would keep you safe from what might be in commercial beverages. Congrats. on solving your own medical mystery.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
9 Dec 06
Thanks. It did drive me crazy for a while. Actually I just stay away from water for the most part now. I drink coffee and other things made with water but the ones from the tap doing it that way aren't so bad. I just have to check ingredients with everything. Even shampoo :(
I'm glad you have a doctor that does all that. Not many I have found like to check out alternative treatments.
@emarie (5442)
• United States
10 Dec 06
wow, that was really rude of the doctor...i'm over weight myself...same as you, i've been this way my whole life...the only thing that was ever blamed on my weight was my lower back problem...which i can see..and this only started happening after i had my children (which i was at my heaviest and didn't really lose most of it). i think you should talk to the doctor, tell him you were wrong, he should have asked you about any allergies in the first place...whenever theres swelling, thats normally the first thing, i would asume...i'd say, just change doctors, because if you can't get along with them, then how can you let them treat you.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
10 Dec 06
I found a different one. You're right it's hard to have someone treat you when you don't trust them. I would always wonder if they were just guessing.
@Kylalynn (1771)
• South Africa
9 Dec 06
It sounds like your doctor has tunnel vision. He sounds so judgemental and too lazy to do a proper examination. The swelling in your feet could have been caused by numerous problems, such as kidneys, back problems and a number of other things. I would change doctors and tell the new one you don't appreciate everything being blamed on your weight. Heres hoping you find a good doctor. Take care!
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
9 Dec 06
I have one now thanks. Exactly and I do have back problems (due to a car accident) but he didn't seem to care. Just figured was the weight. I'm just glad I found the cause before it did more damage.
@nobodyspecial (1011)
• United States
9 Dec 06
Some doctors just aren't GOOD doctors, others are harried by the managed health care system, not being able to take the time to really talk with a patient to find out what the problem really is. All too often when making an appointment you are asked by a nonmedically trained office person what your complaint is.
The care managers subscribe to the 15 minute diagnoses. This means more patients, more billing for less cost per hour.
It could have been the doctor, but it most likely is the system under which he gets paid.
Sucks don't it?
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
9 Dec 06
Yeah it does suck. I do know that the managed care system doesn't help at all. But I have seen good doctors make it work and still take time for their patients when it's needed.
@Mickie30 (2626)
•
9 Dec 06
I have put weight on due to having had mental health problems and being put on the wrong medication. My trouble is the doctors never take anything seriously. I have had a bad urine infection for weeks now and the doctors don't want to see me. They just keep putting me on antibiotic after antibiotic and I feel dreadful, but still the doctors won't see me. Maybe it's due to my weight as I am over weight. Last year I had preeclampsia and had my baby early they say thats caused by obesity too. Everything they haven't go an answer to its because your overweight. Its so daft. I think sometimes the doctors dont know themselves so its easier to blame something they can see like being over weight. I totally sympathise with you on this one.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
9 Dec 06
That could be. That they don't have a clue so have to blame something and weight is the easist.
It sounds as though you need to find another doctor as well. One who will check you out and listen. Sometimes we need more then just another pill to take.
