Bad experience with GP

Hello everyone

I went to go see my regular GP for a prescription refill. The GP was in a meeting and I saw another GP at the same clinic.

This GP went through the usual question...and asked what side affects am I experiencing? I mentioned the weight gain. The GP said that anti-depressants "arent calorie pills...etc" and then went on a tangent about the major food groups and spoke to me like I was 12 years old (I'm 30).

Venting!

Dubz

Sorry to hear that. Some doctors are so condescending and arrogant.

Ugggg. I'm sorry that happened to you. When you get to see your regular GP I'd bring it up to him. That was very unprofessional.

Jbug

Doctors can be such jerks! Sorry you had to see that one!

It sounds like this GP doesn't know about the struggles people have with their weight...or he knows about it but chooses not to believe the magnitude of their struggles.

That sure can be invalidating...

I hope you don't have to see her/him again.

IDK maybe the GP was trying to encourage you (maybe poorly?) It is tough to watch what we eat when we are on medications that make us want to eat..and when we are in emotional states that keep us from realizing it.

Does the medicine you're on say it causes weight gain? Well, guess that doesn't really matter, since ppl can react in different ways to medicines.

I'm sorry the GP didn't seem supportive. I am having the same kind of issue with my MD.

Hi Everyone

Thank-you for your support!

Sky...The medication I am on was described to me by the prescribing physcian as "weight neutral" and the pharmacy which fills the prescription said that it means that this medication can either increase or decrease your weight. I don't come from a typically overweight family and before the medication I was a size 4-6 in pants and a size medium in tops. At my normal size (size 4-6 ...) I could eat anything I wanted and if I gained weight it didnt show at all! So...I think its a stretch saying its my eating habits or poor diet. I could literally eat a tub of chocolate ice cream and not gain a noticeable pound!

Dubz

Hi Dubs,

Was this MD paper thin? I have a habit of mentioning their eating habits right back when they are really rude.

Hugs,

Jan

I'm sorry, guess what I said sounded that way, but that wasn't what I was trying to say. I meant, many times a medicine makes the food we eat not be processed like it used to be: we store it etc... It can also cause us to be hungrier and make us eat more without realizing it. I use the example of cortisone, which everyone gains on.. because they eat more without realizing it, and the body stores more, (and some water gain too.) Everyone blames the drug for being overweight. I had trouble believing, without taking in more, that I could gain weight "just because" I was on cortisone... and I watched what I ate and wrote it down... and no, I didn't gain weight (but I was starving all the time!)

The weight gain is depressing enough, I know. The MD's reaction would make me feel worse than depressed. I hate the pat answers and the general tones of "learn to live with it" whether they say it out loud or not.

TC

There is a GP in the practice I go to who makes a point of mentioning people's weight during every visit. He's actually overweight himself, and if you point that out he'll say, "That's for my doctor to worry about." The funny thing is, I think his heart is in the right place, he's just doesn't know how to talk to people without sounding arrogant, condescending, and dismissive.

I am 20kgs overweight and my GP is also overweight but he dosnt push me to loose weight, only when i mentioned my weight he asked me if i wanted to loose some and when i said yes he gave me afew starting options such as diet and exercise. He also understands that the amount of weight i put on was mainly due to the medication i was on as i was normal weight 2 years ago before the medication. My previous doctor tho would never accept this and went to the point of blaming me for "letting myself go" in regards to my weight. Some doctors (like some people) will always be arrogent, ive found u just have to ignore them and stick with one that you get along well with.

Roy.