Does your doctor talk to you about your weight?

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  • lngbrd
    lngbrd Posts: 279 Member
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    Mine does, he is trying to get me on a plant based diet.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    Thankfully, yes. I just started seeing someone new last year - it's what prompted me to lose weight. I will be forever grateful for his frankness and his pride in me since I've lost weight. He's been one of my biggest supporters.
  • csofled
    csofled Posts: 3,022 Member
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    My doctors have never said anything about my weight even though I am clearly in need of losing weight.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    Mine does because it impacts a medical condition I have.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    Mine doesn't.

    I asked what he thought I should weigh to try to steer clear of blood pressure meds, etc. and he answered, but he didn't bring it up even when I was gargantuan.

    Same here, exactly. I tend to avoid doctors unless absolutely necessary but even when I was huge, my doc just said he'd recommend losing 30 lb. I've lost 140.

    As a child though I was always overweight and unusually tall for my age and the family physician would harp on my weight making me sound like I was going to DIE and was a total FREAK, when in reality I was very height-weight proportional for an older teen (5'6" 130-ish at age 9-10)...that kind of scarred me for life and I always expect to be raked over the coals when I see any type of medical provider. Ugh.

  • honeykrown
    honeykrown Posts: 2 Member
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    yes weight is always talked about and celebrated. she said if BMI <30 she doesnt talk much about it but when it is above 30 she goes the whole way and tell the patients what to do. Also refers to nutritionist if pt are interested. Told me to start with walking. Not all can be an athelete, that people underestimate the value of brisk walking daily
  • abbeyjones1994
    abbeyjones1994 Posts: 188 Member
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    I have a heart defect, so I see a cardiologist close to my home for a regular checkup annually and one in a bigger city for a more invasive checkup annually.

    One cardiologist is super fit, runs marathons, eats well, etc. He started mentioning my weight as a potential issue around when I turned 16.

    The other cardiologist is big all the way around (6'5", 250-300 lbs. probably) and has never said a word about it.

    My family and I have always found that interesting. I will be going to the big city cardiologist at the end of May for the first time since losing 40 lbs., so I'm curious to see if/what he says.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I see an endocrinologist a few times each year for diabetes (both type 1 and type 2). When I first got serious about losing weight, I asked about how I should do it. He said, "You just need to eat less than you use."

    I have more training on diabetes than most M.D.'s, which is why I see a specialist (why see someone who knows less than me?), so I have been able to keep up with needed changes considering that.

    Last time I saw him, I was still in a plateau, which had lasted more than 4 months at that point despite eating at a deficit. I hadn't seen him for 6 months. When I asked him about the plateau, he argued with me, pointing out that I had lost a few pounds since I had seen him last. He thought I was being too impatient because his information told him I was still losing. Ummm.... yea, I was still losing for the first 2 months after I saw you and then I stopped losing 4 months ago. Aargh.

    Losing weight was my idea, not my dr.'s. He hasn't been very helpful either.
  • Katleskin
    Katleskin Posts: 111 Member
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    Nope, never and I've been big all my life. Last time I went to the nurse (for a smear) I knew I'd lost about 30lbs so I was all, "Ummm, do you not need to weigh me?". She said she didn't but I said, "Yeah, you do!", got on the scales anyway and asked her to amend my record. I also got a sticker for being brave because I said women should get some kind of reward points for attending those damn awful appointments.
  • spookyface
    spookyface Posts: 420 Member
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    Not really my weight but said to eat healthy maybe go for a walk after a big pasta meal and cut back on sugar. I go again in July. Hope he says something about my weight this time as I have lost 35 so far.
  • jascakes
    jascakes Posts: 26 Member
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    When I was at university (UK) I went to the doctor about my extreme low self esteem linked to my weight, and my issues with low mood after exercise. He diagnosed me with depression and sent me to 12 weeks councelling and 12 weeks cbt. Whilst at these sessions, all the councilors wanted to address was -parents divorce -one of many children -uni stress. When i tried to discuss issues related to weight or self esteem or bad emotional connection to exercise they said that it was a simple matter of eating less and exercising more, and not worth 'wasting their time talking about'

    Right in a way, I guess.
    I haven't been brave enough to talk about it to a doctor since.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I have pcos and a family history full of type 2 diabetes. Weight loss definitely helps with those issues, which is a big reason why I think my doctor should be at least mentioning weight.

    (Aside--I don't mind getting weighed their but I don't like their height measure. It always has me at 5'5.5" when I've been 5'6" for ages lol.
  • Vcorz
    Vcorz Posts: 75 Member
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    My nurse has always made some sort of comment about weight over the years....shes very thin herself. When I was 135 at 5'9, she would tell me I was underweight, make sure your eating enough, etc. Now that I;m 206 pounds, she keeps asking me "what happened" and telling me I'm killing myself.....sadly, I never had an appointment in between!
  • agartin
    agartin Posts: 274 Member
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    I recently started working for my PCP, so I had to start seeing a new doctor. My original PCP used to mention it, but was very nice about it. Even told me to slow down when I last lost 60lbs, pretty quickly, I was obsessed. My new doctor, well, before he even properly introduced himself he came in the room and let out a huge sigh, "... Can we talk about your weight?"

    .... ugh
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    I have pcos and a family history full of type 2 diabetes. Weight loss definitely helps with those issues, which is a big reason why I think my doctor should be at least mentioning weight.

    (Aside--I don't mind getting weighed their but I don't like their height measure. It always has me at 5'5.5" when I've been 5'6" for ages lol.

    I really do think that doctors that don't mention weight are doing their patients a real disservice.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
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    I've had several bring it up. I wonder if some don't because they're afraid of the reaction? Most of the time it is just a quick mention of "You are obese" and then we moved on. But the last time I went in for a viral infection my Dr definitely noticed I had already dropped some weight. I'd be a little insulted if I was pretty over weight and had lost a significant sum and my Dr didn't even notice. That's pretty important to our overall health.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
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    When I was overweight, mine would always mention it briefly if I went in for a check up...simply telling me I needed to lose some weight. If I asked follow-up questions, they were always very responsive. I was healthy otherwise, so there was no reason to make it a focus.

    They also always noted any substantial changes...up or down. Now that I am at a healthy weight, my primary care doctor and my GYN seem almost as excited about it as I do. It's kind of funny actually...I had a check up in September and was 40 or 50 pounds heavier than I am now. I went back in late January for a different reason, and the person who weighed me thought she had the wrong patient because the weight was so much lower from the previous appointment. The doctor then asked me a lot of questions about my diet, and said I did a great job and she was proud of me. It was kind of nice, actually.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    TheVirgoddess wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    I have pcos and a family history full of type 2 diabetes. Weight loss definitely helps with those issues, which is a big reason why I think my doctor should be at least mentioning weight.

    (Aside--I don't mind getting weighed their but I don't like their height measure. It always has me at 5'5.5" when I've been 5'6" for ages lol.

    I really do think that doctors that don't mention weight are doing their patients a real disservice.

    I absolutely agree.
  • kamakazeekim
    kamakazeekim Posts: 1,183 Member
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    I've had a terrible time with doctors when it comes to my weight. When I was heavy, every single thing was automatically attributed to my being overweight. I dislocated a disk playing softball and was told that if I lost weight my back wouldn't hurt (it took 3 doctors before someone realized I had a dislocated disk) When my gallbladder was infected, I was told that my symptoms would go away if I lost weight (it ended up being removed and I've been symptoms free sense) Before I was diagnosed with PCOS and placed on the proper medication I was eating about 900 calories a day and working out 6 or 7 days a week for an hour minimum. My weight kept ballooning. I saw countless doctors and dietitians who would not believe me when I told them what I ate and what kind of exercise I was doing. Once I started metformin I lost weight like crazy!
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    My doctor brings up weight now because he know how much I want to change.

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