Worst advice given to you by a "professional"

bregalad5

Had an emergency appendectomy in September '09. They made three small holes. Two of them healed very quickly, but the third didn't. Wound up having a temp. of around 102 the week I was supposed to go back to work (had a month off to recover because of the unhealing hole). Had to go back once a week to get looked at...

He had me packing my own wound :noway: Owwwwww I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Also had to go to a wound center, where they poured liquid stuff in it to numb it but didn't give it time to work before digging around in it (I was referred to a wound center a few months ago and nearly cried at the thought of going back to one - flipped out on the doctor about it :embarassed: ). They said they found a stitch and that it should heal up in a couple days. It didn't.

Kept going back to this surgeon. Kept having to miss work. One day the site exploded at work and my pants were all bloody. Talked to my manager and he laughed at me, mainly because it was, y'know, looking like it was just really bad woman problems leaking through my clothes :sad: Only after I broke down crying did he send me home. The next day I went back to the surgeon and he told me I was making it up because it was no longer gushing blood.

Anyway, finally in February, yes, FIVE MONTHS LATER, I called to make an appointment, but specifically told the receptionist that I wanted to see a different surgeon. She was confused, but complied with my request. I was in surgery again within a week, and the site was completely closed up about a week after the surgery. Oh, and I found out that the stuff the previous surgeon had me using to clean my wound isn't supposed to be used for more than two weeks at a time because it will actually keep the site open and burn the skin.

I so nearly sued this surgeon.

Edit: this site has actually opened up again 4 times in the past 6 months, 2 years after the second surgery, and my current doc tells me it's something I "just have to deal with" *sigh*

1Kristine1

"Give me your money and I will tell you things you could Google for free."

The honesty was--at least--refreshing.

HAHA
oh dear

borjanap

I have had problems using the restroom in the past and I went to see my doctor about it. The doc told me that I needed to develop a pattern and concentrate. She said something to the effect of, "You need to go on the toilet with no distractions at the same time of the day and think......I need to poo, I need to poo." Yeah, needless to say that has yet to work.

ALH1981

My pediatrician told me to cut down on the amount of salad dressing I was using to lose weight. At that point, I didn't even eat salad! And I have NEVER used more than 2T of dressing on anything. Gross.

pretty sure if i did this i'd lose weight! i drown things in salad dressing!

ifiwasurvampire

My doc told me to basically eat under 700 cals a day buy consuming a slimfast and 2 leancuisine meals. What an idiot.

And my cardiologist(previous) told me I have a fainting disorder and told me to go home and Google it! Grrrr. I switched doctors after that.

Amber82479

I'm diabetic and I was having a lot of difficulty with high blood sugar. I was running near 400 for an entire day, so I called my diabetes doctor, who advised me to take 15 units of insulin. Each unit should, theoretically, drop my sugar 50 points. When I pointed this out to him, he said "well, then just take 12 units". I never went back to that doctor.

Cindylou321

A trainer at my gym told me that to slim down 15 lbs that I needed to eat whatever I wanted and not worry about calories or portions but just to make sure I was getting plenty of protein. And then add weight lifting. Um, two months later I had gained eight lbs. yes, weight lifted was good but I was bulking when I really wanted to get smaller.

My *old*physician also told me that to lose 15 lbs I should try the HCG injections and a 500 calorie/day diet. $1,500 later I found another physician.

What's the worst advice you've ever gotten from someone who should clearly know better???

My endocrinologist asked me what my current plan was because she didn't think I was losing weight fast enough. I was doing 8 hours of cardio a week (Zumba and TurboKick) and eating 2000-2200 calories. She said I needed to eat less. I had previously been eating 1800-2000 calories and was having dizzy spells during classes because I wasn't eating enough. She said I should never be eating more than 1500 calories. I said no way.

She looked at me and said "You need to work out less so you can eat less." I stared at her for a good 3 minutes before requesting a referral to a nutritionist.

mikey1976

not so much advise but rather a put down when i joined the gym for my first time. i joined a group called medical weight loss while i went all in and when asked what i wanted out of the gym my reply was loss weight put on muscles and have six pack abs boy i was a joke to the staff need less i lost the weight and put some of it back on darn place

Cindylou321

Doctors don't like it when you aren't dependent on them... when you get healthy and they can't make money on you.... They generally won't help you to get to that goal... they will sell you lots of pills to band aid you along while they make money off your suffering.... I am a type 1 diabetic and have been for more than 30 years.. I was over 200 pounds and on an insulin pump and taking so many pills I rattled when I walked.. then I lost weight and I won't take their pills and have been off the insulin pump for 5 years.. I gained a few pounds back when my x boyfriend and I broke up.. I got depressed did nothing and ate comfort food.. so now here I am not letting this get out of hand fighting and winning my health day by day pound by pound..

cassieko

I've mostly had trouble with doctors, but never fitness/nutrition stuff. I asked my pediatrician in 6th grade how much people should weigh, and she told me about 100 lbs at 5'0, and for every inch add or subtract 5 pounds. That's stuck with me for a while. It may be true, I have no idea, but it's made it suck for me because 85 pounds on me is nearly impossible to achieve but it's hard for me to mentally get rid of that number.

FYI...
It's called the Hamwi formula and it's 100# for eery 5' and 5# for every inch over PLUS OR MINUS TEN PERCENT.
When you go below 5', you're supposed to subtract 2# per inch.
So if you're 4'9" then your IBW is 94# +/- 10%

I'm a dietitian and do this all day. And hopefully never give bad advice.

nwhitley

I was in the gym running on the indoor track b/c it was raining outside. When I finished running 100 laps (equal to 6.2 miles) one of the trainers asked why I was running so many laps. So, I explained that I was running a 1/2 marathon in the next month and was just trying to get in some mileage. Then, he explains to me that typically African Americans don't run long distances well and I would do better running in a miler or 5K, a shorter faster distance. I didn't really know what to say to this, so I just walked away

HowieTwoPointZero

The idiot trainer who had me doing ab work after stomach surgery 10 years ago. Thank you for the hernia dip.

zaithyr

...
Fast forward to a couple months later when I go back to get my iron infusion. They gave me the test dose of the medicine (which they do every time to make sure you don't have a bad reaction). I had a severe adverse reaction
...
So they did the infusion! ...

Glad you're not going back! That's amazing... test for a reaction. Get it. Then ignore it!
There's a reason for protocols like that test.

I'm just glad it happened when I did and not when I was in there when I was 9 months pregnant a few months before!

mikey1976

I was in the gym running on the indoor track b/c it was raining outside. When I finished running 100 laps (equal to 6.2 miles) one of the trainers asked why I was running so many laps. So, I explained that I was running a 1/2 marathon in the next month and was just trying to get in some mileage. Then, he explains to me that typically African Americans don't run long distances well and I would do better running in a miler or 5K, a shorter faster distance. I didn't really know what to say to this, so I just walked away

that is so crazy bs that he said to you has he even watch the marthon races on tv it always people male and female from kenya other parts of that country. sorry you had to deal with an dumb *kitten*

victoria4321

I've mostly had trouble with doctors, but never fitness/nutrition stuff. I asked my pediatrician in 6th grade how much people should weigh, and she told me about 100 lbs at 5'0, and for every inch add or subtract 5 pounds. That's stuck with me for a while. It may be true, I have no idea, but it's made it suck for me because 85 pounds on me is nearly impossible to achieve but it's hard for me to mentally get rid of that number.

FYI...
It's called the Hamwi formula and it's 100# for eery 5' and 5# for every inch over PLUS OR MINUS TEN PERCENT.
When you go below 5', you're supposed to subtract 2# per inch.
So if you're 4'9" then your IBW is 94# +/- 10%

I'm a dietitian and do this all day. And hopefully never give bad advice.

Yeah that doesn't sound too unreasonable or unattainable actually. I'm 5'3 and i always hear around 115 is an ideal weight. but I'm going with the +10% since i have a lot of muscle

mtaylor33557

When I was 17 I went to the doctor because every time I ate I'd have intense pain and nausea. I really wasn't able to eat because of it and had lost around 10 lbs. from 140 to 130. His reply? Eh, its okay that you lost 10 pounds.. you could probably stand to lose 10 more.. You'd be healthier at 120. (I'm 5'6 and I was quite athletic).

I'd be healthier if I could eat! Biggest waste of my time ever!

notsothinlizzie

I went in for a gyno visit and was given the cabbage soup diet to lose weight on.
Follow it faithfully, word for word. Everyone in our office is on it and we are dropping weight like crazy. Then he handed me the diet, photocopied, and a prescription for phen/fen.
I just wanted a papsmear...

ksstei

I had a Dr. tell me in order to get my cholesterol numbers down I should avoid eating so much red meat and watch my fat intake...ummm i hadn't touched the stuff for 6 months because i had been brainwashed into the "low fat" "diet bars/cereal/frozen meal" lifestyle....

I read and read and read and started eating tons of good fats - including red meat - and my cholesterol numbers went down quite a bit and my good HDL went flying upward....

ksstei

I am encouraged by your response. Need to just get myself in line with some proper foods and would welcome suggestions from someone who has "been there, done that."

salemnye

Well it wasn't advice per say but this past Feb I had my yearly gynecological visit. I've been on depo provera (birth control) since feb of 09. I had gained 20 lbs since 2009. Well this doctor was like "i'm really concerned that you gained 20 pounds in 1 year" and I was like no since 2009. If you want to be my dr then ACCURATELY read my medical history....And I had lost 4 lbs in a year (not really trying anything)