Monday, February 9, 2009

I need to vent

Right now, I'm so mad I can't see straight. I just got back from a doctor's appointment where I actually yelled at my doctor (and I don't yell at doctors, I just don't go back to see them when they make me that mad about poor treatment).
I haven't seen my doctor in about a year, and was waiting to do my yearly check-up in May when my Medicare kicks in so that Medicare and my insurance would cover everything. But I needed paperwork filled out to get my 25-year-old guaranteed student loan forgiven, and my doctor wanted to see me since I hadn't been in for quite a while, supposedly to do a physical. That physical consisted of weighing me (which I'm fine with, I only let them do it once a year) and taking my blood pressure and pulse. The first thing she said was that I had gained 15 lbs in a year and needed to go on a diet to lose that and more. Then she started in on how my blood pressure was high (and it was, for the first time in my life) and how losing weight would bring it down. And the usual bullshit of calories in/calories out leads to weight loss. I tried telling her that I've dieted, done all kinds of weight loss pills, from phen-fen to amphetimines, and had weight loss surgery and all any of that has done is make me fatter than I ever would have been if I had never done any of it.
She still insisted that dieting worked, and I must be eating too much to have gained 15 pounds in a year. She wanted to know if I drink soda, I told her diet soda, iced tea with either no sweetening or just one packet of sweet'n'low per gallon. She suggested I switch to water or those calorie free flavored waters. WTF is the difference between sugar-free flavored water and diet soda? They both have artificial sweeteners in them. Then she wanted to know what I eat, do I eat a lot of "junk" food or do I eat a healthy diet (do I drink full fat milk *no way, milk tastes awful to me*, can I switch from American cheese to mozzarella)? I told her most of what I eat is meat, cheese, veggies, and fruits, with occasional chips/fast food/pasta/rice/potatoes/cookies, but nothing to excess (but it's mainly the same foods DH eats to control his blood sugar/type 2 diabetes because we can't afford 2 separate meal plans). And I'm finding out that as I'm getting older, I just don't feel like eating as much as I used to. So I'm not eating too much, from what I can figure out, probably between 1500 and 1800 calories a day. So I told her I was sick to death of hearing about calories in/calories out, and how diets work so well for permanent weight loss. I told her that I had 35 years' worth of dieting experience that told me all it did was make me fatter. I told her that assuming someone was fat because all they do is pig out all the time hurts and that's one of the reasons I don't go to see doctors as often as they would like. I said I was tired of being told I'm fat and need to lose weight, that I'm sick of doctors assuming that I don't look in a mirror every day and see that I'm fat, that I don't know that I'm fat without being told that. That why should she assume I'm pigging out on fattening food all the time, when there are thin people who can eat 5,000 calories every day and never gain a pound, and fat people who eat less than 2,000 calories a day and never lose a pound? She's thin, and said that if she doesn't watch what she eats, she gains weight, but can lose it if she goes back to "sensible" eating. I told her that it doesn't matter how "sensibly" I eat, if I diet, yeah, I'll lose the weight, but it will eventually come back because I can't live on less than 1500 calories a day for the rest of my life (and even if I could, eventually I plateau and then start to regain the weight because my body is not a closed thermodynamic system and my metabolism slows down). I told her that my weight is no longer a topic of discussion if she wants to continue to see me and monitor my health. That I didn't have a fucking clue how I lost that 18 pounds last year, and I don't know how I gained 15 lbs this year. Hell, my weight can fluctuate by 10 lbs just from one day to the next. I also told her that I have to watch what I eat because of the complications from my VBG. That certain foods (fast food burgers and fries, and lots of leafy greens and veggies) will give me explosive diarrhea within 15 to 30 minutes of eating them, so I try to avoid those while still eating as "healthily" as I can.
So then she wants to know what kind of exercise I do. I told her I had been riding my recumbent exercise bike for 15 minutes each of 3 days a week, but had quit when my knee started hurting (and 1600 mg of ibuprofen didn't even touch the pain, and that was after getting a cortisone shot in the knee). I told her I can't walk for any distance that's going to do me any good because my lower back cramps up, then my legs go numb, and if I don't have somewhere to sit right away, I end up falling down (which leads to further injury of my bad knee, or twisting my weak ankles). I told her I've been taking 800 mg of ibuprofen 3 times a day, which helps with the knee pain, as long as I don't do much of anything (like walking or standing for more than 5 minutes at a time). So what does she suggest? Flexeril for the back spasms and add tylenol to the ibuprofen when I ride my bike. Like I haven't tried adding tylenol or aspirin or advil to the ibuprofen when I'm in pain. I'm willing to try the flexeril if it will help my back, but I really don't see how it's going to help the knee pain (and another cortisone shot will only last a couple of months and they don't like to give them any more often than every 4 to 6 months). So lucky me, I get to go back in 2 weeks for a blood pressure check, and then again in 4 to 6 weeks. Oh yeah, and stress has nothing to do with high blood pressure, even if your blood pressure is normal at home all the time, if it's high most of the time when you go see the doctor, then you obviously need to be on medication to bring that blood pressure down to "normal". And losing weight will totally bring high blood pressure down too. JFC, I am so fucking sick of all this bullshit, I even told her that I don't care if my fat kills me, at least then I wouldn't have to listen to people spew shit at me about my weight anymore (so now I'm depressed and there's something seriously wrong with me if I see death as a solution to my "weight problem"). Give me a fucking break. I'm not depressed, death isn't a solution, I'm just mad as hell that she thinks all my problems are caused by my fat and will magically be "cured" if I just lose some weight.
She also had to throw in that fat has a correlation to some cancers (breast and endometrial were the ones she cited). I told her correlation is NOT causation, and if I get cancer, I highly doubt that it's because I'm fat. I don't think endometrial cancer is a concern if you're no longer having periods, so that's not a problem for me. She also wants me to get another mammogram and I told her no way in hell, once was enough for me (they have to take 4 pics of each breast on me because mine won't fit on the x-ray plate in one shot) and that's painful, having each boob squeezed flat 4 times. There isn't any family history of breast cancer in my family, as far as I know, so I'm not going to worry about it (and yeah, that might be stupid of me, but it's my body and my life and my decision to make).
Oh, and trolls, your comments on this post, if you deign to make any, will not see the light of day, and that goes especially for my own personal troll who drags its bridge around after itself while following me around the intarwebz (you know who you are, DC).

28 comments:

  1. Gah, I just tried to comment and when I went to log in google, it all disappeared! So, hopefully this is not a double post. If it is, please delete my other one. :)

    Your doc is ignorant, perhaps willfully so... and that sucks. You deserve a better doc, girl. Can you get a different one?

    And yeah... weight fluxuates just in a month, let alone through seasons and through having a cold or not having one. That your doc didn't consider this at first makes me wonder if she was just looking for an excuse to chastise the fat person.

    My first reaction to reading about this idiot doc was .... "AHHHH... THE STUPID!!! IT BURNS!!!!" Seriously, you deserve a better doc. But, kudos to you for standing up for yourself and clearly defending yourself!!!

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  2. Well, she knows for sure now that my weight is not up for discussion, and I'll be holding her to that. I don't know if I'd be able to find another doctor unless I see if I can find one at the VA (I'm not even sure if the VA will see me, since I'm not the retired service member, my husband is). I wish we lived near a military base with a hospital, then I could be seen there without having to worry about the VA (and from what I've seen of doctors at the VA, they're just as bad as civilian doctors about weight). It's not easy finding a doctor who's willing to look past the weight and work with one to make life easier, that's for damned sure.

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  3. That really sucks I think I posted somewhere else about this myself where I haven't gone to my OBGYN since before my own weightloss surgery, (the lap band). My old doctor moved so I'd be seeing a new one and I'm assuming she's not fat friendly, I don't know why I just am. It's basically a crap shoot.

    My regular physician has seen me for the past 20 years and he knows my ups and downs with weight and all the things I've gone through with it. He doesn't even bring it up like most doctors as he knows, he's a good man.

    Anyway I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but let's hope that you taught that woman a thing or two about "people" not just fat people. I hope you can find a better doctor, there are a few out there and don't be like me and put off treatment for fear of another shaming take care, moxie3.

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  4. Thanks, moxie3. I think I'll wait and see if she takes to heart what I said about my weight not being up for discussion anymore. I really hate to look for another doctor because it's such a crap shoot on whether you can find one that isn't all "calories in/calories out" and doesn't think every problem is caused by fatness. Not to mention it's not easy to find doctors who take TriCare or Medicare these days (since neither of them pay the full amount of what doctors charge, limit the amount that they can charge for co-pays).

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  5. GOOD FOR YOU! Generally when doctors tell me those things I run home with my tail between my legs (Or at least I did the last time I saw a doctor--like a year ago) and I can only hope to muster the strength (or pure anger) to tell them how I really feel!

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  6. Maybe you should burn the Rudd Center's video for health care professionals to a DVD and leave it for her to watch.

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  7. Oh God, that sounds like one of my doctor appointments. Most of the time my bp is low -- but I get very stressed out by doctors, and so when I am there it is high. I have help checking my own at home, so I know.

    But rather than treating things I go in to ask for help with (thyroid, with a family history of...) they want to give me statin pills,a nd beta blockrs...

    I don't fill those scripts. Do they think I am an idiot? I tell them "I'm not taking a statin" and they write me one anyways. Well, I don['t fill it.

    There's a note in my files now that says I'm "uncooperative." I just can't wait for big pharama to warehouse my medical files digitally so everyone can be prejudiced against me because I'm fat and uncooperative.

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  8. For the blood pressure thing. A doctor posted this on his blog for people with white coat hypertension. You ask for a prescription for a beta blocker, fill it and only take one before your doctor's appointments.

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  9. mikomb - I used to do that too, but I've just reached the end of my rope (not to mention I'm stressing over the loan modification for our mortgage, so I'm apt to go off over little things, let alone big ones like this).
    Rachel - I think I might just do that, since I have blank DVDs and a DVD burner in my computer. I should be able to figure out how to download them so I can burn them. I can even label it, since I have the labels and the software to create them.
    pooklaroux - yeah, my blood pressure wasn't this high before I lost that 18 lbs, so I don't think regaining 15 of it has anything to do with it being high. I think it was high because I knew she was gonna give me hell about the weight gain, and I'm stressed about other things too. We'll see what it's like in 2 weeks when I go back, since I don't have to see her, just the nurse. And I know what you mean about the noncompliant/uncooperative thing. Back 12 years ago, when I was taking phen-fen, my nurse practitioner said I was noncompliant because I wasn't losing weight as fast as she thought I should (50 lbs in 3 months wasn't fast enough for her). Then I was further noncompliant when I had the VBG, lost weight, and then gained it back, even though I was barfing all the time and couldn't keep much of anything down unless it was pureed or ground up. And they wonder why we don't want to go in for check-ups.
    nonegiven - I'll do some research on beta-blockers, I'm not sure what she has mind as far as blood pressure medication goes, she didn't say. Just that it was something to consider (with the tone of voice saying "you will do this if I tell you to", which is not the way to get me to do anything. I'm nothing if not a stubborn bitch).

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  10. Holy ice cubes Batman, that's some cold cold treatment you got there. More proof, as if more were needed, that the ability to memorize and regurgitate facts and withstand the stay-awake-for-72-straight-hours hazing ritual that is medical school in no way equals the ability to think.

    Did Dr. Duh ever even look at your chart and see that you had had gastric bypass surgery and that it didn't work?? As in, you ate something like six tablespoons of mush a day and you still didn't approach "normal" weight? What on earth did she think you were doing then -- cheating with a nasogastric tube?

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  11. Andee J. - no kidding. And she and I had a similar conversation back when I first saw her in Feb of 2007 (but evidently, it wasn't written in my chart that I don't believe the CI/CO thing for weight loss). I know she knows I had a VBG, we talked about it and it's in my records, I got those records from my nurse practitioner when I got married and moved and gave them to her the first time I saw her.
    I think she thought I had to have been sipping on milkshakes and eating ice cream all day long and that's why the VBG didn't work (which is what my NP told me, never mind the fact that I can't eat much that has a lot of sugar in it because it gives me horrendous heartburn). I was so mad that I was pacing the exam room while I was yelling at her (and crying, and leaning on the exam table because the pacing made my back cramp up, but I was too mad to sit still).

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  12. So sad this happened, sweetie. My last doc said I was healthy as a horse and not to come back for five years...I'm planning to stretch that into 10, if I don't get pregnant first. I have a severe anxiety disorder, some of which stems from abuse due to my fat, and I think I would internalize and self-harm if ever in a situation like you described above. Either that, or I'd completely and utterly blow my top.

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  13. That's 'evidence-based' medicine as practiced on those who are considered a total eyesore by the rich and allegedly thin...OOPS!..are fat and/or had the bad luck to get sick or disabled.

    All the doctor need do is:

    Prescribe a lot of meds and/or procedures that are finally being shown to:

    1.) In many cases do very little, if anything, even for those who are sick;

    2.) Cost money, time, and hassle...on the patient's part;

    3.) Create compulsory 'repeat customers' BECAUSE the meds/procedures s*ck and the patient must be 'monitored'.

    This is done so any treatment effects"...OOPS!...bad side effects/medication interactions get caught in time and/or the treatment can be "adjusted" accordingly.

    See the efficiency!

    See the obscene profits to doctors, pharmaceutical companies and insurers!

    See the legislators with palms "greased"!

    See the patients lose time and money, often for less-than-nothing.

    See the "educational value" behind this anti-fat bigotry...NOT!!

    [See my sarcasm... >:-( ]
    ----------------------------------------------
    Now, an off-topic comment from another active blogger and website admin:

    You wrote:

    "To the troll at IP: 70.242.65.196 , adsl-70-242-65-196.dsl.stlsmo.swbell.net..."

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    The reason is simple: This is almost certainly NOT a static IP address, but a dynamic one that can be reset simply by shutting down and rebooting the DSL modem (usually done along with a shutdown and reboot of the entire computer, but not necessarily requiring a reboot of the local machine).

    A link with more information:

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    More info about this IP:

    IP address: 70.242.65.196
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    Reverse DNS authenticity: [Verified]
    ASN: 7132
    ASN Name: SBIS-AS
    IP range connectivity: 20
    Registrar (per ASN): ARIN
    Country (per IP registrar): US [United States]
    Country Currency: USD [United States Dollars]
    Country IP Range: 70.128.0.0 to 70.255.255.255
    Country fraud profile: Normal
    City (per outside source): St. Louis, Missouri
    Country (per outside source): US [United States]
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    IP address registrar: whois.arin.net
    Known Proxy? No
    Link for WHOIS: 70.242.65.196

    A Google search on this domain and IP turns up some interesting stuff, such as others who have been pestered by this "fine" specimen of humanity (blech!).

    Wanna' bet it's a spambot and nobody will read your warning...or care?

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  14. Big Liberty - That's exactly why I blew my top. For too many years I believed I was a worthless POS just because I was fat. I'm not taking that kind of crap anymore, I don't care how "educated" the person is who is spewing it. I've learned enough over the years to know what works for me (and what doesn't) to just blindly follow what a doctor says (my VBG taught me well that I can't believe everything a doctor tells me).

    observer - Yeah, I totally agree.
    As for the troll, I don't think it's a spambot, since the comments are actually about what I've posted plus a lot of name-calling. I'm not positive, but I think it could be a static IP, since every spam comment I've gotten from that particular troll has been from the same IP address (based on site meter stats and the time the troll comments were written and sent to me for publishing or rejection). I just read, laugh, and delete. Not worth getting my bowels in an uproar over troll bullshit.

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  15. I'm so sorry you had such a horrible day...your doctor is an ass.

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  16. I'm sorry. It's too bad they didn't teach her in med school that her ass is not a hat. Good for you for standing up for yourself!

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  17. I think your doctor approached this issue rather insensitively, but I do think she had your best health interests at heart. Wait, wait... here me out, everyone. There's been a lot of pressure raised recently for doctors to bring up issues of weight, regardless of how uncomfortable it might be for patients. Your doctor's bedside manner might suck, but then again, so too do the the bedside manners of a lot of doctors in different fields and on different issues. I think an inability to connect with patients and a lack of empathy is a problem rife in the medical field -- doctors are taught facts and figures, not compassion and understanding. When you factor in popular negative attitudes about weight, it makes discussing issues of weight even that much worse. As well, I think that perhaps your frustration lies not just with her, but rather with years of being force-fed this information despite its ineffectiveness.

    I don't know if I disagree with your doctor in that weight-loss might help with some of your mobility issues you've described, but I do know that both she and I have no idea on how to make that safely happen. You're like the walking poster child of a failed diet industry. You've probably have a history of dieting longer than she's been alive. You're on a limited income, are older and have extensive mobility issues and other health problems. Her goal now should be to ensure that you are the healthiest you can be as you are now and not as you could possibly be in the future.

    You've asked her not to discuss issues of weight and diet and she should respect that. I think you need to followup this appointment by writing a letter to her and copying her staff stating this as succinctly and politely as possible and ask that this note be included in your medical file. And the only time you ever need to be weighed is when your doctor must prescribe medication. Other than that, your weight, assuming it's relatively stable, should not be an issue unless you want it to be.

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  18. Yeah, I hear you. God, do I hear you.

    I had to tell off a doctor recently. I went in for a wisdom tooth infection, but he insisted on taking my blood pressure even though he didn't have a large cuff (which I normally insist on). The result was high - so he started asking offensive questions about my diet and exercise habits. I think he actually asked me if I eat a lot of hot chips and burgers.

    I told him that normally my blood pressure is fine, that it was probably high due to
    a) the small cuff and
    b) situational stress (loss of job, financial worries, spouse on dialysis, getting kicked out of our rental property - you know, little things like that)
    and that I eat just fine, no processed foods, very little fat, etc.

    He looked at me like I was insane, and basically called me a liar and said I would drop dead unless I lost weight. So I told him that was inappropriate, in the nicest possible way, of course. LOL.

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  19. Even without the white coat factor, hypertension can be just part of getting older. I read an article recently (and as usual I'm blanking on where, but it was a peer-reviewed multiple author study in a medical journal) that gave the stats for chronic disorders like hypertension, Type II diabetes, etc., and it looks like if a person lives long enough there's a strong possibility of developing one or all with no other factors (like weight) thrown in. The human body is an extremely complex system influenced by so many different things (heredity, environment, occupation, gender, age, you name it) that it always drives me absolutely nuts when healthcare providers focus on just one piece and think that's the answer to everything.

    It truly sucks, too, that it is so hard to find a decent primary care physician. We've moved a lot, so I've seen quite a few different doctors, and out of the dozen or more PCPs I've encountered in the past 30 years, there's only one I actually respected and who didn't waste my time with the knees lecture. Small town or big city -- the good PCPs are few and far between.

    Good luck with your health issues. Sometimes a simple diuretic is all it takes with hypertension, but if that doesn't work you may have to try several different meds before finding one you can tolerate. Unless you have truly nasty side effects, give anything your PCP prescribes at least two months before pitching it. When I was diagnosed, I got put on Benicar. One of the side effects was fatigue and weakness. I felt really energized, but then I'd walk barely a block and be totally exhausted. It took about six weeks, I was just about to give up on it, and then suddenly I was back to normal.

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  20. You can get a blood pressure cuff and check your own blood pressure at home on a daily basis to make sure it is not consistantly high. My family does this because we have a common issue with High BP. If you keep a log for a couple weeks and it isn't high that is a great way to prove to your doc that their one time diagnosis of high bp was wrong.

    I'm sorry your doc sucks so much. But you did the right thing pushing back. She works for you, and don't you let her forget it.

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  21. quextico - Thanks :)

    Lady Epiphany - Good thing I wasn't taking a drink when I read your comment about her ass not being a hat, I laughed so hard I'd have probably snorted soda all over the monitor and keyboard.

    Rachel - I could have understood her being concerned about my weight if I had gained 30 or 40 pounds in the year since I had last seen her. But 15 lbs? And for her to say that I had been doing so good when I lost that 18 lbs between 2007 and 2008 was just so stupid. I told her I didn't know what I had done to lose the weight, and I sure didn't know why I had gained the weight back, since nothing was different. I know that if I could lose 100 lbs, my mobility issues would probably improve, but like you said, not having a safe, permanent way to do that doesn't do me much good (and I'm definitely not willing to diet and lose, just to regain what I lost and more, been there done that too many times). I really think she'll honor my wish not to discuss my weight anymore, simply because she won't want me to go off on her again. If she does bring it up, I'll just tell her I'm not discussing it, and if she persists, I'll leave and start looking for another doctor.

    fatadelic - I'm wondering how much of that high blood pressure reading was caused by the fact that the nurse pumped up the cuff so tight that my arm hurt (and it was a larger cuff, so it fit okay). I think I may order one of those blood pressure cuffs that can be used on the wrist (DH's ex-wife's sister has one and says it reads about the same as the one her doctor uses). Then I can track my own blood pressure, keep records to show the doctor, and be justified in telling her to get off my ass if the results are fairly good (and I'm talking anything under 140/80, since I am old and fat *g*).

    Nan - I read an article on Junkfood Science about hypertension/heart attacks/strokes and their relation to BMI. Turns out that fatter people aren't having any more incidences of any of those conditions than thinner people, and wonder of wonders, the fatter people actually survive them more often than "normal" or thin people. Even the fattest people have better survival rates than the thinner ones, so I'm not really worried about hypertension killing me any time soon.

    Shinobi - I've seen those BP cuffs that can be used on the wrist, and they seem to get accurate readings, so I plan on investing in one of those and using it, if not daily, at least a couple times a week. It's not that I don't want to start BP meds, DH takes a minimal dosage of lisinopril because he has type 2 diabetes and his doctor thinks it's a preventive measure for kidney function (and his BP is on the high end of normal at the age of 53). He doesn't seem to have any ill effects from it, so that's not my concern. I think what pissed me off was her automatic assumption that my high BP was caused by a small weight gain, without any other consideration or asking me if anything in my life had changed. It's like she just assumed that I'd been pigging out and that was why I'd gained weight, not that I'm getting older, that I've gone through menopause, that I have mobility issues, none of that could have been a contributing factor, just that I'm obviously eating too much. 35 years of hearing that crap from every doctor I've ever seen, and being called a liar when every diet I've been on has eventually failed, well, her assumption and suggestion of another diet was just the last straw. And I have FA/SA to thank for being able to stay coherent when I was ranting at her, and giving me some examples to show that I do know what I'm talking about when it comes to weight loss and how successful it isn't.

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  22. Vesta - the only reason I'm suggesting you let the doctor prescribe meds is I did notice a before and after once I started taking them. Once the numbers got back down in the good range, I was definitely sleeping better and was more mentally alert and had more energy during the day. I don't think hypertension would kill me any sooner than any of my other health issues, but as long as there's an improvement in quality of life I'm willing to take the drugs.

    My personal opinion is that a lot of the stuff that gets labeled now as a "chronic disease" is the logical consequence of natural aging -- but the medical community (not to mention the general population) is unwilling to admit we're mortal. Plus, of course, they want to look at one small piece in isolation and not think at all about how everything fits together and/or interacts.

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  23. Well done Vesta,

    If more people shouted at their doctors when faced with this kind of f**kitude, they would think twice.

    I'm sorry you had to go through this, but it sounds like you gave the doozy moo something calorie free (I'm sure she'll be grateful for that), to chew on.

    Keep up the good work.

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  24. Thank goodness my doc leaves me alone about my weight and takes good care of me. Before I found you Vesta, I was talking to him about WLS. He was going to help me. Now that I don't want it anymore, he doesn't say a word.

    You deserve better.

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  25. I am not a doctor and all, but I do know that there's strong concern for women with PCOS who are no longer cycling (therefore 'menopausal') developing ovarian and uterine cancer. Not sure if that applies at all to post-menopausal women without PCOS, but I have several friends in their 20s who are getting routinely screened for girly parts cancer because they no longer have periods.

    I'm amazed you're still seeing that doctor. I wouldn't have gone back, though I can understand why you are.

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  26. Ashley - I don't know if I have/had (?) PCOS since no doctor ever looked for it, in spite of the fact that I'd always had irregular periods, acne even as an adult, depression, difficulty losing weight, etc. I think the main reason they never looked for that is because I got pregnant so easily (I was on the pill when I got pregnant with my son, and I got pregnant 2 more times when I had an IUD). I think the reason my doctor didn't do the full physical when I saw her a couple of weeks ago is that she was so shocked that I yelled at her that she totally forgot. I don't mind doing the Pap test, it's the mammogram I object to (and after seeing the post at Junkfood Science about the accuracy of the tests and diagnosis from them, I'm glad I refused that one). I'll be going back to see her in a month or so about my back pain. The flexeril she prescribed isn't even touching the pain if I have to stand or walk, all it does is let me sleep for 7 or 8 hours and not wake up in excruciating pain (I still wake up with a sore back, but I'm at least mobile). I think it might be caused by spinal stenosis (a member of one of the diabetes lists I belong to has it and was listing his symptoms and they sound a lot like mine). So I did a search on it, and it sounds like that is what could be wrong. Now, if I can just get her to consider it and order whatever tests it takes to see if that's it. Oh, and when I went back on the 23rd, my blood pressure was back to normal (I knew it would be, I bought one of those wrist blood pressure cuffs and had been checking it daily at home).

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  27. Hey there. Just dropped in from Kate Harding's place; glad I found you. RE the knee--have you tried Celebrex? I took a leg injury a while ago and was eating ibupropfen to the point where my tummy was torn up and I still hurt like hell. Went to a different doc and lo and behold, that one tiny 200mg Celebrex a day in the AM made me a new woman. It really does help; you may want to look into it with a more sympathetic/intelligent medical provider (perhaps a sports medicine person? That's who helped me in the end) to check your side-effect risk profile, etc. Good luck!

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  28. Jenonymous - I took Celebrex about 8 years ago, and yeah, it worked great. I don't know if this doctor will prescribe it or not, but I'm going to check on that the next time I see her because 800 mg of ibuprofen and 500 mg of naproxen 3 times a day just isn't cutting it. I think that I've probably built up a tolerance for those since I've been taking them pretty steadily for the last 7 years.

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