People Prefer Pills to Doctors

I'm sure society will look back on this the way we look back at the Italian Renaissance and think, "Wow, I can't believe they used lead-based make-up to make themselves look better. How could they not figure out that it's making them sick."

I'm not surprised at this at all. I personally went to my doctor for help in losing weight after every other effort had failed me. And what did he say? "Just use your will power, you'll do fine." Ummm... thanks for the outstanding medical advice, Dr. Idiot!

Doctors are not trained in nutrition and if they've never been overweight/obese, they don't fully understand the struggles their patients are going through. Losing large amounts of weight is less about calories in vs. calories out - there's often an underlying health issue that that needs to be address, but is being ignored due to lack of education and training.

It's no wonder people turn to diet pills when the medical profession is failing us from all side.

~Pam

I agree with you, Pam. My doctor asks ME for advice on how to lose weight because I did lose 90 lbs on my own and have kept it off for 5 years now. She claims she doesn't have "time to exercise" and she knows what to eat, she just doesn't eat those things because she's always on the go. Same excuses everyone has. It's not surprising to me at all that most people would rather lose weight on their own and not involve their doctor. Plus, I mean, it's kind of embarrassing...it's not that easy to say to your doctor "Yeah, I'm fat and want to lose weight. Help me out with that". I actually didn't see my doctor until after I'd lost about 40 lbs on my own and wanted to start a very intense running program. I had her check my ligaments and heart and stuff to make sure I was ok to start exercising intensely.

Same as Spectra. My doctor told me to eat right and exercise to lose weight. I did, and now he is bigger than me. But he say he doesn't have time to do it. Well, I work two jobs and I did it. Get real doctor feelgood!

I'm sure it's no coincidence that the survey was commissioned by the manufacturers of Xenical, and now it's being sold over the counter in the US. It has been available OTC in Australia for several years. The trouble is that pharmacists are very reluctant to sell Xenical to anyone. When I was still taking it, it was very galling to be told be a morbidly obese pharmacist that I couldn't buy it because I wasn't heavy enough. Sigh...

Many supplements are not effective, but at least they are mostly harmless. Xenical, on another hand, has very unpleasant and embarrassing side effects.

I think some diet pills should have to have a label stating not approved by the FDA.
A lot of extreamly intelgent people are missled to why some supplments can never get approved.

Health care insurance may be a factor in this -- if you don't have a plan which covers "well visits" (and even most people with good plans don't have this in the US!), then you have to pay quite a lot to talk to your doctor. And who would want to do that just to be told that it's will-power that's needed?

But more likely psychology is a bigger factor. I was much too proud to ask my stick-thin doctor about potential weight-loss programs, I wouldn't trust an overweight doctor to have plausible advice, and so on.

"Many supplements are not effective, but at least they are mostly harmless. Xenical, on another hand, has very unpleasant and embarrassing side effects."

Xenical only has "unpleasant and embarrassing side effects" for the first 4-6 weeks as your body gets used to it. It is effective and - unlike diet pills which contain stimulants - it has no *dangerous* side effects.

What "unpleasant and embarrassing side effects"? Sounds interesting.

"What "unpleasant and embarrassing side effects"? Sounds interesting."

Xenical has not been selling well for a reason:

In animal models: increased risk of colon cancer, human trials are underway...
Unpleasant/embarrassing side effects: "an*l leakage" and uncontrollable flatulence.

Oh, I see. *grimace*. I think I will stick to "unassisted" weight loss.

You guys are brutal! :-)

Dr. J:
I'm just speaking from experience (with my 2 different doctors). I'm in the process of searching for a new doctor who is more educated in nutrition and handling the co-morbidities that I'm facing with my weight loss journey. When a doctor looks you in the eye and says: "You probably can't lose the weight, you'll get diabetes and heart disease eventually." ... that's grounds for that doctor to be fired in my book.

I'm hoping to find someone who is a bit more compassionate and has a more positive attitude and is willing to find some alternatives.

Pam, I wish you luck. I know how hard it is to find a good doctor.

I had a gastroenterologist, when I went in for a consultation about gallstones, suggest I get a gastric bypass while I was at it, since the gallbladder was coming out anyway. My BMI at that time was 35, no longer morbid obesity, and I'd already lost 45lb. I told him that and said I'd rather lose the weight naturally. He looked me in the eye and said "Do as you wish. Even if you manage to lose the 100lb you plan to lose, in less than 1 year you'll have gained all of those back and at least 20lb more, so you'll be back here wishing you could have done both surgeries at once". I walked out and had another doctor do my gallbladder surgery - a general surgeon, just in case another gastroenterologist was gonna be as nuts as this one and try to mess with my intestines while he was in there, haha. His lovely prediction didn't hold - a year later I'd lost the 100lb + 15 more I wasn't planning on, and I've maintained 98lb loss at my biggest regain for over 5 years. Jerk.

Now, after that awful story, I found a wonderful doctor, an endocrinologist, and to make it even more unbelievable, she is model-thin. She has been understanding and compassionate, much more than that beer-belly doctor was, even though she has obviously never been faced with weight problems herself.

I am also not suprised at this.

From my experience in dieting and speaking to other dieters,

People prefer the quick fix solution. Those dodgey pills almost market themselves!

Helping people reach that point where they are able to make a change in their behavior may be the biggest challenge in medicine! It's not surprising that pills are sought and prescribed way too readily. Prevention is really the most realistic solution and what I believe the medical community needs to focus on.

Pretty much the same BS from my doctor. I went to him ACTUALLY to get an antidepressant (as depression is the biggest reason I can't lose weight, I eat when I'm depressed). He decided first that he wasn't qualified to treat my depression (he thinks I'm bipolar, but he's mistaking ADD symptoms for bipolar, just couldn't convince him of that), THEN he actually PRESCRIBED a "calorie counter" that I could get, according to him, from any bookstore. He actually wrote it out on a prescription slip and handed it to me, with the suggestion of a 2500-3000 calorie diet. Thanks doc, if a 2500 calorie would help me lose weight, I'd already be losing... I needed a bit more help than that! And yes, doc, I know what calories are, TYVM.

Doctors don't take classes nutrition and dietary guidance at least my brother who went to UC med didn't. So why would they be considered good at providing solutions. In fact they are horrible. When they get fat they get interested otherwise its a very scientific approach. Food goes in and makes fat, limit food and increase exercise you will be thin. And if you aren't than you are cheating. Fat people are cheaters.

I have been freaking out for the last eight years while I gain seven pounds a year. I have all of my doctors ask me advice when I asked them for help. The one I did get suggestions said (a gynecologist) stop drinking so much water, give up caffeine. Needless to say I wondered where she got that info from.

Oh well. I certainly would rather take a pill given it would work.

The first time I discussed my weight with my doctor, he gave me a prescription for something. Because I trusted him, I went home and took it. I felt horrible. At one point I became hyper and very nervous. I stopped taking it after one week. I went back in and told him about it and he snickered and said "You were tweaking." And left it at that.

When I came in about 6 months later declaring I was pregnant, he said, "You know u need to lose weight, right?"

On the last visit he got from me, he had an intern sitting in on my visit. I mentioned my weight and that I was interested in planning a course of action with him. He begins to knead the fat on the back of my arm, all the while quizzing the intern on what caused this fat. Then he spouts off the latest report about the Adkins diet, followed by "Willpower is the way to do it."

To ice the cake, I asked him about Trim-spa and how something like that could actually be safe. He says, "If we knew things like that, we'd all be geniouses. You just take it and we watch the effects."

I left and never - ever went back.

Too bad doctors didn't charge for what their advice was worth. We'd all have more money!

Here's some free advise," EAT LESS AND EXERCISE MORE."
And by the way, the doctors you went to didn't give you the problem you had which brought you to them. I realize it's a frustrating situation, but it seems to me that the anger you are directing at the doctor is only partially due to THEIR behavior.

If anyone wanted your free advice they'd ask for it. Anyway, who was talking to you or even taking you under consideration? To quote Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

"Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience."

~ anonymous

Dr. J. You're hilarious. I haven't read where one person blamed their doctor for their weight, rather for the shoddy way the situation was handled. I'm certain "Dr" is a title only for effect. It worked. You cracked me up. Thanks for the giggle oh and for the free adviCe. I had never heard one advise with such advice before.

"Eat less and exercise more"

I'm not overweight, so I really don't know too much about the subject, but my lack of knowledge seems to overpower all of your years in medical training! This is not always the case with obesity! There are many genetic disorders, psychological disorders, and hormonal imbalances that can attribute to a person being overweight. Making such a generalized statement and then insulting people shows your true "intelligence" and compassion.

I actually had great support in losing weight from my two doctors (one family practice, the other ob-gyn). Both have been frustrated seeing a lot of patients with weight related problems. In the end, their support wasn't the critical thing, but it was helpful to have their opinions and encouragement at a few points along the way.

BTW: I've noticed that there's two of us jj's on this board. Hi to the other jj, nice to meet ya!

As Ellen Glasgow once remarked: "He knows so little and knows it so fluently."

"Dr J" ha ha ha

I've spoken with two doctors about weight loss (one when I was 210 lbs and feeling overweight and one when I was 240 lbs). While the information they gave me was technically correct, neither gave me more than two minutes of their time or really tried to help me find the resources I needed to make the change. I'm now 225 and on my way to making that change.

I'm reminded of when a obgyn told my wife she should take folate during her pregnancy. My wife said, "that's fine but I'd prefer to get my nutrition through food rather than pills, what should I eat?" and the obgyn said she had no idea and my wife should talk to a nutritionist.

Doctors like dependable, repeatable events; To my wife's doctor, folate in a pill is dependable, but food is messy and how can she know if she's getting enough without a pill? This is why I think doctors and weight loss don't generally mix. Weight loss is messy! Knowing the right things to do involve all the things we eat and for what reasons and all of our physical activity and the whole-person view that is necessary is just not common among doctors.

Gary--that is a very interesting point about weight loss being "messy". I think most medical professionals prefer to deal with things like infections or trauma...where they can prescribe a bottle of Cipro or put a few stitches in to make the patient better. Things like diabetes, weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, etc., are a bigger challenge to diagnose and treat because yeah, they are "messy" in that there is no "cut and dried" cures for most of those diseases.