So Disappointed in my DR

(THERESA PITTS) #1

I’ve been Keto since last March. My husband has been low carb (still eating sugar) late 2016. We have both lost a lot of weight. For insurance purposes, we have to have a physical every year in January. So, last January, I asked the Dr if there was a better way to lose weight besides CICO. He said, “No, that is the only way”.

Well, fast forward to this January, we visited the Dr with our new, sexy, slender selves and I was armed to the teeth with info, ready to do BATTLE over our new weight loss plan. Well, Dr didn’t mention our weight loss or even acknowledge it in any way. Even after hubby said that he dropped his blood pressure medicine after starting a new diet.
WTF??? It was such an anticlimactic moment. :frowning:

(Dameon Welch-Abernathy) #2

Doctors are like most people in that they don’t appreciate having their world view challenged, even when there is overwhelming evidence it is WRONG.
My doctor is not particularly thrilled with my WOE, but I’m letting the results speak for themselves.

(Margie) #3

:confused:Dr. Probably new and didn’t want to have to acknowledge it! Ugh!

(Laurie) #4

I understand. Several years ago (before keto) I had the same experience. When the nurse weighed me, she remarked on what a good job I had done in losing 40#. I waited expectantly for the doc to say something but she didn’t mention a word. I dropped her shortly afterwards. :slight_smile:
Move on if you can, it makes a world of difference. I am fortunate to have a very savvy low carb advocate doctor.

(Chris) #5

They’re mostly untrained in nutrition and highly overworked.

#6

Don’t wait for a MD to ask the questions you want to address and discuss. Take charge of your appointment and direct them to look at, see, acknowledge, AND CHART your amazing accomplishments. Waiting for an overworked, and often exhausted physician to notice, non-problems…just might not happen. There is a negative bias there. See the problems, illness, disability but not see the wellness, accomplished healing and dare we say cures.

Sounds like you and your loved one have done a fantastic job. May you keep inspiring the rest of us:)

#7

I’m going to defend the doctor here… You say you saw him last January, and there’s no mention of any interim visits. Now, the average Dr’s consult is around 15 minutes:

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That means, a doctor working normal hours (Few do), would see about 28 clients in an 8 hour day minus lunch (Unusual, mine works 9am to 8pm, less lunch and dinner)That’s 140 clients a week, assuming a 5 day week (again, unusually low, most doctors at least some of the weekend as well). If they work 48 weeks per year, (Given 4 weeks leave, again, unusual), that would 6719 patients he’s seen, since he’s last seen you.

I see my doctor every 3 months, let alone when I bring my kids in. I have a very unusual drug prescribed to me, which should make me somewhat more memorable, and after only 3 months, he asked “Who thought giving you this drug was a good idea?”. It was him…

What I’m saying, is that he probably doesn’t even remember who you are, let alone the fact that 6719 patients ago, you asked him if there was anything aside from CICO that could help you lose weight.

To be honest, the reason I am defending the Dr, is that I am the same. I am in a high profile job. I present to large conferences. I have 3-5 meetings per day, and while 60% of those are with largely the same people, 40% I will never meet again, or might be months again until I meet them. At least a few times a year, someone will come up to me, and start talking as if we’re old friends. I have to embarrassingly apologise that I don’t know who they are, and it usually turns out to be someone who talked to me briefly at a conference a year back. I imagine that that is exactly what it’s like for a doctor who only sees their patients for 15 minutes each. Very few would stick in their mind.

(Joel) #8

Amazing huh? I think it is because doctors probably had/have it pounded in their heads too that high fat is the cause of obesity and disease. When we all know it is all the sugar and boxed/processed foods and carbs America eats. I think the doctor didn’t like being proved wrong in this situation. Which is understandable. Good job on the weight loss!!! :smile: :

(Dan Dan) #9

LOL… My Doctor sees that many in two days :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

I’m sure my Doc doesn’t know me from jack but he does his research and has the courtesy to familiarize himself with my medical history and I’m lucky to get five minutes and wait an average of 1 1/2 hours to see my Doc :smile:

That said I definitely don’t get the service I got 20 years ago when I got 10 Minutes and waited an average of 4 hours to see my Doc :thinking:

Not sure if It’s better or worse now :thinking: :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

(Auden) #10

How did you find a keto-friendly doc?

(Laurie) #11

Just luck, really. I went for a nutritional consult thinking I needed some accountability (monthly check-ins) and was sure I wouldn’t learn anything because I was eating pretty healthy - South Beach Diet, no red meat, low fat, lots of healthy whole grains. Boy did my bubble burst when she shot down all of my favorites: oatmeal, yogurt, tons of veggies, et cetera. She introduced me to low carb, 50g or less per day. I then signed up for the Direct Primary Care practice model with the doc who oversaw the nutrition program and was happy to hear he was all on board, knew the cholesterol studies, very supportive. He doesn’t necessarily push keto but definitely low carb, healthy fats.

#12

I don’t know what the standard practice for Dr note taking is, but I’ve paid attention and always been AMAZED at what they remember from visit to visit, he knew you lost that weight, as it was said, most Doc’s don’t like having us normies prove their medical schools wrong. I’ve been on the quest for a while to find a good D.O. in my area that is hopefully also in the functional medicine practice. As long as we keep going to brainwashed MD’s that regurgitated standard of care we’re only fueling the fire that wrecked everybody to begin with. To be fair there are some MD’s that have gotten into functional medicine, but it seems the D.O’s are always ahead of the curve with that way of thinking.

#13

As I have said before most DOs are conventionally trained physicians and are no better and no worse than other MDs. I would only choose one over an MD if they have a functional medicine background.

I know a few DOs, most are indistinguishable from MDs, for example I know 2 DOs well. One just graduated at the very top of her class and went there because it was convenient and she did not get in any place better. She admits she knows nothing about nutrition and does not care to learn about it unless it is part of her conventional residency program. Her mother is in remission from Cancer and she gives her no nutrition advice. The other is my kid’s pediatrician who when my overweight teenager was having stomach problems that prevented him from having an appetite told me I had to get some sugar into him to keep his energy up! Worse, it was said in front of my kid so he took it as a license to drink a whole bunch of crap while he was sick which delayed his recovery I think

As for the MD not commenting, either he did not remember you, did not notice the notation about weight. Possibly your weight previously was not that outside the ballpark, for example, going from a BMI of 27 to 22 is great but by 1st world standards, 27 is not considered terrible since a large percentage of the population are overweight. Perhaps he did not want to imply that your 27 was terrible the prior year