As I mentioned previously, I have to go see my endocrinologist in the morning.  While I’m excited about her reaction to my weight loss and before pictures, I’m still nervous.  Going to doctors still makes me nervous.  I’m a very private person (yes, I’m aware I have a blog for the entire world to see), so maybe it’s all the poking and prodding and undressing and personal questions.  Or maybe it’s that potential for criticism.  It’s almost like visiting the princpal’s office when you know you’re in trouble, but you’re not sure what you’ve done wrong.  Whatever it is, I’m usually a nervous wreck by the time the doctor gets in the room.

I also tend to second-guess everything the doctors say.  I spend too much time doing research online and develop all of these questions in my head that I think they should ask me.  And when they don’t, I wonder if they really know what they’re talking about.  Sometimes I feel like they come into the room after looking at your chart with a set idea in their heads about what is wrong with you and what treatment you need, and since they’re usually so rushed, they don’t take the time to really find out what’s going on or to consider all of the possibilities.  And if I leave feeling like this, with more questions and doubts running through my head then when I went in, I wonder what was the point in my visit. 

I read an interesting post on the Half of Me blog today.  It’s about whether or not we consult our doctors for advice regarding our weight loss plans.  I most certainly did not.  I spent years going to doctors for colds or an earache and hearing lectures about my weight.  Almost always, my weight was the cause of my problems.  Somehow I highly doubt that my weight caused me to catch the flu from my co-worker.

In fact, when I was a junior in college, my back went out.  I went to the doctor, and he told me it was just my weight - I’d probably pulled a muscle.  I ended up in the ER from the agonizing pain and received a shot of painkillers directly in my ass that didn’t phase the pain a bit.  Went back to the doctor to hear that it was still probably just a pulled muscle.  Ended up back in the ER because I couldn’t take it anymore before another doctor there finally took me seriously and sent me to have an MRI done.  It turned out that I did have a bulged disc in my spine, along with a bit of degenerative disc disease.  It drove me nuts that while yes, my weight probably contributed to it, the doctors seem to completely disregard the possibility that there might be something else more serious going on than a pulled muscle.  I’d had pulled muscles.  That was no pulled-muscle pain.

I know that I’m not alone in this.  I’ve read other people say many times that they feel like their weight overshadows everything when they see the doctor.  An earache?  It’s your weight.  A broken arm?  It’s your weight.  A bug bite? It’s your weight.  And while our weight can contribute to a variety of ills, hearing that I need to lose weight isn’t going to help me get over a cold any faster.

I also believe that each doctor has a set of ideas about how weight loss should be accomplished.  Of course, eat less, exercise more, but that’s so often easier said than done.  And I think that each of these doctors pushes their idea of what is the best way to do this, without regard for what might be best for the patient.  One might say weightloss surgery is the only real way to lose weight and keep it off.  Another might swear by Weight Watchers, or Atkins, or Sugar Busters.  They might not even be that aware of how the other programs or options work.  All they know is the plan that they endorse.

So do you tend to trust doctors?  Do you have faith in them to do what’s right and know what’s best?  Or do you leave your appointments filled with questions like I do?  Or am I just overly paranoid and too distrustful?  I’m interested to hear your thoughts.