I recently decided to go on birth control for the first time, so I made an appointment with a gynecologist. After making the appointment, my sister told me that her friend had been to this doctor recently, and the woman had really upset my sister’s friend by insisting that the girl had anorexia to the point that it was all she would discuss during the appointment. I was put off by this fact, but it’s extremely difficult to make appointments around my work schedule so I decided to stay with this doctor.
As soon as the doctor introduces herself, she checks her chart and immediately starts talking about the fact that I am “10-12 pounds overweight. “ I acknowledge this to be true and tell her that I graduated college a year ago and now I have a desk job so I don’t get as much activity as I used to. I figure that will be the end of that topic. Nope.
DR: Do you work out?
ME: Yes, but usually just once a week.
DR: You really need to be working out four times a week if you want to lose weight.
ME:….okay.
DR: You said you work a desk job. Is it one of those where people bring in a bunch of awful junk food and sweets?
ME: ….no.
DR: That’s good. You know, you should really consider joining Weight Watchers.
The doctor spent the majority of the appointment discussing my weight. I certainly do not feel I encouraged the conversation down that path. I agreed that I could stand to lose 10 pounds and then tried to move on. She never once made a connection between the birth control I wanted to go on and the 10 pounds she wanted me to lose.
I had marked on the forms I filled out before the appointment that I have issues with anxiety. I became very upset and anxious about this line of questioning, but if the doctor noticed, she didn’t care enough to comment. I have had issues with food and weight in the past (albeit, not as serious as it could have been but issues all the same). But what if I had had a severe ED in the past? I feel like the way she persisted with the topic could have definitely set someone off.
I understand being concerned if you feel a patient is either under or overweight. However, I think it is completely unacceptable to keep at the issue the way this doctor appears to. I also would understand a little more if I was significantly overweight, but she herself admitted it was only by 10-12 pounds.
Oh and when we got to the birth control? She just wrote me a prescription, handed me a leaflet and told me I could look it over later. She rushed through the possible side effects and barely discussed the pills after spending all the time talking about my weight.
TL;DR: Gynecologist accuses my sister’s friend of eating disorder and then suggests I work out four times a week and go on Weight Watchers because I’m 10 pounds overweight.