Question:
Why won't Doctors listen?

I had been for most of my life a thin person. With my second pregancy I very quickly balloned from 123 pounds to 140 within two months of the onset of my pregnancy. When I asked my doctor what was wrong with me his answer, "You're no spring chicken anymore, when you decide to have a child in your mid-thirties, this is what happens." I am no fool, I've known women older than myself at that time who were having children without gaining an absurd amount of weight in such a short period of time. I also 'know' my body and I knew that something was terribly wrong. For one thing I hurt everywhere...couldn't stand to be touched. This is not normal either. I went through my pregancy and ate very little because of the severe nausea and still added pounds until I reached 170 pounds by delivery date. So in 9 months I went from 123 pounds to 170 pounds without eating very much at all. I'm no doctor, but even I know that is was not 'normal' and something was out of whack. I also don't believe it was because I hit my mid-thirties as my doctor had implied. Five years after that I finally found a specialist who informed me that I had a thing called 'fibromyalgia'. Unfortunately there is no cure for this awful thing and with it comes many problems such as weight gain, hypo-thyroidism, pain, mitral-valve prolapse, vision problems, sleep problems, extreme fatigue, etc. You name it and it probably is connected in some ways. My doctor gave me a list of things (symptoms) that someone with this disorder can have and out of this list of possibly 50 or 60 symptoms I had all but one (my hair is not falling out). Although I'm convinced that my doctor is correct, outside of putting me on synthroid, I have yet to lose my weight. This is a double-edged sword, because when I was younger I did work out regularly and I felt great; but when this disorder desended upon me I developed so much pain that just going for a walk can cause such extreme pain that it brings tears to my eyes. I have to admit that I initially lost 20 pounds when I first started on the synthroid, and even felt a little bit more like myself, but that is all for nought now because now I'm at my heaviest. I cannot take many drugs because of my heart condition (the mitral- valve prolapse). I have recently put myself on a 500 calorie a day diet and have lost exactly nothing over a course of the last three weeks. I don't feel any worse, but I don't feel any better either. I want a doctor who is really willing to work with me to discover the answer. I personally don't feel the phen-fen thing that you talk about is either reasonable or safe. I thought they pulled some of that mixture off of the market as result of the safety issues. I don't have the answers, but I like many other people know how it feels to look and feel my worst and feel helpless to fix the problem. And yes, it is true that people view you differently when you're fat. And yes they do tell you, "Just lose the weight and you'll be fine". This is NOT a simple or logical answer. I believe clinical research is definitely the answer. I do believe that there is a way to beat this, but like in cancer research, until they hit the right answer, it will continue to be a struggle and a humiliation for many people. I want to be young and healthy again, I know that is not possible, but maybe I can at least get the healthy part back with the aid of a good doctor.    — Pat F. (posted on June 29, 1999)

June 29, 1999
Now I know why your doctor will not take you seriously. I would not risk putting my life on the line with surgery to lose about 30 pounds. I just recently lost a friend a few weeks ago due to complications of surgery. He had the operation to loose at least "200" pounds. You want to talk about quality of life issues. He did not die from the surgery, but from a blood clot to his lungs. This is one of the risks of surgery. I would risk it to loose 120 pounds and up but not 30. Why do you think most doctors use surgery as a means of last resort? I think you need to refocus your energy on your life and your new baby. See what the doctor has to offer with other methods. Do yourself a favor. Find out in your area if there is a support group for people who are having WLS done or have had it done. Just go to one of these meetings and you will see the other people with much greater problems the you. Then hopefully you will be able to put this in to proper context. Don't be suprised if they laugh you out of the room when you tell them you want surgery to loose 30 pounds.
   — Joe W.

June 29, 1999
Your case is similar to mine, except that I gained 100 lbs with each of my pregnancies, lost it the first time but not the second. FMS is very common; both my husband and I have it. One of the things that I found out belatedly is that FMS can make you more sensitive to side effects of medication; in addition, many of the meds used to treat it can cause weight gain. Be very careful to ask your doctor if any medication has weight gain associated with it and if so, is there an alternative treatment without that side effect. It takes about 18 months to 2 years to adapt to FMS and it is common to be depressed during this time. Also, exercise is more likely to trigger a pain reaction; you should not be exercising above 80% of the maximum recommended heart rate. This affects me because of my metabolism I need to actually work out at higher than the top of the chart in order to realize any effect at all. So its a case of being thin and in pain and bedridden or heavier and able to carry on a life. If you have not had a sleep study, do so. There is a common sleep disturbance (alpha-delta wave disturbance) in many FMS patients that causes you to wake up just as you hit the deep restful stage of sleep. It is easily treated by certain antidepressants (in my case Vivactyl); without them I have a much lower energy level. I went to a doctor who helped some; he was very nasty about any extra weight and didn't listen though to anything I told him about my diet. Only half of phen/fen has been voluntarily withdrawn from the market. The other half, phentermine, is often used as a treatment for ADD and FMS; these diseases are part of the affective spectrum. Interestingly enough, the only way I could lose weight was on phentermine. But I had to stop taking it because of the other meds I am on for narcolepsy and I regained the 45 pounds I lost in 5 months. I am now investigating surgery since the weight has worsened my symptoms. There is also some research being done on one of the over the counter expectorants (guafanesin) as being effective in both weight control and pain control in FMS; I was using it for a while since it is cheap, effective, and doesn't make me drowsy but have run out. Hang in there; you can't be cured from FMS but you can learn to minimize its effect on your life. Two and a half years ago I was in a wheelchair and now I am back working full time, able to keep up with my kids and husband, and do most things on a moderate basis.
   — Joyce L.