Do you feel discriminated against for being thin?

RunnerDuck · 05-06-2009, 11:05 AM

I don't really consider myself thin - I consider myself pretty damn average. I could lose 10 pounds to be just right... but compared to the sterotypical portrayal of what a woman with PCOS should look like, I guess I look like I need a sandwich.

Anyway I recently moved and was looking for a doctor and thought I'd try an RE/gyn deal to sort of one stop shop. Thinking treat the PCOS, get my yearly... rather than have an OB and an endo...

Well this guy looked at me and said I don't need met because I don't look like I am at risk of developing diabetes. I mean he literally LOOKED at me, this wasn't based on bloodwork or anything.

I have been on met for years. Whether or not it has done me any good, I don't know. I understand that whether or not it works is becoming controversial. Still... I felt like he didn't take my PCOS seriously because I don't LOOK like I have it.

I had a gyno once say I couldn't have it because I wasn't "overweight enough."

I had an RE assume it would be easy for me to get pregnant since I was "thin and healthy." (It took 1 1/2 years, 3 m/c, lots of other hell...)

Anyone else get this? I hear a lot of women gripe about fat phobic docs who won't treat until they lose weight - what about the opposite?

I'm still kinda ticked about the "you don't look like you're at risk of diabetes."

Well, thanks doc - and I'd like to STAY that way!!!

I think I am going to go back to my old endo that I used to have when we lived here...

lelneal · 05-06-2009, 06:02 PM

Yeah, I know what you mean! I try to take it as a compliment that I don't "look like" I have PCOS, but it's still a little frustrating. If someone was withholding my medication because of it, I think I'd go somewhere else! That shows a pretty basic lack of understanding on their part.

frustratedwife · 05-06-2009, 06:17 PM

I really haven't had that reaction from my doctor verbally so much, but she refuses to believe that I was diagnosed with PCOS...

keohanel · 05-08-2009, 09:37 AM

hey rd, when not pg, i could stand to lose a good 10lbs just to keep me away from the upper BMI area.

i only have an ob/gyn and when DH and i started TTC (or a few months after cause i'm stupid and just kept hoping i would magically work), she re-did my b/w (had it done years ago) and put me on Met and talked about PCOS in general. she didn't differentiate between regular and thin cysters.

i have, however, had other people - including a study i tried to sign up for - tell me i can't have PCOS because of my weight. right after i started telling people i was pg, a lot of people (friends our age) asked how long it took since i was very open that it wasn't an "oops" but TTC. when i explained about PCOS one of my friends said that one of her friends who is in medical school right now said that only people with certain body types and who are overweight have PCOS. i told her that based on b/w and cysts in my ovaries (as well as other symptoms that i didn't feel the need to get into such as coarse/dark hair), i definitely have PCOS.

i hate when people try to talk me out of the diagnosis. like those that tell me that the only reason i didn't get my period was because i had gone of BC and not given it enough time. uh, no, i've had irregular (nonexistent) periods since puberty and my b/w and u/s had confirmed time and time again (my dr calls my ovaries "textbook pcos"). grr!

Bubs · 05-08-2009, 07:01 PM

Hey, I hear you! I was in for an ultrasound today and the tech said, "But you're not overweight!" I countered with the standard lines and fumed inwardly.

Stacie M · 05-08-2009, 07:42 PM

Well, I'm no where near thin, so I hope you don't mind me posting. However, I was thin, and wanted to add my thoughts.

I was thin until I was about 19. My PCOS weight gain kicked in and I gained a total of 80 pounds. I think this was compounded by the fact that I had undiagnosed PCOS and was being told to eat a low fat diet (which resulted in a high calorie and high carb diet, adding to my weight gain).

I think the doctors didn't take any of my PCOS symptoms seriously until I gained that weight. When I was thin and complained about irregular/absent periods, hair growth, and hypoglycemic episodes, they were brushed off. Not one doctor mentioned PCOS or did blood work. When I complained of pelvic pain or absent periods, I was given BCPs. I was told the hair growth was likely just hereditary (but no one else has it?). The hypoglycemia was because I wasn't eating enough, etc.

Finally, when the weight was packing on they started to get concerned and put me on a low fat diet (which equaled more weight for me). Then, finally, someone thought of PCOS and did some work-ups. It took years to get them to take me seriously. I got my official diagnosis at 22, and had been in and out of the doctors with symptoms since I was 14 (absent periods from the onset). They wouldn't consider PCOS until I "looked" like I had PCOS.

It sucks, because I had never heard of it and couldn't really advocate for myself. I wonder if some of my weight gain could have been prevented if I had been diagnosed beforehand and been properly educated on it and given decent treatment.

keohanel · 05-09-2009, 01:02 AM

i think it really comes down to lack of education in the medical community about PCOS. it is getting better, i think, but it still shocks me.

frustratedwife · 05-09-2009, 04:33 AM

Yeah i am definitely in agreement, there is just not enough knowledge out there about what is going on, most of us have been amongst the 'tested' preliminaries wether we have been informed about this or not...
And yeah StacieM, my mom was told to do the low fat thing too not because she had PCOS or anything, just cause she was over weight and that is what the doctors were and have been saying for years, and she did, but her health went down while she was on the diet. It just doesn't make sense because you substitute more calories, carbs and sugar to satisfy you rather than allow fat to natrually curb your hunger and keep you satisfied.
I think that the health care system is well intentioned for the most part, however I think each individual needs to become in tune to how their body handles things, which can be hard to do, but we know better than any doctors do. And then we need to weigh out what pertains to our personal conditions and do the best to our ability to take the knowledge given and personal knowledge based upon one's own body. If that makes sense.

katt_:) · 05-09-2009, 01:44 PM

This is completely ridiculous. You need to find someone who will listen to you and don't take no for an answer.

My worst symptoms of PCOS were when I was teenager. I was a world class athlete...138-142 @ 5'10.5". I was very, very thin. Yet, I had the acne, moderate to severe hair growth on my chin, no cycles, and abnormal pap smears. From the looks of me, I looked on the low end of my weight bracket. I even had coaches tell me from my weight alone I needed to lose weight, when in reality, I needed to gain some muscle weight. The only real fat I had on my body was the pooch in my abdonmen. When I stopped swimming things got worse, my OB put me on BCP. That is when the weight gain really started. It was the craziest 10 years of my life. When I started getting chest pains my doc switched me to Met. Things have improved so much. I finally have fairly normal cyles and many of the other symptoms have decreased to a tolerable level.

05-22-2009, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frustratedwife

I really haven't had that reaction from my doctor verbally so much, but she refuses to believe that I was diagnosed with PCOS...

Thats why I am afraid of going to my doctor at home when I am back from school.... I was diagnosed by my university clinic doctor (one of the best doctors I have ever had by the by). My "family" doctor didnt even believe I have acid reflux disease (both of my parents have it, and both of my grandfathers...). I really dont believe she would believe that I was diagnosed with PCOS just because I am not obese, she never even bothered to get me tested even though I had a previous family doctor suggest that I should be tested (we moved, so we changed doctors).

I workout daily and have played sports and worked out since I was 5, I watch my diet like crazy, I work hard at not gaining weight. It worries me because I was diagnosed and my sister should be tested, as should my mother (my mother has all the symptoms, including obesity, although she has lost weight since starting the low GI diet with me). If the family doctor doesnt believe me in my diagnosis, she wont test my sister or mom... and my sister is skinny too (a high level athlete though, like I was)

mitsumame · 06-08-2009, 02:55 PM

It's interesting (and sad) the range of experiences all of us seem to have with our doctors.

I am thin, but that hasn't seemed to affect my doctor's opinions. In fact, I hadn't even HEARD of PCOS until a doctor told me she suspected it, after looking at my tests. Which btw weren't even that wildly out of the norm. (and this was a walk-in clinic doctor, no less)

It's interesting too about the comments about diabetes. On my first appointment with my RE, that's one of the things that he mentioned, that diabetes might become an issue as I age, as well as bad cholesterol, even though they're not currently problems.

It's kind of frustrating to me that it seems like the success of our treatment depends so heavily on something that's sort of out of our control: the doctor's knowledge. You can say, well if you don't have a sympathetic doctor, just change doctors. But how are you supposed to make that judgement? If the doctor is telling you that s/he thinks it's not PCOS, how are you supposed to know to disagree with them? They're the ones that have gone to medical school.

Anyways, I feel genuinely bad for all you cysters out there who have struggled/are struggling needlessly with your doctors. Not all of them are like that!

flower_s7 · 06-10-2009, 05:10 PM

Yup, it comes down to what your doctor knows and what you know. The more informed you are as a patient allows you to find the most knowledgable doctor. Just keep looking. It took years of bad gyns to finally get a real diagnosis - and it was all right there in front of them. I think if I had been overweight it would have been much, much easier to get the diagnosis correct. As it was, every doctor took one look at me and told me that I should just gain some weight and surely I would ovulate. WHATEVER...lots of years and doctors later, I finally found a knowledgable gyn who sent me to a great RE who took excellent care of me. Metformin didn't work for me but another insulin sensitizer did...and I have two beautiful late life babies to show for it.

(and an RE who still follows me for any other problems PCOS gives me).

bekamom · 06-10-2009, 11:21 PM

I am technically classified as being underweight and trying hard to gain weight to help with my pcos. years ago when I was diagnosed my fertility doctor said I had pcos after lots of blood work. every doctor I have incountered since then has laughed and asked my if I was sure I had PCOS. I however make them listen to me when it comes to my meds because I wont let there ignorance interfere with my treatment. IT really sucks when they just don't understand what they are dealing with.

Nytepyre · 06-12-2009, 09:43 PM

It took me a while to get my doc to even get me diagnosed for the same reasons! You only have to have 2 of 3 symptoms to be DX. (1) Irregular or missing Periods and/or anovulation. (2) U/S PCO ovaries (3) B/W with the right (wrong LOL) numbers. I only have the first two, and I'm petite with average weight. I'm a size 4 with no extra hair, slight acne, nothing else to complain of, save for dizzy spells after eating and my missing periods/eggies! I heard over and over and over again that I probably didn't have PCOS because I just didn't look like it. Rediculous! I wouldn't have even been tested had my OBGYN not called her Prof. from med school. She was totally stumped on my chart and our 8 months of "treatments" and tests with no luck. He MADE her order a U/S for me. All the Docs and the U/S tech said surely not, just to rule it out. I thought the U/S tech was going to drop the baton when there it was on the screen, in bold black and white! Can't believe its this dificult to get diagnosed and treated just because we don't fit the stereotypical physical symptoms!

Toots192 · 06-22-2009, 06:36 PM

Like many other woman I too went undiagnosed for years because I was thin. I asked my doctors, gynos, and even and endorcrinologist what my problem was (explained symptoms of PCOS) and they all mentioned PCOS in passing but always said "oh you can't have that though because you are too thin..."