My hubby did fasting bloodwork 3 days ago and his cholesterol & triglycerides were thru the roof-the office called him & told him it was high and had him p/u the lab results & samples of chol med plus to redo bloodwork in 6 wks...no mention of diet/exercise, lifestyle changes, nothing... so apparently pills are how we deal with it now. Pills...that's the answer???
I'm a nurse and it angers me so much how his poor lifestyle was not addressed @ all-he smokes & gets very rich, unhealthy catered lunches @ his work 5 days a week, his blood pressure was up last office visit which is why he was sent for labwork anyway. He needs to lose weight as I do-no doubt but if a pill can solve the problem, what's the motivation to change? It just upsets me...we're both 38 yr old & it does get harder to keep weight down but if healthcare providers don't say "you must lose weight" then who will and who will listen??? I love him and it scares me-heart attack seems just around the corner....
I'm not a 30 something, but I will be soon.. And my DH already is! (So I hope it's okay I'm here! )
I'm SO worried that this very thing will happen to my husband. He eats whatever he wants and does nothing as a form of exersize! And I agree with a lifestyle change, pills can't cure everything! Sigh. Another thing that is wrong with the world today, magic pills will take care of it, so why should I bother?!
In all of my Overweight Life, I have never been instructed to lose weight. Even during my pregnancies (2 of which I started out obese!) I was never cautioned, counseled, or expressed concern to regarding my weight. I'm not sure why that is, exactly. Are they afraid of malpractice lawsuits? Do they get THAT much kickback from the drug companies?? I don't know.
I'm sorry that you got such frightening news. Your DH will learn by your example and maybe come along. I started my journey in August 2009. It took until January of 2010 for my husband to come along. I was very concerned for him (he started out at 320lbs). He's lost 80lbs this year and started running!!
Continue on - pray if you are the praying kind - make small changes in your cooking habits - invite him to go for a walk (keep inviting him) - give it time.
A few years ago, my hubby had his checked. I think it was just over 200 and the Dr. wanted to put him on meds (we were still in our 20's at teh time!!!). He did not go back to that Dr.
Even just a few simple changes would probably help your hubby. Can you get him to go for walks with you? Would he consider switching some simple carbs with some whole grains? I also just found out that alcohol affects triglycerides. (sp?) I have been cutting back on that quite a bit.
I have also read that JUST losing 10% of your weight can have a huge impact on your health. So if he is, say 250 lbs, just losing 25 lbs would dramatically improve his health.
It's scary. Hubby and I spend our 20's binge drinking and eating crap. Now we have to undo the damage. We sure did have a lot of fun though...
My DH got a high cholesterol number back in February, our doctor told him to change his diet and exercise, recheck in six months and would discuss meds then if needed. He has brought it down a good bit in that time and has lost weight, so the doctor didn't push the meds. Told him to keep doing what he was doing and we would recheck again at next physical.
I hate the immediate jump to meds, especially cholesterol meds. They have so many negative side effects. I have so many friends who are taking the meds, whose doctors say exactly what yours did. It is sad to me that healthcare providers aren't addressing the lifestyle issues. I believe that pharma has too much control over healthcare, and moving us immediately to medicines makes us more and more dependent on them and less able to manage our own lives. Just continues the 'quick fix' mentality that we have all over our lives. Home equity loan to pay back credit card debt, medicine to fix cholesterol, hormone shots to lose weight, etc. Makes me crazy.
Sorry, ranting.
What does your DH want to do? Take the meds? My DH was very strongly against them all along. Maybe showing your DH some of the side effects would help? Particularly some of the more 'manly' side effects?
I believe doctors and other health care providers have become discouraged about telling patients to lose weight, exercise, make lifestyle changes because 90% of the time it goes in one ear and out the other. Why is it the doctor's responsibility - your husband is a grown man and should take responsibility for his health.
@ Shannon in ATL-he wants to lose the weight & resume a decent program but started the pills today cause he did get scared after reading the meaning of the chol & trig(via internet). I believe fear to be a motivator myself...
@QuilterinVA-he knows it's his responsibility my point was why was the girth not mentioned via the phone conversation @ all? he had a physical, was weighted-no mention, BP was up-no mention, had fasting BW, got results yest-again no mention. Plus I forgot to mention a mo or 2 ago he had sleep study because of his ridiculous snoring(me & the kids videoed it to show him) & he sleeps on another floor cause he keeps us awake. So he was referred to an ear nose throat specialist who wants to do surgery....WTF???? It's the weight!!!!!!!! It is the pink elephant(how appropriate)in the exam room in my opinion. So he keeps telling me how no one tells him it's the weight. What no one professional can say"your obese, your BP is high, Your BW is in a danger zone, your snoring is causing apnea which is life threatening-lose weight!!!!" I know he knows. why is there no honesty? I dont care if it's discouraging to the healthcare providers to not be listened to yes that prob does suck for them but does that mean the message should not be delivered @ all? Again...pink elephant.
Should we not upset the out of control patient?
Is america so huge because there is no one to answer to?
Sorry....it angers me
I know exactly how you feel. Like others here, my weight has never been mentioned by my doctors. In fact, when my BP was higher, I was told - it goes up with age, you indicated your mom has high BP - so it's probably genetic. I remember looking at the doctor, thinking - gee, could it be that I'm obese, probably morbidly obese? Ugh!
I also had a blood draw in May, and my cholesterol and triglycerides were high, high enough that this dr. mentioned medications. Thankfully I had been there a month before, and in that time had lost 8 pounds, so I told her - I'm losing weight, I'm exercising, I don't want to take pills. She gave me six months, and then we'll do another check. But once I mentioned the weight loss, all of the sudden it opened up - she began talking to me about how great that is, how my joints will really thank me for that, etc etc. But yet when I just came in as an obese person, she never said - you know, the extra weight is really taxing your joints. I know weight is awkward, but it's not like a fat person is ever really surprised to hear they are fat.
I believe doctors and other health care providers have become discouraged about telling patients to lose weight, exercise, make lifestyle changes because 90% of the time it goes in one ear and out the other. Why is it the doctor's responsibility - your husband is a grown man and should take responsibility for his health.
For goodness sake, it's the Doctors responsibility to mention weight control for medical issues that can be controlled by weight-loss, because a freaking pill is not the only solution to these types of problems. ****, we might as well cut medical cost and eliminate the doctor all together. A patient should just go straight to the pharmacy from how on.
Unfortunately I think that medicating the problem is the norm. Not just for weight, BP or High Cholesterol, but for everything. Behavior modification, mood changes, everything. I think that as a society, we are lazy, and we want that "magic pill" for everything. We do not want to do the work.
My uncle is a perfect example. He takes meds for BP and Cholesterol, then he sits down to a 22oz steak and his attitude? "I can eat this I take a pill for it".
I work in the medical field and I know that when dealing with doctors and insurance companies it is much cheaper for the doctor to medicate rather than address the actual issue. If a patient is on an HMO for instance (and lets face it, they are cheaper so a lot of us are) they get a set amount of money per patient per month and not much more. So even if they only see a patient once every year or six months, they get their money. If they see a patient every week, they still only get their monthly amount for that patient. So, it makes more "sense" from an economic standpoint to medicate and follow up once every six months. Rather than every month, or whatever. Sad, but very true.
earlier this year my workplace allowed me to go to dr mcdougall's health retreat on their dime. 10 days i ate the foods they provided and my (as well as the near 200 people who went with me) experienced a significant drop in cholesterol and triglycerides. excercise does help drop cholesterol, but just changing the diet had a large impact. I know for best results, the dr recommends a meat, dairy & oil free diet, but knows that is a hard thing for most folks to accomplish. he had the results of research paid by non-interested parties about the effects of food on health.
i think in general, the population puts too much hope in the success of pills. and there is an effect of self diagnosing common problems with little thought of long term side effects.
another sad thought is that although people can have negative health factors, they are just that. factors that may or may not effect people's health in the long term.
My uncle is a perfect example. He takes meds for BP and Cholesterol, then he sits down to a 22oz steak and his attitude? "I can eat this I take a pill for it".
I work in the medical field and I know that when dealing with doctors and insurance companies it is much cheaper for the doctor to medicate rather than address the actual issue. If a patient is on an HMO for instance (and lets face it, they are cheaper so a lot of us are) they get a set amount of money per patient per month and not much more. So even if they only see a patient once every year or six months, they get their money. If they see a patient every week, they still only get their monthly amount for that patient. So, it makes more "sense" from an economic standpoint to medicate and follow up once every six months. Rather than every month, or whatever. Sad, but very true.
This is so incredibly sad, I'm horrified. Whatever happened to preventative healthcare? Sad that the west seems to be run by pharmaceutical companies and governments that rake in the money by obese and sick people.
Almost a month ago, I was told by my doctor who has a background in nutrition and plastic surgery (how contradictory), that because my blood pressure was medium high, and my cholesterol was high, that I had two choices. I could lose weight, or he could put me on pills. I said, I'll lose weight. He then said he would check back with me in three months. I am stunned and also angered that your doctor (futuresize6), just wanted to give you a pill. I hate pills so much, and have never been no pills, and don't want to go on pills unless it is the very last resort.
That's why I believe it is important for us as consumers, to look into our own health and be our own resource. You know he needs to lose weight to not have to take pills, then maybe when he loses weight, he can go back to the doctor and ask him to get tested again so he can get off the pills.
To not mention it at all with all of those symptoms is ridiculous. Is your husband waiting for a "professional" to tell him what the problem is? Maybe you could go to his next appointment and point blank ask the doctor, is his weight a factor in these symptoms? Why has it not been mentioned previously?
Just got scary news yesterday...
)
Your DH will learn by your example and maybe come along. I started my journey in August 2009. It took until January of 2010 for my husband to come along. I was very concerned for him (he started out at 320lbs). He's lost 80lbs this year and started running!! 
