Cammy

1. The nurse practitioner that I saw in college insisted that I NOT see a gynecologist.  This was after I had lost my period for several years, gained back to a normal weight, and still not gotten it back.  She insisted that there was nothing any professional could tell me and that if my body decided to menstruate again, it would.
2. I took an ED medical clearance form to my doctor, and on it there were two blanks for blood pressure–one for sitting and one for standing.  The nurse looked at it and said “Now that’s a silly question–I don’t see why they wouldn’t be the same.”  She took my blood pressure once and wrote the number down twice.
3. I was planning on starting accutane for acne when we learned that there was a high incidence of depression/suicide and accutane treatment.  When we mentioned this to my dermatologist (since I was already struggling with depression), she said “Oh, that statistic MUST be wrong.  When people have clearer skin they are happier!!”  (for the record, accutane did worsen my depression–even though it did really help my skin).
4. My cholesterol registered as high on a blood test (even though the bad cholesterol was low and my good cholesterol was really high… and this is common with anorexia) and my doctor sent me a letter instructing me to watch my diet and exercise more.

I feel like I could go on and on, but I will stop there.  Back in the day I took a lot of things personally (like being told that “if you lose 5-10 lbs then we’ll start monitoring you” or “all your labs came back fine so you are A-OK”) and as an indication that I didn’t have a problem and was asking for help when I didn’t need it… but really, once you’ve seen enough doctors, you start to realize that most of them just don’t know.  And the ones who do get it?  It’s usually because either they themselves or their loved ones have struggled with an eating disorder in the past.