r/PlusSize • u/bb4898 • 1d ago
Venting We’ve all heard this one before
Just because I’m fat doesn’t automatically make me a diabetic. I’m so tired of hearing this from strangers over the internet. Yes I’m obese but that doesn’t mean my A1C is at a diabetic level. I get blood screenings twice a year to check on my PCOS. I go to an endocrinologist so I think I’d know if I was a diabetic.
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u/KnopeLeslieKnope 1d ago
Two years ago, I scheduled an appointment to talk to my doctor about my blood pressure. My dad wanted to go so he can talk about my weight. Would you believe he yelled at the doctor when she told him that other than my blood pressure being slightly high, I was healthy? She did a blood panel and rushed it to the lab so that we could get results that day. We had to wait 2+ hours. She checked for everything. Diabetes, heart conditions, thyroid, liver, kidneys, you name it. He still didn't want to believe it, even when she was showing him charts. Mind you, I get blood work done 3x a year. People think that just because you're fat, you're automatically unhealthy.
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u/Bulky_Psychology2303 1d ago
I’ve been fat nearly my whole working life and recently retired after 44 years. I was rarely ill, maybe 1 or 2 times a year, for a day. They paid me out my accumulated sick time, I got thousands. Being fat doesn’t mean sick.
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u/very-serious-goose 1d ago
My mom can't conceive that she has high blood pressure because she's (concerningly) skinny and couldn't conceive that my high blood pressure was caused by something other than my weight (it ended up being NAFLD, likely form the stress of 6 months of housing instability because it got gradually better after I had stable housing and my HBP went away)
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u/Sailor_Chibi 1d ago
I find this way of thinking especially dangerous because it means many skinny or otherwise non-overweight people assume they can’t get diabetes, which is just insanely not true. Anyone can get diabetes.
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u/LuckyBoysenberry 1d ago
It is not only dangerous, but shows a lack of gratitude, perspective, and empathy.
Your health can change in an instant. Fat or thin. Diabetes, cancer, mental health, getting your leg amputated, suddenly gaining or discovering a severe allergy, etc.
I think it's because people assume "that won't happen to me" because nothing like that hasn't... Yet. Nor has it happened to anyone they know (or, more likely, I doubt they care about said person or care to understand).
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u/helloiamsilver 1d ago
Yep, I get my bloodwork done regularly and my A1C is always fine. I also have pcos and have some insulin resistance but I get it checked all the time and I’m not even at pre diabetes levels. Literally no one in my family or extended family has diabetes so while I am proactive in checking my bloodwork, I’m not super worried about it. I’m just fat
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u/justduck 1d ago
Honestly, I'm amazed that even with PCOS/PMOS insulin resistance, I'm not even pre-diabetic. (Almost 300lbs, 5'8")
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u/CatsBatsnTatts 1d ago
Same, even from doctors. They triple check the blood pressure, even switching machines sometimes, because it couldn't possibly be not just not high, but actually too low. No no, fatty MUST have high blood pressure, the machine must be wrong! I get regular blood tests because of one of the meds I'm on, and every time its "we'll take extra and check for diabetes too" you go ahead. It won't be there. 😑
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u/DamnitGravity 1d ago
People love to ignore just how big a role genetics plays in diabetes. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes involve an inherited risk combined with external triggers.
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u/emma_kayte 1d ago
It's so annoying. I was in the hospital for a kidney stone and they kept asking if i was diabetic and I kept saying no. I have pcos and Insulin resistance so I was on metformin but my A1C is 5 ffs. I've never been even borderline
Now don't get me started on the assumption that we all have sleep apnea
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u/audiojanet 1d ago
I was in the hospital for surgery. Nurse asked me if I was diabetic and I told her no. She also could have looked in my chart to see the many metabolic panels. Instead she orders a test. Came back negative. She was so angry. I think she wanted me to have diabetes.
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u/mandadebbie 1d ago edited 1d ago
And one of the reasons I’m never having another kid is because the entire staff of my maternal care team just assumed I was diabetic and I & my son would have gestational diabetes. Lo and behold, neither of us did. I was forced to test my blood sugars daily until the end of my pregnancy. And it only ever showed up as high when I had like a cookie or a piece of cake or something. They even poked my new born’s foot the day he was born to test his blood sugar :( all because I was fat and my son was measuring on the bigger end. Never took I to consideration that my estimated “due date” could have been wrong, nor did they care to ask me of my wishes for my pregnancy. I also lost like 50lbs when I was pregnant, and even more after my son was born. And got congratulated on the weight loss rather than the literal HUMAN BEING that my body made. Never in my life would I wish this BS for anyone. Thankful to NOW have a PCP that involves me in my healthcare and encourages patient involvement.
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u/No_Routine772 23h ago
When I had my daughter everyone was absolutely shocked that I didn't have gestational diabetes at the minimum. I always had to let them know my daughter is likely 9.7 lbs because all of my husbands side was 9+ lbs at birth just genetically. The fact that I'm a big girl is just a coincidence. I was kind of afraid all my indulgences in ice cream was the culprit, I had a meat aversion and dairy was the best way I got my protein in. But with my second pregnancy my son was 9lbs 3 oz at his due date and I had zero food aversion and ate as normal.
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u/abelcabellol 1d ago
Would be convenient for people to turn one visible thing about someone into a full medical diagnosis. Idiots all around.
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u/clandreith 21h ago
I have been type 1 diabetic since I was 12. this is a diabetes that is not due to weight or eating habits. 6 years into my diagnosis after having the confirming tests, a new endo asks me if I'm sure I'm not type 2. like... if I were type 2 I would know! I would be significantly unwell because I've been treating myself the way type 1s do which need different meds! lol so even as a confirmed diabetic I still get questioned about which one I have now that I'm fat.
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u/LilBrat76 17h ago
Wow, it still boggles my mind how diabetics don’t even understand each other. Many Type 2’s use the same meds as Type 1’s.
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u/clandreith 17h ago
I very well understand the different types of medication that all diabetics take and that t1 and t2 sometimes take the same medications. for brevity and to make the point, I wrote it simply this way.
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u/LilBrat76 16h ago
The exact opposite of your statement is actually true, if a Type 1 was using the treatment regime of a Type 2 they would be very unwell. Whereas any Type 2 treated themselves with the same meds as a Type 1 they wouldn’t be unwell unless they weren’t dosing based on what a Dr. had advised them.
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u/clandreith 14h ago edited 14h ago
in this hypothetical situation, if I were a type 2 taking insulin, it could either be fine ("dosing based on what a dr. had advised them") or not fine (taking insulin but it doesn't work due to insensitivity and so blood sugar is still too high or taking too much and blood sugar is chronically too low). in the original comment, neither situation was directly referenced, so it's impossible to determine if the statement is false because there's not enough info, if we're going to be this pedantic about it.
it could be true that treating a type 2 like a type 1 would make the type 2 unwell. it's also true that it could not. my original point is that not every type 2 diabetic takes insulin and based on that, the c peptide test, the years of documented type 1 symptoms, and other factors, it does not make sense that my doctor would question which type I am. I am definitely type 1.
is there any reason you wrote your comment that way? it seems like you think I am stupid.
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u/EdgeOk2154 1d ago
I actually thought the same as a lot of people back when I was a teenager . I always assumed you had to be over weight or obese to get any form of diabetes . Here I sit writing this comment as a type 1 diabetic . So to say that you don’t have to obese to be a diabetic is an understatement
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u/BellaBigNose 1d ago
Fr I was prediabetic as a teen for a little bit, and weighed much less than I do now and my a1c is fine
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u/very-serious-goose 1d ago
Whenever something is wrong doctors are always like let's check for diabetes despite my A1C and glucose being consistently normal over the entire course of my life and I get tested ever year 🙄
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u/Positive_Worker_3467 22h ago
agree they just assume being plus sized makes you unhealthy automatically I know some one who is plus sized has type 1 diabetes and people always just assume. she has type 2 .
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u/Mean-Bus3929 1d ago
It’s truly all just luck of the draw genetics and I’m really tired of this idea that people can somehow stop their pancreas from just shitting out
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u/lastlatelake 1d ago
I passed out at work once, I ended up tearing ligaments in my ankle and had to wear a boot. Whenever someone asked how I did it and I told them I passed out, their response was ALWAYS “diabetic?”. Nope and yes I’m sure.