T Nation

Is My Doctor Stupid?

Off Topic
#1

or just greedy?I went to get a check-up the other day and he asked if I was taking anything.I told him the usual things and added that I take creatine daily.He told me if I cared anything about my health,I’d be smart to discontinue creatine immeditally

.WTF,I asked him why and he just babbled about how supplements aren’t safe,ect,ect.I told him it was found in meats,and he said something to insult my intellegence and changed the subject.

He probably gets kickbacks for prescribing Meds that are 100x more dangerous like oxicotin,and he’s telling me that creatine is unsafe.Is this just ignorence,or just the pharmicutical industry pulling his strings.

#2

[quote]singram wrote:
or just greedy?I went to get a check-up the other day and he asked if I was taking anything.I told him the usual things and added that I take creatine daily.He told me if I cared anything about my health,I’d be smart to discontinue creatine immeditally

.WTF,I asked him why and he just babbled about how supplements aren’t safe,ect,ect.I told him it was found in meats,and he said something to insult my intellegence and changed the subject.

He probably gets kickbacks for prescribing Meds that are 100x more dangerous like oxicotin,and he’s telling me that creatine is unsafe.Is this just ignorence,or just the pharmicutical industry pulling his strings.[/quote]

Doctors are people. If your doctor doesn’t lift weights, don’t expect him to know more than the average person about supplements. They don’t teach “supplements” in school. I am sure he thinks lifting weights is a negative activity as well.

#3

Hes an idiot.

#4

wtf, creatine is naturally found in the human body at small levels, thats why its taken as a supplement…this dick, the doc, sounds like…a dick.

#5

[quote]singram wrote:
“and he just babbled about how supplements aren’t safe,ect,ect… he said something to insult my intellegence”[/quote]
Come on man, you gotta at least remember what he said!?!? You diden’t even try to understand or look at it from his level?

#6

Q: What do you call the person who graduates last in his class at Medical School?

A: Doctor.

#7

[quote]JimmyOZ wrote:
wtf, creatine is naturally found in the human body at small levels, thats why its taken as a supplement…this dick, the doc, sounds like…a dick. [/quote]

Just because something is found in the human body doesn’t mean it’s safe to ingest in larger amounts. Your stomach contains hydrochloric acid, I wouldn’t recommend ingesting that.

Secondly, how is the doctor making money by saying supplements are bad? Who would possibly pay him to say that creatine isn’t good for you?

Most likely he heard a few scare stories about creatine and believed it. It’s surprising how people you’d think would be fairly intelligent are willing to swallow vast amounts of bs.

#8

Yea,I agree,he’s just ignorant about supplements and weightlifting in general.I mean,he’s gotta be pushing his 70’s and has that big grampa gut.But I just didn’t like him spouting to be an expert on a subject he knew little about except what the media says.I remeber wanting to throw my remote at the TV when ESPN said that BALCO sold a drug called ZMA.

#9

[quote]cap’nsalty wrote:

Secondly, how is the doctor making money by saying supplements are bad? Who would possibly pay him to say that creatine isn’t good for you?

[/quote]

Doctors are given next to nothing when it comes to training involving natural remedies and supplementation. And thats never really going to change, as long as big pharma companies have a vested interest in the medical field.

Some doctors are given perks, taken out for expensive lunches, dinners, golf outings, hunting trips, cruise tickets, you name it, by pharm reps looking to pimp out their latest drugs.

Nobody is giving any doctor any money to pimp out any natural remedy, supplement, etc.

#10

Wait, he insulted you to your face and you didn’t do anything?! or say anything back?

#11

They just aren’t educated in that field, they’re not “dumb” they know about normal fat people problems like high blood pressure/hypertension, obesity, and depression. And I guar-ass-tee you they know more about that stuff than you do.

Yes, you know more about lifting, take doc’s advice on that with a grain of salt.

#12

[quote]brucevangeorge wrote:
Wait, he insulted you to your face and you didn’t do anything?! or say anything back?[/quote]

Not really,he was just talking down to me like I shouldn’t be doing things like creatine.You know,kinda like your mom nagging at you because she knows better than you whats good for you.

#13

[quote]Ghost22 wrote:
And I guar-ass-tee you they know more about that stuff than you do.
[/quote]

No doubt,my post was being more sarcastic about his dumbness.He’s just ignorant about lifting and supplements.But my Mom was a nurse at a hospital in Memphis,and she said several doctors are smart as hell,but lacking in the common sense department.

#14

Why not tell him about the benefits of Creatine, and how it could be good for his heart and brain?

And that he doesn’t need to train with weights to get some positive benefits from it.

Ask him what specific negative side effects it has and what it actually does in the body.

Maybe print out some articles showing the benefits of Creatine, and make sure it has good, up-to-date references.

Then ask for an apology.

#15

Not everyone can know everything. That said it’s real unlikely he’s stupid, however he might be an asshole. They can easily be spotted insulting people who ask them about things they know little about. Don’t sweat it bro it will happen again. Take what you chose in terms of your doctors services, smile and leave the rest.

#16

[quote]Ghost22 wrote:
they know about normal fat people problems like high blood pressure/hypertension, obesity, and depression. And I guar-ass-tee you they know more about that stuff than you do.

[/quote]
I wouldn’t bet my house on that one either. They know how to recognize and treat symptoms. Few MDs in the U.S. look at your body functions as a whole. They see high cholesterol (a relative term itself) and prescribe a drug that lowers your cholesterol level in a blood test. Studies have shown a correlation between heart disease and high cholesterol. Therefore, they assume high cholesterol causes heat disease, forgetting that correlation does not prove causation. Not to mention that these drugs do tremendous harm to other parts of your body.

DB

#17

Well to my knowledge nobody has ever died from ingesting creatine. Just rely on him for medical advice and skip the gym talk. Or if you’re not comfortable you could always find another doctor. Lucky for me my doctor was a powerlifter who also helped develop some top notch supplements and has been iterviewed on this site a few times.

#18

[quote]PlateStacker45 wrote:
singram wrote:
“and he just babbled about how supplements aren’t safe,ect,ect… he said something to insult my intellegence”
Come on man, you gotta at least remember what he said!?!? You diden’t even try to understand or look at it from his level?

[/quote]
Well,by insulting my intellegence,he just got preachy and and talked down to me,didn’t really come right out and insult me.

#19

Your question is stupid. NO, your doctor is not an idiot just because he doesn’t know bodybuilding supplements. I know you might find this hard to believe, but most physicians have more important things to learn about. Although it would have been better for him to admit that he’s not an expert on the subject and doesn’t have the answer, at least he erring on the side of caution. It’s far better to be utterly cynical of supplements industry than to indescriminantly embrace them.

#20

[quote]belligerent wrote:
It’s far better to be utterly cynical of supplements industry than to indescriminantly embrace them.[/quote]

I disagree. I think they’re both just about equally as bad.