The Exercise Cop-Out

When it comes to the exercise cop-out, to be clear, I'm not saying that every time someone is told by a doctor they need to exercise that it is a doctor coping out. I'm talking about the times when a doctor refuses to do anything except tell you to exercise or refuses to do any other treatment until you lose weight.

In my opinion, this is dangerous for doctors, and in my support groups, the exercise cop-out has led to more health complications for patients.

Exercise is not a cure-all

How many of you have heard the following: "All you need to do is start exercising." Or, "All you need to do is exercise more/lose weight," when talking to a medical professional about new symptoms/health issues?

Generally speaking, exercise is good, but it is not a cure-all for everything or the only thing to treat health issues, like so many of the medical professionals I have seen believe. Far too often, doctors are saying all I need to do is exercise when in reality I need more care/better treatment than that, like medications.

Wrong assumption about me

When I walk into a room with a new specialist or my GP doctor, they take one look at my stomach and assume I am fat. In reality, I have 3 diseases that cause bloating: endometriosis, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome.

In the middle of the night, I have a tiny stomach. But as the morning gets closer, the bloating starts. This assumption that I am fat negatively impacts how I am treated by forgoing actual treatment like medications.

I was talking to my physiotherapist one day about the exercise cop-out and how doctors mistake my bloated stomach for a fat stomach. He pressed his hands down onto my stomach, felt around, and after a moment, agreed that I am not fat; I am bloated.

RLS and the exercise cop-out

I remember when I was discussing what to do about my restless legs syndrome (RLS) diagnosis, my former GP said all I need to do is exercise more. When I was talking to the sleep expert at the sleep clinic, he started to say that I need to exercise more for my RLS. He stopped mid-thought, asked what age it was that I first started experiencing RLS (I was age 9), and then responded, "No amount of exercise will do anything. It's ingrained into you at this point."

Those are classic examples of exercise cop-outs. Instead of getting proper treatment, I am told to just exercise. Nothing has even been done about my central sleep apnea except for following a sleep routine, which is definitely not enough for me.

Speaking up for myself

I wish that doctors didn't intimidate me so much so that I could advocate for myself better. I wish I could tell them that what they are seeing is not fat, just a bloated stomach. To be fair, at the same time, I also feel like doctors should realize that the odds of it being a bloated stomach are high due to the fact that I have 3 diseases that cause bloating.

I wish this wasn't an area where I had to advocate for myself – that doctors would be willing to help you. After all, it's their literal job.

Have you ever experienced exercise cop-out? If so, what were you able to do about it, if anything? Did you end up suffering more as a result?