In a couple of days, I'll see the HMO MD who will advise me to avoid salt (even though my bloodwork shows a fine sodium level) and to avoid fat (even though I've told him I'm aiming at Atkins) and to be concerned about my bp (even though it's the HMO's cuffs on my batwings that gives a false reading and causes me massive bruising and ungodly pain - probably a sign of Dercum's) as he thinks maybe I need some bp meds. Me with home bp scores mostly under 120/80 taken in a calm atmosphere on a device that reads my bp from a digit. No bruising. Sigh.

And he's one of the better MDs I've seen at this HMO - and in life. Where can I find a metabolic medicine practitioner? Are all of an HMO's MDs likely to be focused on medicating a symptom as if the symptom (obesity, pain in my hip/leg) is the problem? Allopathic medicine offers drugs to stifle symptoms. I want more. Or does a wise person become adept at righting what's wrong in one's own metabolism, by educating one's self and seeking to become more than a patient to a befuddled MD whose training has gaps and holes and whose interest simply cannot be as strong as that of a patient who is determined to avoid being drugged into toxic dependence on allopathic doctors? Can I become a healthy person on my own? Dare I defy my HMO's MD's medical knowledge and nutritional ignorance? Dare I ignore the blatant signals that are sent by mystified MD's who see my labwork is puzzlingly good in spite of my obvious obesity? How can this be? Well, just hand out the advice about eating low-fat and tell a fat patient to watch the salt - nevermind that the labwork says sodium is in safe range. Sigh... what can a person do?