Do you go online to diagnose your disease?
 

Do you go online when feeling bad to diagnose your disease?

How does that usually work out for you?

I try not to. Generally medics advise against it in my experience, as the internet is full of disinformation and drama, but I can see how actually it might be helpful to be able to browse chat rooms, find some obscure symptoms that you know you have, helping you self-diagnose.

I'm a germophobic Virgo. So ofcourse I have. Several times. & it has never helped me. Not once.


I have been politely advised against doing it, sternly warned & in one case even reprimanded by one of my doctors (family doctor, dermatologist, & even a surgeon). Still I can't help it.

Re: Do you go online to diagnose your disease?
 

No. It'll only lead to cancer or pregnancy and, as a male, that leaves cancer. :D

Are you assuming we’re all diseased here?

Re: Do you go online to diagnose your disease?
 

I can check the info, but I never self-diagnose or self-treat.

I’ve been doing this against all reason recently and it’s only making me more terrified and stressed.

Re: Do you go online to diagnose your disease?
 

Not for myself, but I've often web-diagnosed my boss with narcissistic personality disorders.

Re: Do you go online to diagnose your disease?
 

I go online to look up natural or home remedies for things I've already got.

Go and make an appointment. Even if it's not for a while, at least you'll get a proper answer and stop with the internet searches, as you say, it's doing nothing good for you. :)

Indeed — will do that.

I don't know about self-diagnosing, per se... but the Internet can be very helpful in some cases, where you aren't 100% whether something is serious enough to see a doctor, in as far as at least you can see some possible causes for whatever's been troubling you (but not serious enough to warrant an ER visit or anything).

if it looks like it might be something serious, then of course you should pay the doctor a visit ASAP...

Re: Do you go online to diagnose your disease?
 

I do use Internet research to diagnose myself, but I use evidence-based resources to make an informed judgment. I'm almost always right, but I then follow up with a physician to confirm. It can work! :)

Re: Do you go online to diagnose your disease?
 

I am old school. I actually consult with the idiots I know. I once cured my migraines using the diet a woman I knew told me about.

Re: Do you go online to diagnose your disease?
 

I do. I know I shouldn't, but I do. Then I message my doctor about my suspicions.

I self-diagnosed my diabetes, but not by Googling it. I've been working in vet med for over 20 years and the symptoms for diabetes in people is the same as it is in cats and dogs.

When my orthopedist brought up surgery for my broken wrist, I was too terrified to google it. Wayyyyy too terrified. He said today we probably won’t go that route. Praise Be.

Very happy to hear that! Hope you’re continuing to heal.

I suffer from profound health anxiety for a variety of reasons, so it’s hard for me to know when I’m just having a moment of irrational panic and when I should go get something checked out. I’ve already removed a perfectly healthy mole for no reason whatsoever despite the doctors telling me there’s nothing to check, and now I have a scar and much (still more) irrational anxiety that I’ve somehow made it worse by testing this mole… it’s never ending samsara stress.

What is this diet? Asking as someone genetically predisposed to migraines. Admittedly they’ve got much better over the last two years, but still a concern of mine.

Terrified of skin cancer. Dermatologist appointment annually.

Re: Do you go online to diagnose your disease?
 

I mean, a little, sure. Who doesn't? Only real question is whether you just use it as a jumping off point or whether you start to use it as a replacement for actual health care, I suppose. But it's good for avoiding senseless, expensive visits for normal things. Maybe half the time you get a totally reassuring response that saves you time, money, and anxiety.

One example is that, when I lost a bunch of weight, I noticed a weird bump on my chest. Very freaky. Some quick Googling and I find out this is totally normal: there's something called the "xiphoid process" (seriously, that's not a sci-fi novel, that's literally what it's called) that a lot of people first notice when they lose weight because they can't feel it at a certain level of fat, kind of forget it was there, and then are shocked to find it when they lose that fat. Without the Internet there's a pretty good chance I'd have gone in for a checkup and asked about it.

Likewise. Still have moments of utter irrationality. These days I’m just terrified, full stop. Have a glass of wine (my job pretty much mandates drinking), then have a panic attack in the restroom that I’m giving myself breast cancer. Then I think I should have a kid to set it off which, god. I don’t know what to do about being constantly on edge about all this.

No one around me really gets it. My therapist says ‘we should accept we’ll all die someday’, which, as someone who used to have an invisible disability, you don’t need to tell me that, but still, what the hell do I do now? The terror is just overwhelming.