I know! My doctor refuses to test me for prostate cancer- that bastard!
For years now, I’ve had trouble running. I’m able to run for about five minutes, but then a muscle on the outside of my calf visibly swells and I have trouble even walking- it’s quite painful. I’m also unable to snowboard or ski, because my feet cramp up. Every doctor I’ve had has dismissed it as my failure to stretch out beforehand. This is very annoying, because when I was a kid, I LOVED to run- I was on the track team in school.
Finally, one day I got tired of being ignored by my doctor, and started to do some research on the internet. Within an hour I’d found other people who had the same symptoms- and it turned out to be something called Anterior Compartment Syndrome (basically, the muscle fascia is too tight, so when the muscle which lifts your toes when you run swells, it cuts off circulation to your feet). There’s a surgery I can have, but it’d have me unable to walk or do much of anything for a few months for each leg.
Anyway, if I hadn’t done the research, I’d probably *still *not know what’s going on with my legs.
IANAD. I have four in my immediate family, however, including my two parents. My mother and uncle’s patients are all geriatrics, so the internet pretty much never comes up. My father’s are middle aged, and it occasionally comes up, and they sometimes have the right diagnosis, but they only want medication, never lifestyle change. So it’s almost tougher he’s said, because of the built in resistance.
I always go in armed with information; usually once the PA (physician’s assistant) or the doc expresses concern for my knowledge, I let them know my background and such. I’ve actually never been wrong (yet). The worst was when I saw an orthopedic surgeon for my patellar tendinitis. I told him what I had and he lectured me on how WebMD makes everyone a genius, how patients should never diagnose their own symptoms, which made no sense, because relating your symptoms is a form of diagnosis. He went pale when I told him about working in a physician’s office for years and my own immediate family. Whatever, I just needed him for verification and a physical therapy prescription - which I had to remind him I probably needed.
The most receptive people I feel are dermatologists, mainly because so many problems (not cancer, but other stuff) are pretty easy to diagnose, and so much treatment is elective and about quality of life. My dermo PA has actually mailed me scientific journal articles to browse about a new laser treatment for vitiligo, and I really appreciate that. I’m not going to drop big bucks on a treatment just because the company pamphlet has shocking before and after photos. I’m far more skeptical than the average patient, but I think he appreciates it because he knows he has a very compliant patient who will provide accurate feedback on various prescriptions and therapies.
I think it differs by how much of a hypochondriac one is and by how intelligent the person is. My SO is a very bright guy, but a recovering hypochondriac. He almost shit himself when I suggested he get an annual skin cancer screening, like I was suggesting he had skin cancer right then and there. I dunno if you do dude, but you should get one annually if you have any moles or are fair skinned, no need to jump out of your skin! 
[quote=“Jackmannii, post:16, topic:537683”]
A good example of this is vaccination. If you get steered to antivax sites, including those that bill themselves as being “safety”-minded, you will see claims and anecdotes with references to research studies, carefully cherry-picked to produce an alarming picture that does not reflect reality. Antivax “activist” Jenny McCarthy is proud of her degree from the “University of Google”, which should tell you something.
Or there will be p.r.-heavy releases online about a wonderful new drug or treatment for which the patient wants to get on the bandwagon - while the M.D. is wary of the hype and knowledgeable about placebo effects and risks that won’t be apparent to someone doing a limited search./QUOTE]
Oh my god, really? The second is believable, but you really get anti-vaxxers? I am so so sorry. I’ve never met an anti vaxxer in my life - I’ve met and talked with the whole political run of people and naturopathic healers and such, but even they weren’t anti vaxers. I kind of figured all of McCarthy’s book sales were some elaborate hoax. My oh my.
Yeah, I know 2 or 3. Seemingly sane and rational people, but I swear they’ll kill us all someday…
My family doctor and I get along quite well with me doing research on my own. I go to him for his expert opinion, and if I bring up something I read online, he evaluates it and we go from there. He never seems threatened if I request additional tests or further diagnoses or anything - he genuinely seems interested in just keeping me healthy. ETA: At this point, I’d say patients have an obligation to research on their own, as well. It’s your health, and your responsibility.
It wouldn’t surprise me to hear that surgeons aren’t interested in hearing anything from patients; the surgeons I’ve met in my life were egotistical assholes.
As a patient who has had some interesting health problems over the years, I have found that it’s absolutely foolhardy to rely solely on a doctor for diagnosis. That’s because I have been misdiagnosed so many times.
I usually take the approach of researching the diagnosis after I get it from the doctor, however, especially if something about the diagnosis or the doctor/patient interaction doesn’t feel right.
In the cases where I have a theory of what might be going on, whether from the internet or any other source, I will often mention it, but I make sure to phrase it to show that I don’t necessarily think I know for sure what’s wrong with me. No doctor has seemed to object to that approach.
I’m currently working a job that requires me to frequently look at case histories (though IANA doctor).
And the impression I get is that if you have a relatively rare condition, chances are you will be treated for a number of other ailments, and only when those treatments fail is the correct diagnosis found.
I don’t want to cast aspersions 'gainst the medical profession: they must treat X patients and the body rarely throws up symptoms that have a 100% occurance rate and are specific to one condition.
But I think it could be helpful to say hey, couldn’t this be <condition>?, so they have to explicitly confront that possibility.
My GPs have often been behind the curve when it comes to the latest treatments which are easy enough to find online - mainstream, not oddball stuff. I’ve found that specialists are much more likely to be knowledgeable when it comes to the most recent advances. Which is to be expected.
The only time this has come up is when I was having a problem with my heart racing in the middle of the night.
I checked side-effects on my blood pressure medicine, and one of the more obscure ones matched my problem.
So, I mentioned this to my GP, who said “Yep, that looks right. Let’s change your dosage.” And the new lowered dosage controlled my BP perfectly well, and my midnight heart sprints went away.
Now, of course, he almost certainly knew what was wrong without my ‘help’ but I felt pretty proud when I came home and told the spousal-unit that the doc agreed with my diagnosis.
:D:D
It can be counter productive.
For example- the paediatric ER where I worked had to make up some advice and information leaflets about Henoch Scholein Purpura and specifically recommend parents NOT to Google it because the websites focus on worst case scenarios, renal failure and torted testicles and it was causing so much unnecessary anxiety. People unnecessarily dragging their sleeping children out of bed to go to the hospital after a late night Google session levels of anxiety-not good.
The medical mantras are always that common things are common and to try simple, cheap and easy solutions before you move onto complex, expensive and difficult ones.
Your GP is therefore unlikely to be sympathetic if you have diagnosed yourself with a syndrome which affects 1 in 100,000,000 people, requires specialist invasive tests to confirm and you demand a risky and highly expensive treatment whilst he arranges that.
On the other hand, asking if he has considered diagnosis X, and if so, why it was dismissed, or if not, why not, might be educational for both of you.
I used to go to a practice that had an explicit policy about this. They had no issues with patients going online to look for information about their particular problems, but they made it clear that the Google University School of Medicine is not a substitute for diagnosis based on the individual patient’s test results and the doctor’s judgment. Anyone who disagreed with this was welcome to go elsewhere. When I asked about this, the receptionist told me that there had been issues with patients who demanded treatment for conditions they didn’t have based on something they’d seen on the Internet. My own doctor at this practice wouldn’t even discuss anything a patient found online unless the patient brought a copy of the site he saw. It was a healthy (heh) dose of CYA brought on by experience.
I’ve heard more than one doctor say, “if you see hoofprints outside your window, think horses, not zebras” (I guess meaning first assume the most likely cause before going on to the more outlandish.) It must be a medical school thing.
Oh, surgeons have the worst god complexes. Sure, you might get one who is in the elite of their speciality, so they have a right to be. But most of them are run of the mill, and know no bounds at all. If you’re coming in for something routine - so many orthopedic injuries are overuse and simple to treat - then there’s no need to be an ass to your patients.
But the horses not zebras thing is great advice. Also, don’t overlook your chronic illnesses and lifestyle choices. People always overlook them or downplay them. A good friend was experiencing chronic heartburn and was blaming it on same rare bizarre disorder - uh, maybe the 4-6 drinks per day may be doing it? Or, uh, the lack of any semblance of healthy food?
You mean, your background as the daughter of two doctors makes the doctor take you more seriously? Because my dad’s a pilot, maybe the next time I fly, the pilot will let me take the yoke!
I have repeatedly visited my doctor with the self-diagnosis of hypochondria.
As it turns out, I was spot on.
This is, hands-down, one of the silliest posts I’ve ever read.
Oh, you’re such a tease! I just love you! Why don’t you stick to the topic at hand, darling?
I went to the doctor the other day and a hockey game broke out.