Doctor, Doctor I Keep Catching Online Illnesses.

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Comments on this article:

» left by Joel Hendon ^(17,877)
Joel Hendon (212 days 11 hours ago.)

Great article Conner with sound advice. I often look for my symptoms on the internet but I'm not so foolish as to think I am positive of what I have. Thanks for sharing this.

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (211 days 23 hours ago.)

It is good that you do not believe everything.

 

Thanks for the comment.

» left by Grammy Guru ⁽⁹⁰⁰⁾ (212 days 7 hours ago.)

Good points made in an easy to read article. Good job!

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (211 days 23 hours ago.)

Thanks for the comment.

 

» left by Susan Thom ^(12,006)
Susan Thom (212 days 6 hours ago.)

hi connor,

 

i have a doctor i keep in close contact with, but i have to tell you, i did self diagnose the fact that one medication i was taking was affecting my thyroid, and i had the symptoms of lethargy, depression, etc., so i was put on thyroid medication, after a blood test showed my thyroid was affected.

 

i think the internet is a useful tool, to be used along with frequent talks and visits with your doctor.

 

thanks for sharing,

 

best regards,

 

sue thom

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (211 days 23 hours ago.)

Well done. Few people get it right.

 

Thanks for the comment.

» left by Danny Davids ^(19,715)
Danny Davids (211 days 14 hours ago.)

Thanks to the Internet, we now have millions of "experts" in fields as far-ranging as medicine, politics, economics, and of course computers. Good article, Connor, and thanks for reminding people that "it's on the 'net so it MUST be true" isn't necessarily so. :)

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (210 days 20 hours ago.)

The internet has no police force as such. Hence sites can publish false information and get away with it for years.

» left by Teresa Ortiz ^(10,987)
Teresa Ortiz (211 days 7 hours ago.)

HI Connor, another great piece and very well written. I love your diagnosis of a cybercondriac. ha! funny, but more than likey, sadly true.

 

Bravo! Blessings to you Teresa

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (210 days 20 hours ago.)

Thanks for the comment.

» left by Chiradeep - The Candles ^(1,429)
Chiradeep - The Candles (210 days 21 hours ago.)

Seriously dude! this sites make you sick even if you are not. Good article & good advise. God bless you.

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (210 days 20 hours ago.)

Thanks for the comment.

» left by Nancy Daniels ^(1,494)
Nancy Daniels (210 days 19 hours ago.)

Connor,

 

I loved the line that the article may have been written by a 10-year-old! Bravo! Actually though, I thought cybercondriacs were those who tried fixing their computers without good knowledge of what is really happening! Like an article I read recently about working in your registry. Bad advice.

 

Thanks for a great read,

 

Nancy

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (210 days 17 hours ago.)

It may be ambiguous...

 

Thanks for the comment.

» left by Dane Cramer ⁽⁰⁾ (210 days 17 hours ago.)

I recently went to the doctor and she did a poor diagosis of my foot problem. Keep in mind not all doctors are very good. After doing some research on the internet I found to my amazement I had "gout". I even found out that I needed to keep my feet elevated to help the symptoms. My feet are feeling much better than they have in months! (No thanks to a so-called "medical professional") Doctors in my opionion are out there to make money and spend as little time as possible with you if the don't see $$$$. The internet is a wonderful tool for doing research and you can take all the time you need in order to figure out your medical problems. I suggest you revise your article and don't discourage people from doing their own research.

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (210 days 17 hours ago.)

Hence me writing "The doctor is not always correct" in my last paragraph.

 

Some people do get it right, but there is not guarantee. That was my point. I can see you are not stupid but many people are and as a result do not do proper research.

 

 

» left by Sandra E. Graham ^(8,072)
Sandra E. Graham (210 days 10 hours ago.)

Good advice, Connor. I usually check out the MD websites AFTER my doctor has made a diagnosis, just to see what the diagnosis really entails and what I might expect. For over four years I was occassionaly bothered by severe chest pains. I went through all the checks and spend several days in the hospital many times because heart disease ran in my family. They could find no signs of heart attack damage to my heart at any time. The final diagnosis was Coronary Spasms. I had never heard of it and the doctors didn't tell me much about it, so I looked it up on WEB MD and got a few good answers. I have to take Nitroglycerin twice a day for the rest of my life, but I have had no more problems. Yes, it is certainly best to get a diagnosis from a doctor FIRST.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Sandra

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (209 days 23 hours ago.)

I agree with you...

 

Doctors are good but they are not perfect!

 

Thanks for the comment.

» left by Samuel James ⁽¹³²⁾ (210 days 9 hours ago.)

Great article. I am not a fan of self diagnosis web sites, you could go on there, put in your symptons and it come out with something you were not expecting. Therefore you could then be worrying over something that it quite probably isn't.

 

Nowadays i do not think we have enough faith in the health systems, thats why people use these self help websites.

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (209 days 23 hours ago.)

It sounds to me like misplaced trust.

 

Thanks for the comment.

» left by Anonymous (210 days 8 hours ago.)

I found it to be a little bit choppy when reading it. I haven't personally tried using these websites, but I think that his point is made.

» left by John Smith ⁽²⁾ (209 days 8 hours ago.)

Heh, i 100% agree. Guilty of this myself actually. But I think slef-daigonosing isn't bad, so long as it is used just to get idea of what might be possibly wrong with someone. Obviously it shouldn't replace a doctor's opinion.

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (208 days 22 hours ago.)

Fair enough. Just make sure you never do what some people do... Go into the doctors and say "I have this, that and the next thing and if you disagree I will find a doctor who agrees with me!"

» left by Susie Trimble ⁽⁹⁷³⁾ (208 days 14 hours ago.)

Yes! Hey, I sometimes fall into this trap. Hmmm, pain in stomach. Yikes! I look it up and OMG, I have stomach cancer. Oh, I forgot. I had chili dogs for lunch. LOL!

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (208 days 14 hours ago.)

You are not alone.

 

Thans for the comment.

» left by Dianne Lehmann ^(5,198)
Dianne Lehmann (208 days 11 hours ago.)

Hi Connor.

 

Good article and good cautions.

 

I do look at WebMD and it has helped me on numerous occasions. But I never think that it has all the answers. Mostly I'm just looking for information that might help me to understand what a doctor might say.

 

Oh, and for sure, doctors are not perfect. I'm reading "Why We Make Mistakes" right now and in it, Hallinan sites statistics that show that doctors' secretaries are almost as good at getting a diagnosis right as are the doctors. Woo! What a thought.

 

I've always felt that we would be smart to better educate ourselves about our health and not just leave it to the professionals. So for that reason, I am in favor of medical information websites. Not all of them, obviously across the board. Oh well, this is becoming way too circular in my head and I think I'd better quit.

 

Thanks,

 

Dianne

» left by Connor Davidson ^(5,137)
Connor Davidson (207 days 23 hours ago.)

I agree that we should educate ourself in medicine - I have read numerous books on the subject. I would rather trust a book than a website.

 

Thanks for the comment.