How often do you Google your health symptoms?

[Lamb]

How often do you Google your health symptoms?

 

[Faith]

How often do you Google your health symptoms?

Often

 

[Lamb]

Often

Find anything scary?

 

[Forgiven1]

Not very often.

 

[tango]

How often do you Google your health symptoms?

Almost never.

My experience is that the results are of virtually no value. When a single symptom generates results that range from "take an aspirin and lie down for a bit" to "call an ambulance, right now" it's hard to see them having much value. Combining multiple symptoms might yield more useful results but that's not something I've ever needed to Google.

Another concern is that I really don't want marketing based on things I searched. I did some research to figure whether the old drywall in my house was likely to contain asbestos and it was nearly three years before I stopped getting junk in my email and my physical mail relating to the health effects of asbestos. I know the effects of it, that's why I wanted to check before ripping it out.

That said every once in a while I do search for something I have no practical interest in whatsoever. If faceless corporations want to compile data about me it doesn't hurt to pollute it.

 

[Lamb]

I google my symptoms and it's helped me determine more food allergies. I didn't know that some foods like avocados make a latex type protein and that people who are allergic to latex can also be allergic to some foods...such as avocados. It's interesting and really makes sense why I suddenly had trouble breathing after eating guacamole.

 

[NewCreation435]

I think it is a bad idea to google health concerns. First, google tends to put the worst pictures of whatever they are describing on there and second it doesn't mean its true just because it is on the internet. If you want health info ask your doctor

 

[Lamb]

I think it is a bad idea to google health concerns. First, google tends to put the worst pictures of whatever they are describing on there and second it doesn't mean its true just because it is on the internet. If you want health info ask your doctor

Hospitals add some really good information about health though and they come up in Google searches.

 

[Faith]

Find anything scary?

Yeah, I had possible cancer of the uterus about 5 years ago and I was looking up a lot of stuff including a message board for women with it. Scared the heck out of me but fortunately, I didnt have it. I had a total hysterectomy and all was clear. Thank God.

 

[Faith]

I think it is a bad idea to google health concerns. First, google tends to put the worst pictures of whatever they are describing on there and second it doesn't mean it’s true just because it is on the internet. If you want health info ask your doctor

It was my doctor who scared me into googling it. She said something like ”hope for the best and prepare for the worst.” Then she sent me to an oncologist who specializes in female problems who asked me why I was even there? Weeks before the hysterectomy he told me that he sees a lot of cases of cancer and he didn’t think I even had it, but due to problems with a D&C performed by the first doctor, he wanted to do the hysterectomy and be sure.

 

[tango]

Hospitals add some really good information about health though and they come up in Google searches.

You can get some solid information about health from reputable sources online but the trouble can still come when it comes to interpreting the information and comparing it.

If you're reading an article listing 15 possible signs of a condition and you tick all 15 boxes the chances are your next stop should be the doctor to confirm it. What's more tricky is if you've got one or two symptoms that could be unrelated and probably mean nothing at all but could point to something serious. A recurring headache could be a result of exposure to VOCs, a symptom of dehydration, or a brain tumor. Hopefully you'd know if you'd been exposed to a sudden increase in VOCs (if you'd spent a lot of time lacquering a floor, for instance) and it's usually pretty easy to fix dehydration. It's just not necessarily helpful when symptoms that may not mean anything get linked to very serious conditions.

 

[Lamb]

You can get some solid information about health from reputable sources online but the trouble can still come when it comes to interpreting the information and comparing it.

If you're reading an article listing 15 possible signs of a condition and you tick all 15 boxes the chances are your next stop should be the doctor to confirm it. What's more tricky is if you've got one or two symptoms that could be unrelated and probably mean nothing at all but could point to something serious. A recurring headache could be a result of exposure to VOCs, a symptom of dehydration, or a brain tumor. Hopefully you'd know if you'd been exposed to a sudden increase in VOCs (if you'd spent a lot of time lacquering a floor, for instance) and it's usually pretty easy to fix dehydration. It's just not necessarily helpful when symptoms that may not mean anything get linked to very serious conditions.

It's supposed to be a starting point for when you have conversations with your own doctors.

 

[tango]

It's supposed to be a starting point for when you have conversations with your own doctors.

True, although sometimes people research something and then want to argue with the doctor because they read something on Facebook.

A friend of mine is a retired doctor and he's come across a lot of patients who refused to accept what he said because Facebook said something different. It made him wonder why they bothered to go and see him at all if they didn't want his professional advice.

 

[Lamb]

True, although sometimes people research something and then want to argue with the doctor because they read something on Facebook.

A friend of mine is a retired doctor and he's come across a lot of patients who refused to accept what he said because Facebook said something different. It made him wonder why they bothered to go and see him at all if they didn't want his professional advice.

Doctors can be wrong. They aren't always knowledgeable about things like supplements that can help a patient. I'm the one who told one of my doctors about magnesium glycinate and now she tells her patients about it to help with inflammation and keeping a person regular.

 

[Messy]

True, although sometimes people research something and then want to argue with the doctor because they read something on Facebook.

A friend of mine is a retired doctor and he's come across a lot of patients who refused to accept what he said because Facebook said something different. It made him wonder why they bothered to go and see him at all if they didn't want his professional advice.

I went to a vet and my rabbit would get an ultrasound. He couldn't hold his pee in. I had to leave him there. She called me on the phone, cause she would call when I could pick him up and said: he has kidney problems and this is not a rabbit worthy life and we're gonna put him down now and it's abuse if you don't let us. What?? No way. But you're an abuser if you let him live. Bye. Picked him up. I said: That lady was not so nice to you was she. She wanted to kill you. So I asked my favorite free doc doctor Google and there was a miracle cure for it, flee stuff for cats. Can't remember how the disease was called. It was written by a vet who was specialized in rabbits and guinea pigs. Made an appointment with him. We took the train to Utrecht. I came there and said: he has this and that and needs flee meds for cats. He said: Yes I totally agree with you. Hahaha no wonder. He wrote it. It worked fabulous. He could hold his pee in again and lived happy and healthy for another year. I sent an email to the other vet to warn and educate her, so she wouldnt kill other rabbits. She hadn't even heard of it. I didn't go to her anymore. Found another one nearby.

 

[Messy]

Oh lol I've done worse. Once my son was in the hospital choking with an oxygen thing on his mouth and his dad said that God had said it was pneumonia, but the doc thought it was asthma and what she did didn't work. It was horrible to see him suffer like that, so I said to her: He has no asthma. He has pneumonia. Daddy said so.
She said sarcastic: Ooooh well if daddy said so I might as well hang my study books in the willows then. But she did check and then he got the right meds and in no time he felt better.

 

[Lamb]

Oh lol I've done worse. Once my son was in the hospital choking with an oxygen thing on his mouth and his dad said that God had said it was pneumonia, but the doc thought it was asthma and what she did didn't work. It was horrible to see him suffer like that, so I said to her: He has no asthma. He has pneumonia. Daddy said so.
She said sarcastic: Ooooh well if daddy said so I might as well hang my study books in the willows then. But she did check and then he got the right meds and in no time he felt better.

Doctors hate to be wrong!! And they hate it especially when a non-doctor gets it right.

 

[tango]

Doctors can be wrong. They aren't always knowledgeable about things like supplements that can help a patient. I'm the one who told one of my doctors about magnesium glycinate and now she tells her patients about it to help with inflammation and keeping a person regular.

Doctors can be wrong, and a good doctor would accept they don't know everything. A while back I did quite a bit of research into SSRI antidepressants, and in discussion with my doctor friend he said I probably knew more about that specific topic than he did (I'd expressed a view that he knew more, but he never specialised in psychiatry).

The fact remains there's not much point going to the doctor if you're not going to at least consider what they have to say. If you've already decided what you're going to do from some other source what benefit does the doctor provide?

 

[Messy]

I understand that it irritates them, all those people who Googled something and think they know better, but once in a while it can be true. Normally I don't go against a doctor. My sister is a doctor. I have made stupid comments and she stays friendly and holds herself in and doesn't sigh about so much stupidity. Her son had kidney failure and that was just in the time my rabbit had kidney failure and I found that miracle cure, so I Googled to see if it also helped with humans and at one point I wanted to whatsapp her, but then I was so smart to think: please shut up and I didn't send it. He got her kidney.