NET12 - Health: What my doctor didn't tell me.

How many people here have gone into the doctor and said 'I looked up my symptoms online, and I'm pretty sure I have x, I read that y is the best treatment, so could you please prescribe me some of that?'

I've actually been guilty of this, a couple of times. It can be very hard to get a doctor's appointment in the small town I live in, and there is often a wait of two weeks for non-serious complaints.  I suppose you could call me a bit of a hypochondriac when I feel sick, I always worry it's always something serious! So, considering myself a fairly adept researcher, I have searched online to get an idea of what might be wrong.  In the first instance the doctor agreed with me, and on the second he didn't.  He said that it can be a double-edged sword, trying to self diagnose yourself, because all of the factors (for example, symptoms, family history, general health) need to be considered in relation to each other to achieve a likely diagnosis.  Health professionals are just that, professionals who have studied and learnt a great deal and are considered experts.  Doctors are human though; they can make mistakes. I have been to a couple of dodgy medical centres in my time when unable to get an appointment with my regular doctor.  One particularly terrible experience ended up with me in hospital, after a doctor (who ended up not being particularly knowledgeable about a specific condition) switched my medication to another type without the proper withdrawal periods being observed.  In the end I found that information readily available on the pharmacological information sheets available on the internet. He just hadn't read it, through lack of time or perhaps innattention, I will never know.  So my conclusion is that you need to let professionals do their jobs and place a fair amount of trust in what they say being reliable; but it doesn't hurt to make attempts to educate yourself where possible and to be sure you are on the right track treatment-wise.

I would say I actually trust other, ordinary people in a similar situation more than an expert, but what does everyone else think?

People suffering a particular condition who may have spoken to a number of doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals are going to have a range of sources to call on when you talk to them about that condition.  Perhaps they have made judgements on some of those opinions and consider them 'right' or 'wrong'. It's hard to say definitely one way or another whether they would be more or less knowledgeable (or possessing of correct information anyway) than your average doctor who has had to learn about many many conditions and would probably follow accepted industry standards as to how to diagnose each condition.  In some cases maybe the individual sufferer/ordinary person who has educated themselves about their condition from a range of sources might be more trustworthy to me.

Do you use apomediaries when you research your health?
I haven't in the past; but having learnt about the types of apomediaries that are out there during the studying of this unit I probably would in the future.  One example is the thyroid sufferer and apomediary Mary Shoman.

I'm also curious to hear what people think about the privacy issues raised in Eysenbach. Do you have qualms about openly discussing health matters online and having them come back to haunt you?
I think it depends on the health problem! Some types of health issues are considered taboo in most public conversations; if you had a particularly nasty STI you probably wouldn't discuss it at work or on the bus, would you?! and if you are identifying yourself in any way online there is a chance (perhaps only remote) of people finding out that you otherwise wouldn't want people to know.  So I wouldn't discuss that sort of thing openly online.  I might discuss more 'socially acceptable' health issues, that I would otherwise not mind everyone knowing about.