Use the internet instead of visiting your GP?

[Slartybartfast]

I am not sure that is the best advice.
ime the internet tends to give worst case scenario.
i know there are a lack of GPs but who came up with this idea?

Dr Google always tells you you have the very worst of the worst of illnesses. NHS website is useful just to read, but no internet search could ever replace the actual GP. I agree OP, terrible advice!

Worst must be for those who go to the GP with "But Google said...", must be frustrating!

Have always thought Canestan would be far cheaper if men regularly needed it. They can actually use Daktarin which we can't, so really that's already happened!

Sorry for derail, it's one of my soapbox issues. I have to admit I used Google to diagnose myself with a sprained Achilles tendon and it was actually a DVT so I don't think it's that good an idea...

Depends on the issue. If you’re unsure if your kid has chicken pox surely it’s better to google for pictures of a chicken pox rash rather than go to the doctor?

My chemist sells clotrimazole for less than £3. Surely they can't be the only chemist to stock this?

I have registered with pushdoctor and it's been great. It's a paid service so we don't use it often but the few times we have, it's been very helpful, it's like skyping a GP and they can write prescriptions and send it to a chemist near you. It's one way of not wasting my or NHS' time.

When I get a diagnosis then I Google but i don't Google symptoms

Sometimes I ask on MN but annoyingly most of the answers seem to refer to Going to the GP

But you don't need to see the doctor for chicken pox.

Unless it's one of the very rare extreme cases where you need hospitalising. And then it's additional symptoms that say hold on something's not right here.

Some people do go all the time I think. Especially with kids to "be on the safe side".

Maybe something to do with how you were brought up and what you see as normal. My friend recently said her kid had a heavy cold and a bit of a temp and she was going to take him to the doc. I said. Why? What for? And she didn't actually really have an answer. It was just what she did.

I think the problem is how people interpret the advice. For example- chest pains- my mum would go to the GP for a cough and it hurts, my dad would be having a heart attack and he wouldn't need to see the doctor. Two lots of chest pain- interpreted in different ways.

SilverDragonfly1 what do you mean about females not using Daktarin? I was prescribed it for a 'rash' under my breasts last year.

Chest pain is a tricky one because women's symptoms and men's are very different, with women's common heart attack symptoms being not widely known even by HCPs and so the death rate for women who suffer heart attacks is startling. Although we get less of them when we do we die way more.

Which is another problem. If a lot of healthcare studies and so on are very male centric (which they are) then while an actual doc might take a look and say, these are not classic symptoms but there is obviously something going on here, I'll get some further investigations, the internet might well reassure / point in completely the wrong direction .

The beauty of Google is that it doesn't criticise or judge you for smoking, not taking exercise etc. I have joint pains but am fat, so I avoid seeing GP for help as I'm embarrassed about the lecture on my weight that will arise. I use diazepam occasionally at a low level dose (6mg) to manage long standing anxiety. I've done so for years, and have a history of using it carefully and appropriately. But can I get them to issue a repeat prescription once every 18 months???? I get it, but only after a lecture about the dangers of addiction and a suggestion I try mindfulness (done both several times). So I end up wasting my time and theirs just to get a prescription - it's the only time I now see my GP. Would happily move to phone or net consultation if this were allowed.

They won't put me on repeat for proponolololololollololol (lol) which I use as and when for anxiety either.

It's a bit weird IMO. I hardly use any and they are brilliant when I need them to avert panic attacks. I know exactly what the triggers are, and the whole thing is because having children broke my brain, sadly.

They say "well it's nice for you to come in and see us every 6 months or so, don't you think?" and I'm a bit like erm OK but I really don't know why.

So maybe they could save appts by not seeing people so much in those sort of circs.

I think it's a good thing. I avoid seeing a doctor at all costs. I can't see where it makes hypochondriacs see a doctor more often since they'll be the ones who make appointments for any symptoms.

I think the internet is a useful tool if used sensibly especially for childhood ailments. It let me find out what is normal for chicken pox and when a fever needs to be worried about and when it doesn’t both have avoided unnecessary trips to the GP. It also helped me to diagnose when DDs tonsillitis did need medical treatment and when it could be safely left.

I am able to send a message to my GP practice via the internet describing my symptoms. They always reply by the next day advising if I should make aGP appointment or a practice nurse appointment or self medicate etc. Sometimes the reply is by email, sometimes the GP phones for more info. It saves wasting an appointment and works well. Do other practices not offer similar?