If you have a worry about your health - do you Google?

[ASou]

And wish you hadn't?
And if you don't Google -how do you avoid the temptation?

I avoid Google diagnoses, I might Google something like natural remedy for a sore throat for example. I avoid it by knowing it is massively inaccurate and will always result in a website telling you you have cancer, even if in fact what you have is a verruca, so there's no point.

Same. If I’m checking for a specific remedy or something to help. Otherwise no. It makes me spiral horrifically and Dr Google always says you’re dying.

Never unless I have a diagnosis. Even then I avoid it if possible

Watching this thread out of interest! I’ve spent my whole maternity leave googling baby development stuff which has left me with PND/PNA. Working on learning to reduce this now with the help of a counsellor. Hope you’re okay.

I will read the NHS website, which can be useful in guiding you as to whether an NHS appointment is needed / go to A&E / go to pharmacy.

Otherwise, I wouldn't read much - unless as PP says I already have the diagnosis, where I've looked up support groups etc. Although still bear in mind I have no idea which internet idiot is writing anything I read.

I do. I’ve managed to spot two fairly “difficult to diagnose” health conditions by doing so, when my GP wasn’t able to, so I do feel it gives me some control. I’m not one to spiral into panic generally though, and I do think I know my body and its patterns fairly well if that makes sense? I tend to be quite critical of the kinds of sites I use too.

I've actually found Google to be really useful. I had a skin condition and had been to the GP, seen a specialist, none of them seemed to be able to fathom out what it was. I did a ton of research myself. Turned out it was possibly a rare side effect of some medication that I'd been on for a few years. Changed my medication and it is slowly but surely fading away. Had I not done that I would have still been on the same medication and it would have continued to get worse. They were going to put me on steroid cream, give me UV treatment, both of which can thin your skin. Doctor's don't know everything.

I always Google and actually realized I had Crohns from googling 'why have I got stomach cramps' it took me to the crohns forum where I read people's experiences of a crohns attack and I ticked every box! My doctor asked me what I thought was wrong with me and I said crohns, he said it's highly unlikely and guess what....the test came back positive!

Yes I do but I do have quite a sound medical knowledge as it is so can often worm out the useful and relevant information.

I avoid it now as I have major health anxiety and Google means I essentially have a medical degree, albeit a rubbish uncertified melodramatic one .

I could tell you the symptoms of most major health problems and some slightly obscure ones too thanks to google. There’s been plenty of occasions where I have wound up convincing myself I was dying because of left arm pain, for example. It’s best I stay away from it to avoid the anguish.

I do, but only with specific issues on mind. My migraine types have changed and I've been doing huge amounts of research into clinical treatments and potential causes. I look at peer reviewed medical journals and hospital research, not junk websites.

If you're going to google is essential you differentiate between the hysterical crap, well intended but misleading advice and the quality research.

Mentioning migraines reminded me. I had a horrible experience with my vision once and got really scared. Looked on google and it was a form of migraine, so it really reassured me. I thought I was going blind! I think it can be both helpful and reassuring if you read the right information.

No, I am recovering from health anxiety.

That's not to say that in a moment of weakness I don't start to google because I do, but I generally stop myself.

I might google 'safe' things. I know that looking up home remedies to treat a stye for example isn't going to set me off these days.

However, like the poster upthread, I know pretty much all of the symptoms of pretty much every serious disease thanks to my HA, but not googling is a major part of my treatment plan and googling just feeds into the reassurance problem.

Thanks for replies.

I sometimes think I should offer tutorials to the GPs at our Practice - things I've Googled that they might be a bit rusty on!

Yes! For anyone I know, to the point of obsession.

In fact I have been asked if I am a medic twice at appointments with family members, so extensive has my Dr Google training been.

Today I have diagnosed myself with a torn rotator cuff - I am not usually the 'patient' in my Googling though.

Yes I have but Google has never been right. It has diagnosed me with miscarriages, ruptured placenta, premature labour, cervical cancer. None of these have been correct thankfully.

I Google all the time and it's incredibly bad for my mental health. I have health anxiety anyway and Googling always always always makes me feel worse. If I knew how to stop myself I would be it's almost compulsive. Hate it.

It caused my health anxiety. For someone with health anxiety, it becomes almost addictive.
You want to find something to find reassurance, but instead you find something absolutely terrifying. So you google some more, find something a little reassuring, but then don’t stop, and find a forum where someone has your exact symptoms and is dying. The cycle continues.
When my health anxiety is in ‘remission,’ so to speak, I never google health things. It leads you to knowing too much, yet not enough.

I once went to the GP when my baby had croup. He told me steam was a good remedy. He then googled and printed out a page to hand to me saying ‘and as you can see, steam is recommended’. I looked and it actually said steam is no longer recommended because of risk of scalding! Google 1- Doctor 0!

Ooh, just remembered the other one. Pericarditis. When DH had that, he developed the recurrent type. I read every piece of research going, and could converse with the doctors about the proposed medication, and even some experimental stuff, on a fairly high level basis....

However no one should ever think that their knowledge from Googling trumps a medical education and subsequent knowledge obtained from years of professional employment and experience.

If you've been reading the right information, maybe you can become a lay-specialist in a topic, but as mentioned before, there are hysterical and misleading sources of information out there. Be careful what you read, and think about what your source is.

Steam isn’t recommended because of risk of scalding but is effective if done correctly, not the doctors fault people are daft

I'm always on Google but a minor complaint often leads you into thinking you're at deaths door.
A couple of relatives had terminal illnesses and Google did provide me with a lot of info regarding symptoms and treatments which I found really useful. I became quite an expert on pancreatic cancer

No, but the doctor’s fault for not reading what he had handed over which said the complete opposite to him!

Helped me with menopause symptoms. When l previously went to GP they never mentioned menopause. Checked it out and there they were..all my symptoms plus in some cases what to do. That was helpful but l would go overboard with it.

Wouldn't go overboard!