Sometimes Dr Google IS your friend

[Thefanisonhigh]

In too many instances, people ARE having to ‘do their own research’ to get symptoms/conditions acknowledged and get some treatment. Why?

Because drs no longer listen.
Being a gp seems to be more about keeping patients away from the surgery and gatekeeping any referrals and diagnosis.

Heaven forbid you’re female and fat, every single thing you have that used against you.

I “Google” diagnosed my H a few years ago, asked the gp if this rare thing could be the problem, she googled it, had never heard of it, said no without even looking at his symptoms. 4 days later and a collapse resulting in him being resuscitated, that was it. Could have saved a lot of bother if she’d actually taken it seriously for more that 20 seconds.

Nowadays I’m grateful to have Google, because it’s so difficult to see a dr.

I’m so sorry.

I completely agree. DH was rushed to a&e 3 times speechless with pain and vomiting and I kept saying it was his gall bladder due to what precipitated it and a friend having had hers out around then. 18 months later after nearly dying from an infection they couldn’t get on top of, weeing black stuff, turning bright yellow and weeks in hospital they finally took the bastard thing out in a very complicated long awful surgery. I felt like bloody Cassandra, it was a classic presentation and no one was fucking listening.

Because we don't have enough doctors and decided that we didn't want ones from abroad

I diagnosed my own lupus after the GP fobbed me off, bypassed and went straight to a private rheumatologist. I just wish other people had the ability to do the same. GPs no longer have the time to piece together varying odd symptoms- mine told me it was probably early menopause, I was 29 and have since had two children.

A Facebook group helped me diagnosis my DD.

@AnneLovesGilbertI’m sorry. This is what concerns me - even classic presentations are missed. It feels like there’s this hope that if things are left untreated, some may resolve themselves, but the other side of the coin is people generally becoming more unwell, getting additional issues, not being put forward for treatment and additional appointments.

I think many health staff are ridiculously overstretched, but obvious symptoms are also overlooked. People also defer things that are having a detrimental impact. The wording alone ‘if you need an urgent on the day appointment’ combined with a struggle for that appointment means people delay on simple things like requesting HRT. The choice is no prebookables or an emergency appointment. It might be that you’re sent for a blood test for something and are told everything is normal when it isn’t or if they are, it’s back to fighting for an appointment and researching other causes because the info you need from healthcare staff is not forthcoming. Many feel pushed to do their own research when they’d rather not!

I will always do my own research and advocate for myself, as doctors are not infallible

I used the Internet to check my symptoms this afternoon. Suspected UTI, went to my nearest pharmacy that's open at weekends and got antibiotics after explaining what's been going on. Thank goodness as I was in agony.

Years ago would have had to go to A&E as no GP available on a Saturday.

We do have enough doctors.
Plenty of newly qualified doctors can’t get jobs FY1/FY2 placements.
NHS busy wasting money on other things.
Hence we need Dr Google and econsult.

It does seem awful that there are doctors who can’t get work.

Not one gp at my surgery picked up that my repeated UTI symptoms was vaginal atrophy. The burning and weeing made me unable to function properly for years. Was referred to a gynaecologist who had no clue either. Googled and researched vaginal estrogen, requested it on prescription and got my life back.

I would recommend anyone with long term symptoms like this and is going through the menopause it is nearly always vaginal atrophy. When I was put on estradiol I couldn't believe the difference within days it was such a relief.

Second that. Why is it not more publicised that vaginal atrophy also causes bladder/continence problems? Almost instant relief after starting topical oestrogen.

It’s repeated trips and prolonged misery. That shouldn’t be so difficult to diagnose. When you hear a doctor coming on tv talking about the internet and the “worried well”, I wonder how many desperate people they’ve dismissed rather than investigate.

Me and my siblings had pretty much diagnosed my mum with Parkinson’s with the help of Dr Google four years before her GP would even consider it as a possibility. The tremors, shuffling walk and loss of smell were dead giveaways but her GP diagnosed anxiety and suggested anti depressants.

That is so wrong.

Anxiety and depression should be taken seriously. However, I also think there’s a tendency from some doctors to tell people their symptoms are a result of anxiety or the way their symptoms make them feel must mean depression is causing them. I wonder how many people think they have these conditions when they don’t and how many doctors revise their bias.

There’s so much inconsistency between health staff too - it can be really unnerving as a patient. Even in antenatal care, different practitioners would tell me different things.

There also seems a huge delay between when research comes out and it filtering through from doctors to patients.

I cured my DHs apparently long COVID after two hospital visits, multiple visits to gp and years of being bed bound on and off. Googled treatments for long COVID, found early studies (this was 2021-2022) and worked out a list of things that made any difference. Found a product that covered almost everything on the list. He started taking it.

He's not been ill beyond a sniffle in the 3 years since. Actually significantly healthier then before.

My rational brain struggles to accept this but I have no other explanation for what happened beyond pure coincidence/placebo. It also annoys me that the product was one of those tiny bottles of daily probiotics (specifically actimel immune support) which I always dismissed as quackery and laughed at the adverts and their overblown benefits of a healthy gut.