Just like us, you’ve probably been there. You feel ill but don’t understand why. You start searching for your symptoms online. And then you start panicking because you think you might have a horrible disease (or two). You get so wrapped up in your fears of the worst-case scenarios that you don’t consider that the alternative can be something else entirely.

That’s not to say that you should ignore your symptoms, but it’s better to speak to a medical professional than to get all in your head. Doctors took to two AskReddit online threads to reveal their top cases of patients Googling their symptoms. Scroll down for their experiences with the biggest self-misdiagnoses their patients made.

#1

The other day I had a guy come into the ED in tears because he had wrist pain and the nurse at his work’s occupational health looked it up and told him he has multiple sclerosis.

Image credits: cheesewilliams

The BBC points out that it can be problematic if people turn exclusively to the internet to figure out something potentially embarrassing about their bodies, instead of speaking with real-life doctors.

According to Radio 1 medical expert Dr Radha, human beings tend to focus on worst-case scenarios. So, when you search online for all the possible causes of your symptoms, you tend to hone in on the most concerning ones.

“This causes anxiety and worry, which can have a damaging effect on your health too. Put a stop to the anxiety and worry by asking your doctor. If you are concerned about what you have read online, show them the website where you found it.”

There’s the opposite situation to worry about, too. For example, an individual might Google their symptoms and decide that nothing is wrong, when in fact they might be ill. Alternatively, they might come to the wrong conclusions about their health and misdiagnose themselves. This becomes an issue if you then delay seeing a doctor.

#2

RN, but my favorite was when a patients family member rudely insisted we give her mother who had a major stroke (resulting in nearly zero swallowing capability) as much water as she could drink because “I read a study online that said you can’t aspirate on water because your lungs just absorb it back into your bloodstream”. I looked her straight in the eyes and said “Ok, then explain drowning to me”.

Image credits: handsomeblaggard

#3

I’m not a doctor, but I did take my very elderly Nana to the hospital after I showed up to her house and found her slurring her words and behaving very strange overall. Now, my Nana is a major hypochondriac and when she was admitted the first thing she told the doctor is that she believed she was experiencing the beginning signs of Parkinson’s.

It turned out that she had mixed up a bottle of non-alcoholic wine with a bottle of regular wine, had drank the entire bottle, and was completely hammered.

Image credits: anon

A good rule of thumb to always, always, always follow is that if you notice changes in your body that you don’t understand, go see your doctor. ASAP! Medical professionals are experts in their field and can also evaluate your medical history in a way that you might not be able to.

Something else to consider is the reliability of the sources you’re using to diagnose yourself. If you’re scaring yourself with the info you found on random blogs, you might end up with misleading info that can then lead to real-life consequences for your health. Focus on reliable sources that value transparency, reliability, professionalism, and have a history of fact-based research.

#4

This will make my friend sound stupid, and she really isn’t. When she had her first baby and was in that woozy/sleepless/new mom phase, she took the baby for her checkup and completely misheard when the doctor told her the baby had eczema. She got home and started Googling what she thought he had said, and called me in a panic, saying, “The doctor said the baby has emphysema!”

Why, that infant never smoked a day in her life . . .

Image credits: MrsTurtlebones

#5

I’m an RN in pediatric neurology. We frequently have families who refuse to put their kids on seizure medications regardless of the EEG findings and the fact that they, you know, have seizures and stuff.

One family “did the research” and attempted to cure the child’s epilepsy with essential oils, over the counter CBD oil, yoga, metal ion wristbands (to “balance” the brain). They even went as far as having the kid’s dental fillings removed and replaced with a non-metallic filling.

There was the time that someone told us she didn’t need medication because if you opened a fizzy can of Pepsi and put it under her nose she would come out of a seizure. If that didn’t work, you could whisper “Reese’s Pieces” in her ear and she would stop seizing.

My least favorite visits are from parents who refuse to believe that their kid is twitching because they have motor tics and likely Tourette’s instead of epilepsy. Like, if it was a choice between Tourette’s and epilepsy, you should choose Tourette’s all day long. Why these parents are hell bent on giving their kids a diagnosis of epilepsy is beyond me.

I just don’t even know anymore.

Image credits: dairyqueenlatifah

#6

Just graduated medical school a few weeks ago.

The most frustrating are the concerned parents who buy into all sorts of myths regarding vaccines. Especially frustrating are the parents who refuse the HPV vaccine for their daughters (and sons), not based on any misguided health concerns, but instead due to beliefs that it will encourage their daughters to be promiscuous when they’re older.

Image credits: PMME_ur_lovely_boobs

There are lots of risks associated with diagnosing yourself. “A health professional can get it wrong too, but we have the knowledge and training to exclude red flags—that is serious conditions—and we try and have a safety net for patients to ensure nothing is missed,” Melbourne-based GP Preeya Alexander explained to ABC News.

“I might, for instance, examine your sore abdomen, exclude appendicitis and other emergency causes, and suggest we review in 48 hours to ensure your symptoms are improving if it’s the gastritis I suspect.”

#7

I have a spin on this topic…

I had a searing pain through the left side of my chest. It was excruciating. It started as a dull pain but quickly felt like my chest was on fire. I thought I might be having a heart attack.

While lying in bed attempting to sleep and literally crying from pain, I googled my symptoms. My self diagnosis: shingles.

The next morning I went to the doctor and told him what I thought the problem was. To my surprise, he opened a web browser and went into EXACTLY the same site I’d looked at the night before. And sure enough: shingles.

Image credits: Platanimus69

#8

My ex wife diagnosed herself (correctly) not off WebMD but at the local medical school library.

She was tired of scores of doctors doing nothing but prescribing yet another medicine to treat symptoms. She eventually began to wonder what the odds were that she’d have 10 different diseases with 20 different symptoms as opposed to having one disease that could account for all of them.

So she set out to find out if such a disease existed.

It did.

She then studied the clinical diagnostic criteria for that disease and began looking at her dozens upon dozens of test results and started putting two-and-two together.

She brought it up with our family practitioner who thought she just might be on to something. All of the specialists she saw thought she was an idiot, though.

“It’s a one in a million chance you have that!” they all said.

“But the odds of me having these ten separate diseases to account for all my symptoms are one in 25 million,” she’d point out. They still dismissed her as crazy.

She finally fought with the insurance company—with the family practitioner standing by her side the whole way—enough to get permission to visit probably the best specialist in the world for what she thought she had. He was in Seattle.

He confirmed she did. She had a relatively simple operation and was cured of all of those 20 symptoms overnight.

The whole experience of not being listened to by her doctors who were just interested only in prescribing medicine to treat symptoms instead of diagnosing root problems led her to go to medical school and become an endocrinologist.

Today she’s an endocrinologist at one of the best hospitals in the world, and a medical school professor.

Image credits: anon

#9

A mother who was convinced her son had familial Mediterranean fever. He did not. She was repeatedly told this, nicely of course. Yes the child had had genetic testing by the time I saw the family. Oh, but a small percentage aren’t detected by the testing!

Thing is, her kid was fine. Healthy kid. Mom was just obsessed with this diagnosis. (Not exactly Munchausen by proxy, she never did anything to him to make him sick, or subjected him to a lot of unnecessary procedures. But on that spectrum.).

Image credits: RunningPath

When is the last time that you Googled your symptoms, Pandas? Did what you found needlessly scare you, or were you able to accurately diagnose yourself before speaking with your doctor?

If there are any medical professionals here today (hi, how are you?), how often do you deal with patients who misdiagnose themselves? Have you ever misdiagnosed a patient before?

#10

Late to the party but may as well add this:

I was working with a physician and we went to see a patient who insisted that he had tiny fibers and worms/ bugs coming out from his skin. He had extensively googled his symptoms, self diagnosed with Morgellons disease, and had even gone as far as to join a support group. He was extremely articulate and intelligent, but when confronted with the fact that Morgellon’s disease is a delusional parasitosis, he acknowledged this but couldn’t grasp that a delusion would mean that he is perceiving something that is not actually there (delusion = fixed, false belief).

Image credits: UGHfineILLjoin

#11

I went to my Dr about a month ago, had a spot on my back end that had me a little worried, moreso since my mother had skin cancer on her hiney. I had also recently been around someone who has shingles. Prior to this, I had pain in my foot and went online and found it to be plantar fasciitis. When I saw my Dr. later that day, I told her what I found on the internet and she said “Yep! That’s exactly what it is!!”
Now, I joke when I am nervous and I was plenty nervous due to the incidence of melanoma in the family. So when I went in to see her about my spot, I told her that I had been on the internet and I was pretty sure I found out what it was that I had. She asked me to elaborate and I told her that I was pretty certain I had Shingles Cancer. She just about fell out of her chair laughing! :D.

Image credits: jaded68

#12

For a stretch towards the end of high school and beginning of college I repeatedly had sinus infections. We’re talking one every 3 to 4 months for the span of about 2 years. The nurse I got initially told me not to believe everything I read on the internet and to stop googling my symptoms just for my doctor to come in about 2 minutes later and say “so you have another sinus infection?” knowing I was going to be right without her checking.

Image credits: gothiclg

#13

I’ve been on the opposite end of this when I was in college and wasn’t felling well. Looked up my symptoms and came to the conclusion I had strep throat.

Went to the free clinic on campus and told the doctor there that I think I had strep. She chuckles and says, “Well, we’ll see about that.” So, she does the test on me and later comes back and says, “Wow, you were actually right!”

I guess being on campus she had a lot of people coming in saying that when really it was nothing more than a sore throat.

Image credits: -eDgAR-

#14

My sister is a paramedic. One day she and a team are sent to house. A man had called about a broken arm. I don’t know how he broke his arm the first time, but had read somewhere on the internet that if he just kept breaking his arm than the pain would go away. He had tried around three times by jumping up and smashing down his weight on his arm, and it shocked everyone that he proceeded after the first time. In the end the guy had to get four surgeries on his arm, but my sister isn’t sure if it wasn’t eventually amputated or not, since she was pretty sure by the look of it and the x-rays that it would have to be.

Image credits: SecretCollector

#15

Not a doctor but worked in emergency services. Guy went to bed after convincing himself that his chest pain was indigestion. Took some antacid and climbed in bed.

Wife was in tears the next morning when he was no longer alive.

Image credits: KoedKevin

#16

Worst self diagnosis as a doctor. I was in a rough part of training, not sleeping, working 90+ hr weeks, and losing weight. I crawl into bed after 40 hrs awake at the hospital, too tired to eat. I notice my laptop on my lap is twitching. I realize I can feel my abdominal aorta pulsing. I freak out thinking I have an aneurysm (0 risk factors). Then realize I am hungry and tired and thinner than I have ever been.

Image credits: Queenpunkster

#17

Opposite sort of happened to me but I had some sores that were itchy and spreading across my stomach. Naturally I looked up what it could be and pulled up a page on various spiders and what their bites look like. Thinking that I probably shouldn’t use the Internet to self-diagnose, I made the decision to see my doctor.

While I was in the waiting room after checking in, noting the reason for my visit, I had to go to the bathroom which was past the doctor’s office. I glanced in and noticed he was looking up something on the Internet and lo and behold it happened to be the exact same page on spider bites I was looking at myself. Shouldn’t have to explain what his diagnosis for me was soon after.

To be fair, in the end they weren’t bites but rather a pretty rare skin disease I happened to contract. Doctors said it’s often confused for bug bites.

Image credits: taybul

#18

Like many others commenting on this post, I had the reverse happen. I was having debilitating stomach pain and vomiting about 4 years ago. I couldn’t keep anything down and I lost 20 pounds. A gastroenterologist told me I had acid reflux. My mom, however, went online and suspected I had Crohns Disease. A visit to a second gastroenterologist confirmed this, and I had to have about 8 inches of my small intestine taken out a month later.

Image credits: hungrylikethewolf2

#19

Obligatory not a doctor but a Massage Therapist. Basically (not at all) the same thing.

I have lost count of the number of people who think they have carpal tunnel syndrome that really just have a minor case of nerve impingement.

Image credits: BW_Bird

#20

The person who refused to tell me what symptoms they were actually having xD they had decided that they had pneumonia and any time I tried to ask what they were experiencing they just said “I have pneumonia! Don’t you know what the symptoms of pneumonia are?!” Pretty sure they looked it up, decided they had, but couldn’t remember the exact symptoms…

Image credits: TigTig5

#21

I had a patient come into the clinic who insisted she had radiculopathy because her feet were numb and painful, and she wanted a surgical evaluation. I asked her why she felt that way, the only thing she could say was she looked it up on the internet. She was very aggressive about it, saying she needed an MRI and she was mad that her PCP didn’t order one. I explained to her what diabetic neuropathy was, and she insisted it wasn’t that. I told her that the fact that she had diabetes, the stocking glove pattern, and the fact that at least two doctors at her PCP office said this was diabetic neuropathy meant she didn’t need further workup for back surgery. She threw a fit.

#22

One time I accompanied my wife to the doctor’s office. She had looked up her symptoms on the internet and diagnosed her calf pain, a strained muscle in hindsight, as peripheral artery disease. The doctor was not in the least sympathetic or tactful in explaining that PAD doesn’t appear suddenly during an exercise session.

She felt humiliated, and immediately changed to a more sympathetic doctor. Twenty years on, the self diagnosis errors continue.

#23

*Not a doctor but,* my boyfriend woke me up at 4am saying he had appendicitis and needed to be taken to the ER. It had to be the hospital, no urgent care, because his appendix could burst anytime. He gathered that all from googling.

We walked into the ER, the guy at the check-in desk took on look at him clutching his abdomen and said “how long has that kidney stone been bothering you?” Bf swears no, no, I have appendicitis for sure.

One CAT scan and a few thousand dollars later and yes, it’s was a kidney stone, they sent him home to pass it.

#24

Nurse here. I have a lot of WebMD stories, but my favorite is the 57 year old woman who came in for routine visit and a request to try a new medication that she saw advertised on TV. Her visit was for a complaint of increasing urinary retention over the past three weeks. Most urinary retention in women is due to a mild bladder infection… very common in women that age. When we asked her about the medication she wanted to try, she said the TV ad said it was for urinary retention, so we listened. She took out a scrap of paper with the name of the medication scribbled on it: Flomax. Well. That’s not what’ll work for her and the doctor quickly said he could not prescribe it for her. She was a little offended at the refusal and asked why not. The doctor said, “Flomax is for benign prostatic hypertrophy and you don’t need it.” She demanded an explanation. The doctor bluntly explained, “This is treating an enlarged prostate. Women don’t have prostates.”.

#25

I recently dealt with a bilateral pulmonary embolism and went to the er with chest pain and shortness of breath.

At first, it wasn’t so bad and i really thought it was just indigestion because not 5 hours before it started, i was at a concert, drinking, and eating edibles and then eating tons of fried food at a diner.

The pain ultimately went on for 14 hours and was very specific, it got 10x worse if i tried to lay down, and was somewhat alleviated if i sat and leaned forward.

So after getting nowhere googling “chest pain” i finally googled that leaning forward bit , and “Pericarditis ” was the result.

So by the time i got to the er, instead of saying “hey doc, i asked Dr. Google and this is what I’m diagnosing myself with because I’m cleary smarter than you”…i just explained the details of my pain exactly as they were.

He at first responded, “well, sounds like a blood clot, but you dont smoke cigarettes and youre fairly young [29] so i sincerely doubt that, probably pericarditis ” and i just looked over at my boyfriend and smirked and then texted my mom and was like ” yea he totally thinks it’s that peri whatever thing, I’m basicallya doctor now”

SCORE.

Anyways, turned out to have 2 blood clots, 1 in each lung and i was a ticking time bomb apparently, lucky to be alive and stupid for waiting 14 hours to go to the er.

#26

Doesn’t exactly fit the web and thing but…

A woman came to the ED complaining of chest pains. When the doctor asked if had tried to treat the symptoms she said she ate a bowl of oatmeal.

The doc was a bit confused and, figuring it doesn’t matter why she did that, he continued with the exam and eventually it was determined she wasn’t having any kind of cardiac event.

I had to explain to him later she ate oatmeal because she saw a commercial that said oatmeal can lower cholesterol. She thought she was having a heart attack so she reacted by having a bowl of oatmeal.

#27

I’ve worked in a pharmacy on and off for the last ten years so I’ve heard quite a few doctors stories about patients.
One I recall is about a patient who was suffering from severe migraines and was adamant they had a blood clot in the brain. Quite an assumption to make, doctor assured them it wasn’t anything so sinister and was most likely sinusitis. Of course the patient didn’t believe him because Google told him otherwise so he decides to go private and spend close to £500 on tests and private care only to be told you’ve got a sinusitis infection…

#28

Not a doctor but…..I developed a rash on my lower back that began to blister the day after the rash appeared. I googled and came back with shingles. I went to the doctor, told them it was shingles and I got an eye roll and the entire, “You’re too young for shingles (21)” and “You would be in so much pain if it was.” I didn’t even get my shirt up all the way before the doctor JUMPED up and said, “Nevermind, that’s shingles.” The doctor didn’t believe me because I have never had the chicken pox as a kid.

P.S. I had absolutely no pain with my shingles. Had I not felt the blistering on my back while taking a shower, I wouldn’t of known.

#29

NAD but
My daughter was suffering from amazing bruises all over her body that you could just about watch spread. It was very scary. The pain she was in was excruciating and she couldn’t move her limbs.
We started sunny doctor after doctor who said it was nothing, or passed it off as growing pains.
Eventually our sister in law, who was a nursing student, suggested vasculitis. We told the doctor what we thought, and he agreed when we took her into the ER. We successfully self diagnosed with internet help.
Soon enough, the tending doctor was bringing in other doctors to quiz them one after another.
My only thought was, “I’m not paying for this one.”.

#30

Not Web MD, but bloggers….

My husband just graduated Med school and during his pediatrics rotation he ran into morbidly obese 10 year old girl who was showing very clear signs of type 2 diabetes. He and his supervising physican calmly explained to the mom (who was well over 400lbs herself) how serious this was. The mom pulled out some card written by a blogger how the questions they were asking were showing clear anti-fat bias. She quoted things about statatisics and genetics that were absolute nonsense and she got it all from HAES (health at any size) bloggers. she tore both my husband and the MD a new on on Health Grades so that really pissed me off so I looked into the blogger she quoted and the blogger is such a clear liar it’s not even funny. She doesn’t understand the first thing about stats or science despite claiming advanced degrees, she claims to be a world record marathon holder at 300lbs and an ironman Triathelte. It was so ludicrous and as dangerous as anti-vaxx and as silly as flat earth.

#31

I had a UTI, because I had the symptoms and Googled it. Day of doctor appointment, it was just a regular check up. But I asked for a UTI test since I explained how I was feeling.
Convo went like this:

“could it be possible to request a UTI testing? I’ve been feeling the symptoms of burning when I pee and some discomfort-“

“how do you feel now? Any pain?”

“well no not at the -“

“well if you did have a UTI the symptoms wouldn’t go away you are fine”

2 or so days later I get a full blown kidney infection from a, who would have guessed, a UTI. sent out a complaint. I always ask for a test if I am suspicious of anything and I have them document it if they say no from now on. That was a horrible experience.

#32

Not a doctor but worked at a hospital for a while. One of our doctors came back to the nurses station laughing because someone was fully convinced they were diabetic because they were “craving” water and webmd said that makes them diabetic. Turns out they are just human and require it to live..

#33

Paramedic student here. Last week we had a call for an imminent delivery. Pt started having abdominal pain that would last a little bit and stop. And about 2-3 min later would start again. She googled her symptoms and everything she found was saying she was in labor. She called her husband and he told her to call 911. We walked in as the baby was crowning. She had no idea she was pregnant.

#34

Not a doctor, but my friend once said a guy came with a backache and wanted to get operated coz he thought he had kidney failure.

#35

I had a woman come to see me because of abdominal pain. I spent a good 10-15 minutes of asking her questions to get a better understanding of what could be happening. I ended up ordering an ultrasound to assess for an ovarian cysts and some blood work. As she’s leaving she goes “are you doing lab work for my prostate?” I had to bite my tongue so as not to laugh and said “no, because you’re not a male and you don’t have one.” She just said “oh.” and left.

Spoiler alert – she had an ovarian cyst.

#36

Like a couple people have posted I’ve been on the opposite side of this, but i think it still fits. Back when i was a teenager i was a really big fan of Humon comics, and she posted a PSA about a condition she was recently diagnosed with called Polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS and listed the symptoms. Aside from the ones i couldn’t account for like fertility problems, i had nearly all of them, the biggest one being i hadn’t had my period in over a year. My parents took me to the doctor who immediately booked me for an ultrasound. Turns out i really did have it and my doctor commended me for coming to him about it.
I’m very thankful to Humon for posting that PSA, i never would have known otherwise that what i was experiencing wasn’t normal.

#37

Veterinarian here.

This is the worst I ever had, but not because they were wrong.

A large lady wearing a muumuu brings a kitten into the clinic. She plops the kitten onto the examination table and says, “Pretty sure it’s got ringworm.”

I examine the kitten, and sure enough, it has a couple of classical ringworm lesions. Too young to give oral antifungals to, so I prescribe a topical therapy for it.

Large woman asks if that would work on human skin too. I say it should. She says good, because the reason she knew the kitten had ringworm was because she found a lesion on her own body that she looked up on Google, and it looked like ringworm.

#38

This is somewhat related but I’m not a Dr.

The only time I self prescribed was when I thought I had rhabdomyolysis. Never had even heard of it before.

I woke up that morning feeling like I’d been in a car accident (had done a very heavy workout 2 days prior) and literally wondered why it was the worst soreness of my life. I didn’t start doing any webmd stuff though until after I went to the bathroom and realised my urine looked like coca cola.

What’s funny is even going to the er I was thinking, “this is a total waste of time and I’m going to be laughed at by a Dr today for being an idiot who looks up stuff online.”

Then I spent the next 5 days in the hospital and went through 70 IV bags before I was finally discharged.

#39

Followup on a recovering triple bypass patient. Was giving the general “You should try to eat more healthily, watch your weight, take moderate exercise, avoid smoking” sort of thing.

Resulted in a five minute harangue about “Nanny State Doctors telling us what to do and denying us simply pleasures. Healthy at any size, internet says so, just bad luck, stop interfering.”

I appreciate that there is a time and a place for (unsolicited) lifestyle advice relating to cardiac health, but an appointment with your physician to discuss your recovery from a coronary artery bypass **IS** that time and that place.

Some people are beyond help.

#40

This is kind of the opposite, but still amusing in a sad, George Carlin was right kind of way.

I was poor, but also a responsible adult, so I was at the free clinic down the block from my work for a routine exam. In walks an acquaintance with a woman who was clearly her friend, but unknown to me. They come over and we make introductions. The acquaintance’s friend is called shortly before I am. After the usual song and dance, I head back out. I see the acquaintance, now alone, and go to chat a bit more. She explains that her friend was sure she had a UTI, but it turned out to be gonorrhea. She was back asking how long she’d had it, and trying her damnedest to work out where it came from since her long term boyfriend couldn’t possibly be the source because he would never cheat on her after the last time. I ask who the BF is, and it’s this sleezebag in a band that was trying to try it on with me a few months back, but I was not into him. I had no idea he had a gf, or I would have given her a heads up. Here she was, adamant that she must’ve had gonorrhea for several years but her immune system suppressed it until she recently got stressed out. I told the acquaintance about his not so distance attempts at cheating with me, so she could maybe get the woman to see reason. I thought it would be better coming from a friend rather than a stranger.

#41

Another opposite story: when I was maybe 13-14 I randomly one day got really bad pain in my side that would come and go. I ignored it for a couple hours, but it eventually got so bad that I threw up. I Googled the symptoms and was pretty sure it was a kidney stone.

My mom took me to the clinic, and the doctor was completely useless. I brought up kidney stones, and she said that couldn’t be it because I was too young. Instead she asked me multiple times if I was pregnant, even after I told her I was a virgin. She kept saying stuff like “this could be something really seriously life-threatening if you’re pregnant, so it’s important to tell the truth.” Then sent me home with antibiotics.

That night I was crying in pain again so we went to the ER, and the doctor almost immediately diagnosed me with kidney stones. I’m still pissed off at the first doctor, I know she only ignored me because I was a teenage girl. I wish I could’ve rubbed it in her face.

#42

I had all the signs of a brain tumor and the doctors brushed it off as arthritis in my neck.

3 month hospital stay because they said it was nothing serious 🙂.

#43

Obligatory not me but… a coleague of mine (BFF) told me about a patient he saw that, to him, looked like he had tonsil cancer, my friend told him about it, insisted on a biopsy and the patient went on to tell him that he had looked up his symptoms and he knew he just had acid reflux and there was no need for anything but the prescription for the omeprazole, when my friend explained, in lenght, the reason for the biopsy and all, the patient just noded and left, never came back to his practice.

#44

I went from feeling fine then 20 minutes later had a rash down half my body, couldn’t see in the center of my vision, and saw undulating rainbows everywhere else, severe head and neck pain, stiffness, swelling (couldn’t move neck) could barely breathe, unable to form words or type words, extreme light sensitivity, runny nose, etc. Also my work specifically was having a meningitis outbreak, as was the town I live in. I Googled symptoms and everywhere was saying meningitis. I had someone drive me to Urgent Care. I asked the first 2 docs if I had meningitis and they said, “You have meningitis, we don’t treat that here, you need to go somewhere else.”

I asked to be tested for it. Both of those docs refused. Third doc actually sat me down and examined me, said it wasn’t meningitis but 8 other conditions I didn’t know about all happening right then and perfectly mimicking meningitis. I learned my lesson not to self-diagnose and only list symptoms from now on.

#45

Not a doctor but when my fiance said he was having chest pains and when he breathed, it crackled, I googled and all of the symptoms lead to serious illnesses such a collapsed lung. Thought nothing of it, diagnosed it ourselves as an allergy and didnt go to a doctor till later in the day. It was in fact a fully deflated collapsed lung.

#46

I’m not a doctor, but I’m a medical assistant and I room patients for the doctor. This is in the occupational health field and we had a young gentleman come in who was pretty sure he had a groin hernia according to his Google search. He said he’d been lifting produce crates and experienced sharp, overwhelming pain in his groin. The doctor came back out after seeing him and was clearly fighting laughter by the time he got to the desk. Turns out the kid had Chlamydia which had caused things to become swollen and just happened to get symptomatic while he was at work.

#47

Not a doctor, but I had a coworker come into the office with this one. He was having nausea, fatigue, frequent urination and decided to WebMD it. We’re chatting in the office one day and he says something like “Yeah, I’ve been feeling bad lately, and it sounds like gestational diabetes but I can’t find any cases of men getting it.” I just slowly lowered my head into my hand and asked him “Do you even know what gestational means?” He did not.

#48

Not a doctor but I was having horrible debilitating headaches for awhile, googled my symptoms and they ranged from stress to brain cancer. Ended up being sinusitis.

#49

Not a doctor, but throughout my childhood and teen years I had these weird episodes where I would suddenly have really bad Deja Vu and get very nauseous. For the next few hours afterward I would feel like I was in a fog and my memory would be bad. Eventually I googled my symptoms and learned they might be minor epileptic seizures.

I went to a doctor and he laughed it off and told me it was probably just having panic attacks related to the normal emotions of being a teenager. I was so sure he was wrong that I opted to go get an EEG – turns out I have a mild form of epilepsy and google was totally right.

#50

Serious answer: I try to ask my patients if they have googled their symptoms. It gives me a lot of information about what they are worried about. I then try to stay humble about their findings, and try to not be a jerk about that. Trust is not built by telling people they are stupid. However, it is hard to keep a straight face when a 50-year old male walks in and says “I think I have caught the Down’s syndrome”, or when a young woman thought she had testicular cancer.

#51

Not a doctor, but I am a pre med student who comes from an anti vax family. Occasionally someone will send me a link to “research” (usually a mom blog) about why vaccines are terrible.

#52

Not a doctor, but between coworkers and the internet had to basically self diagnose that I had gall bladder issues.

(Had seen a male doctor first who basically said I had a stomach bug after asking me if I was sure I wasn’t pregnant and I need to lose weight. When I went back later and saw a female, she sent me for an ultrasound and turned out I needed the gall bladder removed.).

#53

I went to an ENT doctor after a couple of weeks of getting world-spinningly dizzy – literally not knowing which way was up for a few seconds at a time – when I moved my head in certain ways. It was so bad it would wake me up when I moved in my sleep. I was nauseous all the time and started to get brain fog and become irritable and confused at work as a result of constantly feeling like I was falling over.

I looked it up and it sounded just like something called BPPV – benign paroxsymal positional vertigo, I think. It’s where (salt?) crystals form in your ear canal and start messing with your balance. It’s easily diagnosed by moving the patient into a position that triggers it, and for something like 90% of people, easily cured by moving them into a different position to dislodge the crystals. I read online though that people can make it worse by attempting these positions themselves so I decided to go to a doctor to do it.

The doctor carried out the diagnostic test wrong (didn’t tip my head back when laying me down), so failed to trigger it and declared no BPPV despite me triggering it myself when I got up off the bed. He gave me a leaflet for labyrinthitis and said it would clear itself up but might be another month or so.

I got home, had my husband carry out the diagnostic test properly, confirmed it, then had him carry out the treatment procedure. Immediately cured.

Then again this is the same guy who diagnosed a perforated eardrum but told me I didn’t need to get it fixed or take any precautions when swimming or anything. Now I am half deaf from glue ear following a nasty middle ear infection.

#54

Not a doc, but mine actually appreciates it when i do some research. 3 times now i’ve gone in loaded with my findings and was correct each time. to be fair though i don’t use webmd/similar for anything but a starting point, it is also useful to know how to describe the symptoms you are having.

if he tells me i need some physical therapy, i go to the edu sites, find the exercises and send him a mail to approve. frozen shoulder took just 6 months to sort like that.

that being said, some folks just shouldn’t even try :D.

#55

Patient here, was on recovery from gallbladder removal and began having a sharp pain in my right calf muscle. Of course I googled it!

I found tons of info about blood clots post surgery and decided to see my doctor. Had an EKG performed in the office, was sent to the hospital for a d-dimer and veinous doppler. During the veinous Doppler the results from the d-dimer came back positive.

Went from having two blood clots just behind my right knee to going through a CT scan and being told I had pulmonary embolism. Wasn’t allowed to walk anywhere.

Took Xarelto for 6 weeks and all the clots dissolved.

Thinking back on it, I remember feeling so silly even bringing up the fact that I had googled my symptoms and telling my doctor I had done so.

Glad I did!

#56

Flipping the script. Not a doctor. my son fit the WebMd criteria for hand foot mouth disease to the letter (including known exposure). It’s a common virus, but since I had no firsthand experience with it, I thought I should be the responsible adult who doesn’t self-diagnose. I took him the doctor anyway.

Got the brand new pediatrician at the practice. Told her about a few little bumps on his feet, the exposure, the flu-like symptoms. Described the sore throat, which is known to precede the rash. She said “Yeah, that sure sounds like HFM.”

She completed a physical exam, then told me “I don’t think he has HFM. He doesn’t have a widespread rash with the sore throat.” What?? She just agreed that this is a symptom! She said that the spots could be “irritation”.

Over the next two days he was covered in bumps. And was diagnosed by another doctor with HFM.

#57

Ever since we studied multiple sclerosis in Neuro, I’m convinced I have it, despite my only symptom being parestesis (funny feelz) in my legs at night.

#58

Not a doctor but I deal with migraines. I would not be surprised if someone experienced a migraine for the first time, googled their symptoms while they still had the clarity to do so, and went to the ER thinking they are having a stroke.

#59

At the hospital in my town there was a kid who came in saying he had knee pains, the doctor said it was from playing basketball and 5 months later at a different hospital they found that he had knee cancer and it was too late to treat him. He passed away a few weeks later… really sad story.

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