The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
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- gorilla monsoon
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The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby gorilla monsoon » Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:27 pm
For the past six or eight months I have felt like another kidney stone episode was looming. Lots of discomfort in the side, back and lower abdomen for moderate periods of time and then back to normal but with the periods of intensity slowly increasing.
This morning I went to see my doc about it. I explained it all, peed in a bottle so he could stick a litmus strip in it, answered all his questions then had a solid physical examination which involved him prodding, poking, pushing, pulling, bending, wobbling and twisting various bits of my body, mostly my legs, back and stomach.
The wash-up? I have damaged a big muscle group in my back and up one side of my body. In fact he was more interested in a sore hip which he thinks might be arthritic and wants to examine further after seeing x-rays.
This episode demonstrates for me (again) what an old Chinese doctor once told me about pain not always being what we think it is and not always caused by what we think might be the cause.
And now, more than ever, I think I will give up completely on self-diagnosis. After all, doctors train for years to learn this stuff I only think I might know about.
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby toolonglegs » Wed Oct 10, 2012 6:36 pm
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby rustychisel » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:36 pm
agreed, not to mention the GP (I no longer see) who knew bugger all about cycling and thus was no earthly help to me.toolonglegs wrote:Doctors train for years, but your body tells you things as well... sometimes self diagnosis works, especially on mechanical issues.
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby find_bruce » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:00 pm
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby Ozkaban » Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:23 am
find_bruce wrote:There are times when I think that I am coming down with hypochondria
- gorilla monsoon
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby gorilla monsoon » Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:05 am
Take two aspirin and see yourself in the morning.find_bruce wrote:There are times when I think that I am coming down with hypochondria
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby chriscole » Thu Oct 11, 2012 12:32 pm
Unless you have metal in you somewhere that precludes it, it might be an idea to have a friendly chat with your GP about having regular MRI scans rather than yearly CTs to monitor recurrence of your cyst. Though if your aim _is_ to glow in the dark... keep up the CTs...
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby gorilla monsoon » Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:26 pm
This mortality thing really sucks, doesn't it?Oxford wrote:GM, I know what you are going through. About 4 years ago I had a lot of pain in my jaw and constant headaches. Having had a TMJ problem and at the time doing a lot of cycling put it down to the TMJ and fatigue/dehydration. Didn't worry about it too much. Then I had a CT scan in preparation for elective surgery (rhinoplasty to fix an ongoing sinus problem). Turned out I had a benign cyst (we know that now, didn't know that at the time of diagnosis) in my sinus cavity and upper maxillary area, the size of a golf ball. It had actually pulled my wisdom tooth out of the jaw and was pushing it into my eye cavity, also killed off all the teeth in the back of my jaw. Needless to say the rhinoplasty was put off for surgery to remove the cyst and wisdom teeth. I now have to have a CT scan every year to ensure no return of the cyst. And now get very particular about any sort of pain in the area and never second guess it anymore.
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby Ginantonicus » Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:38 pm
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby JessicaAlba » Sat Oct 20, 2012 2:54 pm
During the first few days, after doctor visit, I thought it would be a good idea to google "jaundice in adults". WRONG! BAD! BIG, BIG MISTAKE!! I spent the next week or two convinced I was not long for this earth and taking varied and in some cases extreme measures to prepare for my passing.
I'm still here. And not yellow.
To finish the tale, that first bout (I had two), lasted about three weeks, during which time I had numerous blood tests, hospital visits and examinations. No indication of any blood disorder, disease, gall bladder issues, or anything. Just one day woke up right as rain. A few months later, around Christmas, it happened again, this time for six or seven weeks. Luckily I had a bank of sick leave owing. Daily visits to hospital, blood tests, liver biopsy (that was some serious pain right there!) etc etc etc... Doctors had no idea what went wrong. I am reasonably fit, sporty, in no way overweight, don't drink a whole lot...the only suggestion was that for some reason my liver had become aggrevated and begun producing a crap load of bilirubin (bile), thus turning me yellow. To this day, I still don't know what happened, but as far as self diagnosis goes...I guess in some cases it can be benficial, but it can also be very scary and often misleading. Proceed with caution.
2014 Scott Addict Team Issue/DA9000/Syncros RL1.1/Zipp 404/Gatorskins
- gorilla monsoon
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby gorilla monsoon » Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:36 am
As a postscript to this, I went to see the physio last night, a young guy who rides and does tri events. He got stuck into me (I think he pushed his thumb far enough into the front muscle group to touch the matress I was on), hurt me like buggery and when it was finished I felt the best I have done in months. I now have exercises to do and will go visit again next week.gorilla monsoon wrote:Five years ago I went through the agony of a kidney stone and its subsequent surgical removal and since that period - and the six or eight week build-up to it - I have been well aware of the symptoms.
For the past six or eight months I have felt like another kidney stone episode was looming. Lots of discomfort in the side, back and lower abdomen for moderate periods of time and then back to normal but with the periods of intensity slowly increasing.
This morning I went to see my doc about it. I explained it all, peed in a bottle so he could stick a litmus strip in it, answered all his questions then had a solid physical examination which involved him prodding, poking, pushing, pulling, bending, wobbling and twisting various bits of my body, mostly my legs, back and stomach.
The wash-up? I have damaged a big muscle group in my back and up one side of my body. In fact he was more interested in a sore hip which he thinks might be arthritic and wants to examine further after seeing x-rays.
This episode demonstrates for me (again) what an old Chinese doctor once told me about pain not always being what we think it is and not always caused by what we think might be the cause.
And now, more than ever, I think I will give up completely on self-diagnosis. After all, doctors train for years to learn this stuff I only think I might know about.
Funny thing: the doctor was interested in the arthritis, not the muscle pain. The physio was interested in the muscle pain, not the arthritis. Doc says the arthritis will cause the most problems long term. Physio says all people "my age" have arthritis if they were active in childhood and youth and fixing the muscles will help ease the arthritic condition.
Whichever way it cuts I'm feeling better, do not have the problem I initially thought I had and from here on in will leave the diagnoses to the medical professionals. That is, after all, why we pay them the big bucks.
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby thomashouseman » Fri Nov 02, 2012 12:59 pm
I hear ya!JessicaAlba wrote: liver biopsy (that was some serious pain right there!)
Wow that hurt. I read recently that in the USA this is regularly done under a general anaesthetic! I can understand why and if I ever need another I'll be insisting on it.
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Re: The pitfalls of self-diagnosis
Postby scotto » Fri Nov 02, 2012 3:18 pm
that gets expensive. medicare doesnt like preventive investigations !chriscole wrote:@Oxford
Unless you have metal in you somewhere that precludes it, it might be an idea to have a friendly chat with your GP about having regular MRI scans rather than yearly CTs to monitor recurrence of your cyst. Though if your aim _is_ to glow in the dark... keep up the CTs...
spending $1000 to just save $30000. makes no sense at all...
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