No medications have helped my conditions. What's wrong?

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Here's the thing about the whole self-diagnosis issue though... Don't you need to do it to some extent to know you need to see a doctor anyway? In terms of mental or neurological issues, I mean. For example, if you're feeling really down for a significant amount of time you'd need to think you have some sort of depression before you think you need to see a professional about it, else you wouldn't think there was a problem in the first place. And since (on the NHS, anyway) it takes so long to actually get your problems seen to by a specialist as opposed to a GP, there's nothing you can do for months but research yourself.

It's a slippery issue for this reason... It's not as simple as self-diagnosis vs. letting a doctor decide.

Anyways, I'm interested because there's a condition I think I might have and I'm seeing a professional about it soon, but yeah, during the wait I couldn't help but research things myself. It's not like I have it stuck in my head that I absolutely have any one condition though, I'll let the professional decide that for certain, that's their job.

Ciao, Asp-Z

I think people (including myself) are getting caught up in lexical issues. To "self-diagnose" is to make the proclamation, "I have this disease, and this is the prognosis." self-diagnosing is dangerous business because of the bias involved. We, as people go, become too invested on way or another. Some really want a specific diagnosis (for a
LOT of different reasons, "But if I have Schizophrenia, I'll get government money!"), while others want a diagnosis to avoid something else ("I don't have skin cancer, I have a RASH!").

The more dangerous part is what those of us in the recovery community refer to as "Google Elitism" - Google Docs. It's those folks that, not only come in telling the professional what they have and how they need to be treated, but they go on to tell others. They don't even give the professional a chance because they've already made up their mind. Google told them so, it HAS to be true. I mean, how many times have you heard someone post on WrongPlanet saying they used Google Scholar, only to post a link to some Abstract that only sort of supported a claim? Nonetheless, they're suddenly experts in the field...

Once you come in with an agenda, there's nothing your professional can do to help you. You've made up your mind, and that's that. Imagine, if you will, that you have 10-20 minutes (THIRTY minutes if your SUPER lucky and have AMAZING insurance) to talk to someone. In this 10-20 minute period, you have to convenience this person that their not really Christian; that homosexuality is not a learned behavior; that evolution is a fallacy; that pink is a shade, not a hue? You can't. 10-20 minutes isn't enough time to even build rapport with someone, less alone change a belief system.

In neurology/neuroscience we have this saying, "That which fires together, wires together." If you've just spent a year convincing yourself that you have, say, Schizophrenia, you've adopted a new belief and I promise you you'll be able to demonstrate at least some symptomology which many docs will be able to treat (to everyone's amazement) effectively. Does that mean you always had Schizophrenia? Well... we may never know. What we do know? That belief is a power, powerful wiring tool. The human brain is the most magnificent phenomenon we've studied on the planet yet, IMO. Of course... I'm bias.

But, let's talk about what else you said, because you brought up other good points. Don't people generally have a clue? I mean, don't YOU know your body better than most? Yes. Absolutely yes. Any doctor worth his salt (again, this is my opinion) is going to spend a significant amount of time interviewing you. They're going to ask questions. When you say,
"Hey, doc, I think I have cancer." The doctor is going to say, "Oh? Why?" The doc is going to listen to you mindfully, then. When you leave his or her office, you're going to feel listened to. And if you don't? You're going to find a doctor that IS going to listen to you, mindfully.

This is a key difference between some of what's being said, though. Self-diagnoser tells the doctor, "Hey, doc, I have this. Treat it." That's not collaboration. It's not a partnership. It's a dictatorship. People have the mind that, "Well, I'm PAYING him, he works for ME." What they don't realize? That's MY license. I'M paying for THAT. If I don't question you, I lose it. If I don't fight for what I believe is good medicine, I lose it. I lose my license? Hmm.... well... let's not talk about that

The intelligent patient, though, which you sound like, Asp-Z, goes in prepared. They've done research. They have questions! They have a list of symptoms. They say, "You know, I had to wait a long time for this appointment, so I was going to make it worth my while, and I did some research..." Now, watch this! This is a collaboration; a partnership; it's not a dictatorship. Some doctors have the mind that, "Well I'm the one with a medical degree, you're paying ME, shatup and listen!" What they don't realize? Some patients are JUST missing that medical licensing and stand just as tall as them on the intelligence scale. Some of the patients have VAST amounts of time to do the research and discovery that they don't have because they're rushing clients. Some of the patients, that they're ready to blow off so soon, are going to save their medical license because the patient found something while researching that the doc overlooked.

And when all else fails, there's Patient's Rights...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Every County Is Mandated to have a Patient's Rights Advocate. You don't think you're being treated correctly? Don't think the doc is listening, and can't find another? Think other tests need to be run? Don't think the doc is taking you seriously? CONTACT YOUR PATIENT'S RIGHTS ADVOCATE.

Always remember that the patient-doctor relationship should be like any other; collaborative. Once one person attempts to "rank higher" than the other, it's time to even the ranks, or move on.

I hope that helps/clears the air.

That was a very informative post, Bloom. Thank you for taking the time to write it

I'm one step closer to getting my issue fixed anyway, but I still don't know what my exact diagnosis is. It's very frustrating, I just want to know what it is and what treatment I can undergo so I can get things sorted. But then, I've had issues for years now, I guess waiting a few more weeks isn't the end of the world really

Most welcome.

Sometimes people don't understand how simply having a NAME to call IT makes us feel just a little better. I completely get your frustration. *hugs* Good luck to you!

Ok on self diagnosing I do have an opinion.
1. some people cannot afford to go talk to a professional, but are still experiancing symptoms just the same...naturally if one is experiancing symptoms that are interfering with their life they might wonder what's wrong and still want to try and educate themself on what it could be.
2. what do those who oppose self diagnoses expect one to do with having symptoms if they cannot obtain an official diagnoses for financial reasons......just ignore them and hope they go away?
3. Professionals can scamp patients and sometimes simply make errors or come up with the wrong diagnoses....professional does not= an inability to be wrong. So they are not nessisarly more trustworthy than ones self.
4. why should one consult a professional for everything? what is wrong with people trying to be more self sufficient in general...I mean one should just keep their suspicions about a condition or injury on hold until professional advice is obtained rather then taking action they might be able to take.

Exactly, just knowing what it is will make me feel a lot better about it. Thank you