that people take the advice of the Internet over that of their own doctor?
I had to talk at least three people off the edge of hysteria yesterday for their uncomfortable but mostly benign conditions. One woman with a fever and rash was convinced she had some rare tropical disease despite the fact that her own doctor, whom she had gone to see twice in the last three days, told her she had a virus. Not Lyme disease. Not yellow fever. And no, not even strep. Stay home, drink lots of fluids, take Benadryl when you're itchy and Tylenol or Motrin for your fever. It will go away by itself in about a week.
Also, why is it that people can't seem to stand being sick, even a little bit? One man who had been seen in our ED for chest pain and diagnosed with pneumonia came back a day later because he wasn't feeling better. Not feeling worse; just not feeling any better. He had been given a prescription for a Z-pak (at least he was taking the meds; I can't tell you how many people don't take the medications that are prescribed for them and then complain they're still sick). I explained to him that pneumonia doesn't
go away in a day and than he would continue to feel pretty bad for about a week but that he would get a little better every day. His vital signs were all normal.
Also, why is it that some people think that if your child has a fever, and you give one dose of Motrin and the fever goes away but then it comes back six hours later OMG ITS AN EMERGENCY OMG IT CAME BACK! I have seen so many hysterical parents insisting that their kid must be seriously ill as the kid is sitting on my lap, smiling, drooling, and chewing on my stethoscope.
These are things I wonder every day...
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5 comments:
haha! you are reading my mind! And why is it that if they vomit it requires a trip to the ER?? I always say, so what brings you to the ER? and they say "I threw up!" And I say... ok... is that all??? duhhhhh
Webmd should be illegal. LMAO
Love the comment about fever in children. I'm not in the medical field, but I have a child, and when she's sick her fever goes away and comes back, over and over - until the virus is gone. Why does it go away and come back? Because I give her MEDICINE for it! When the fever comes back (and the proper amount of time has passed), it's time for another dose! How hard is that to figure out, for God's sake?
Because the internet is available in increments of more than two minutes at a time. The internet doesn't require a wait of a couple weeks after the first two minutes or so of interaction. The internet rarely interrupts or ignores or dismisses important facts. The internet is available to answer all one's questions, thoroughly, as they arise.
I'm sure internet resources are misused by many people, but internet resources are also used effectively by many people, including medical professionals (and including you). Not having "RN" or "MD" after one's name doesn't render one incapable of reading. (Trust me on this; I've got "JD" after mine. I know how to read. Promise.)
Small personal story. I have been suffering from debilitating mental illness for ten years. I've been treated with a number of SSRIs and other drugs to minimal positive effect. For various good and scientific reasons, I indicated to two doctors that I wanted to switch from Prozac to Wellbutrin. Nope, because "in our office we usually prescribe Prozac." I've suspected for a couple of years that my mental health problems might be exacerbated by ADHD, but what do I know? I just read about it on the internet, and all the doctors think I can't have ADHD because I've been moderately successful academically.
Yeah, after many different psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, etc. over the past decade, I ran into one who suspected ADHD. I got tested last week. Not quite off the charts ADHD, but close. And switching to Wellbutrin, for some of the same good, scientific reasons that another two doctors dismissed out of hand two years ago.
But hey, it's only two years of my life. Delays in my career. Financial hardship for my family. All because despite an obvious serious long-term set of problems, I couldn't find a doctor willing to spend more than two minutes focused on the issue. I use the internet because I clearly cannot most doctors to do the absolute best job possible. I can accept that, I guess, but you can bet I'm going to do everything in my power to point them in the right direction, and to find the information they don't know or won't bother to share with me.
I could go on--there's a GP who told me stop taking inhaled steroids while taking a short course of oral steroids. Turns out that's not the correct protocol at all. Guess where I found that out, before confirming it with the pulmonologist who saw me in the ER? Yep, teh interwebz again. 95% of what I know about managing my asthma I've learned on the internet, from an excellent medblogger and a couple major organizations, plus some medical literature. Thank God the hospital has wireless. It was the internet that helped me learn exactly why I felt so completely terrible after a high dose of IV steroids. No one in the ER or on the floor thought it might be a good idea to warn me of the very interesting side-effects that were likely to occur.
So, yeah, I"m gonna keep going to the internet for answers. It has more time for me, and way more information than any single doctor. I value doctors for their clinical skills and overall much greater knowledge, but when it comes down to the specifics of living with and treating a chronic condition, I can usually learn a whole lot more from the internet than from a doctor.
I've been wrong a total of once. I was experiencing what could have been a potentially serious med side effect that I had previously experienced and that could require immediate intervention (hypokalemia). It turned out to have been dehydration. I felt a little silly, but I don't regret having been on the lookout for a potential recurrence, even if it did cost me a night in the ER.
Yeah, I know this isn't what your post was about. But your post started out with an awfully broad brushstroke there.
Well generally because their own doctor can be wrong. And we know that one wrong decision is told to a hundred people, while one right decision is never mentioned again. In the last three days at work we've had one patient turn up in private car from his GP and then become syncopal in the car park - tropinin known to be elevated by GP, and paramedics are mostly free in Australia - and would have been for this person; another person placed in splint for a joint injury and told to wear it until seen by a specialist - a month later they have done as asked and now have a contracted joint - they were worried about not being able to straighten their limb, so came the the ED, specialist appointment in another two months; the list goes on. And the research would say medical care is as good in Australia as the USA and cheaper to deliver.
August 11, 2010 1:47 AM - yeah, the voices in the radio are talking to only you!
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