#1
Basically a woman had early uterine cancer, but refused surgery. She wanted to explore alternative treatments like coffee enemas (?) and meditation. She somehow managed to get an audience with the Dalai Lama who told her to go back to western treatment.
#2
Here's just a small sample of some of the reasons I've been given:
(1) causes autism
(2) made from aborted babies
(3) big pharmacy scam
(4) unnatural
(5) my kid cried when you gave him his vaccines last time
(6) I never got these diseases as a kid, so my kid doesn't need the vaccine
I feel sorry for your kids.
#3
Self-diagnosing your inevitable demise is by no means an isolated case. A study of 2000 adults showed that more than half use the internet to find their diagnoses, and around 75% believe they know better than their own doctors. The "Dr. Google" era has well and truly taken a firm grip on this generation.
Many people found their insurance paperwork too hard to grasp, citing this as their reason to trust the web oracle. But should we really let the fear of a little paperwork lead us so far as to put all our trust in the robot overlords? By the sound of these cringy stories, we shouldn’t be so fast to open WebMD after all…
#4
I had a patient come in with several pages he printed off the internet. He kinda slammed them down and said, “This is what I have.”
He had bloating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bloody stool, and fever among other things. He insisted he had Schistosomiasis. He was being a real jerk about it like we’re wasting time since he already knew what he had.
So, I asked when did he get back from Africa. And he said, “Africa? I’ve never been to Africa. What the hell would I be doing in Africa?”
I proceeded to tell him that Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease one gets while swimming in the Nile River or other rivers in developing countries like in Southeast Asia.
He got pissed off at me because he thought I was being a smart. He got seen and diagnosed with gastroenteritis (the stomach flu). The bloody stool? He had hemorrhoids.
#5
Well this is gonna be a problem. Turns out the guy had been drinking nothing but sprite and sweet tea for years because of his "water allergy".
The next question the wife had was "where are we all supposed to sleep?" The whole family, 10 people, were planning to stay at he hospital with him.
You can't make this up.
#6
If "Dr. Google" was the gateway, the wellness influencer is the final boss. These days, it's not enough to come to the doctor armed with a printout from a questionable website; the know-it-all patient now arrives with advice from a charismatic TikToker who claims you can "detox your liver" by drinking a celery-and-cayenne-pepper smoothie.
The American Psychological Association has raised alarms about this trend, noting that false health information spreads like wildfire on social media, especially when it's delivered by a confident, attractive person with great lighting. The doctors on Reddit are on the front lines, battling a tidal wave of patients who are convinced their complex medical issue can be solved with a discount code for a green powder.
#7
My grandmother has Crohn's disease. Very very badly. It skipped my mother and her brother. When I was 15, over the course of 6 months, I went from being 5'9 and 190 pounds to being 110. I was a skeleton, extremely anemic, and coughing up blood. My mother was CONVINCED it was something else. I forced her to bring me to a doctor and she spouted off all these possibilities. She then talked about what she yahooed. Not even googled. Yahoo. About genetics and such. And "crohns can't skip generations"
Well the doc said "just in case. We're gonna run some tests"
Long story short I have crohns in my throat and small intestine. So does my cousin. It just skipped a generation.
#8
#9
The patient will say things like "Hey doc do you need me to move my head mesial or distal?" No. I need you to move your head right. "Hey doc, are these cavities being cause by the anaerobic pathology microbes?" No. They are cause by you eating snacks all day and not brushing.
Just when doctors thought they'd seen it all, a new challenger has entered the ring: Artificial Intelligence. A recent study from MIT Media Lab delivered a truly terrifying insight: people tend to over-trust medical advice generated by AI, even when it is demonstrably and dangerously wrong.
This is the next evolution of the stubborn patient. Instead of a theory, they'll have a full, seven-page diagnostic report generated by a chatbot that also writes sonnets about cats. The stories from doctors in the thread are hilarious now, but just imagine the conversations they'll be having in five years when a patient confidently argues, "But ChatGPT said my tennis elbow is actually early-onset vampirism."
#10
Lovely.
#11
#12
Okay.
Now, here's the plot twist. The old-school, "doctor knows best" model of medicine is officially on its way out. A study from King's College London found that for too long, a patient's own experience and perspective were ranked as the least important factors in a diagnosis.
The truth is, you are the world's leading expert on one very specific subject: your own body. There is a huge difference between a patient who announces, "I have a rare mitochondrial disorder because I read a blog about it," and a patient who says, "I know you think it's just a headache, but this feels different from any headache I've ever had."
#13
#14
"I didn't have a heart attack, I had a myocardial infarction."
That's just the technical term for a heart attack, genius.
#15
So, how do you use the vast resources of the internet without becoming the star of your doctor's next dinner party story? A study on the physician-patient relationship offers the perfect road map: be a partner, not a challenger. It's okay to do your research, but the presentation is everything.
Instead of walking in and announcing your self-diagnosis, frame your findings as a question. "I was worried when I read about Condition X, and it seemed to match my symptoms. Could we talk about that?" This simple switch transforms you from a cringeworthy adversary into an informed member of your own healthcare team. The goal is to be a helpful research assistant, not to try to grab the scalpel yourself.
Do you put your trust in Dr. Google or the person who has dedicated their life to understanding the human body? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!
#16
We call her in for a conversation about the hormone levels not going away. After talking together about what might be wrong, they are going to go home and think about further tests. She says "I need to go. I have an appointment at the weight-loss center for an HCG shot."
Turns out that she is on the HCG diet. HCG IS the pregnancy hormone. And this was after an hour of the docs saying "We don't know why you have these constant high levels of HCG in your blood and we are worried".
#17
#18
His blood pressure was also super high.
And instead of taking his anti-hypertensive medications, he went to the gym.
In the gym: he would sit in the sauna for a very long time, and sweat a lot, and lower his blood pressure by becoming dehydrated.
#19
I got a patient and, before starting his chemotherapy, reviewed some of his lab work with him. I told him his glucose level was 73. Normal range is usually between 70-100. He got really upset at this point, and asked him “what’s wrong? Your labs are within range!” And he said “I need it to be zero.”
I said, “what? Why would you want your glucose to be zero?”
He said he’s trying to meet requirements for a new clinical trial that requires his glucose to be zero.
I told him, “I don’t know what clinical trial you’re trying to get into, but if your blood glucose was zero, you’d be dead or dying.”
He was not convinced because I’m “just a nurse,” so I sent a message to his MD asking them to educate their patients better.
#20
