Is there a doctor in the house? Or in the chat box?!
Before we even step foot in a doctor’s office, most of us have already typed our symptoms into Google and fallen headfirst into a rabbit hole of possible (and probably terrifying) diagnoses. In two seconds flat, that mild headache feels suspiciously like a brain tumor. That’s it. This is the end. Finito.
On the other hand, it’s not always paranoia. There are plenty of instances in which a patient's suspicions about a serious underlying health issue wasn’t taken to heart by the medical professional they trusted, and they suffered the consequences because of it.
That’s why there seem to be two camps when it comes to consulting “Dr. Google.” On one side, you’ve got the people who trust medical professionals implicitly and think online research is a dangerous game. On the other hand, folks who’ve had bad experiences with the healthcare system feel more comfortable taking matters into their own hands. Both sides, honestly, make sense, especially when you consider how personal health can be.
And yet, doctors themselves admit that sometimes, those late-night searches and gut instincts actually do lead people in the right direction.
In one viral Reddit thread, doctors and nurses shared the rare moments when Internet research helped patients make sense of long-misunderstood symptoms and come out with a proper diagnosis. These stories show that while the Internet shouldn’t replace medical expertise, it can certainly spark the kind of curiosity needed to save lives.
Here are some of the most “impressive” wins for “Dr. Google”:
Celiac’s disease
A loaf of sliced bread.Photo credit: Canva
“One of my aunts was born in the 1930s and became a registered dietician. She self-diagnosed as having celiac’s in the early 1960s, which was almost unheard of at that time.”
Cholestasis
“I followed a woman on IG who sold leggings (I was a yoga teacher). Over the years, she became pregnant and lost her child within 36 hours after birth with no real cause. … She started feeling itchy on her hands, arms, and feet, and realized she had felt the same symptoms with her first pregnancy, but dismissed them.”
“At 36 weeks, I started feeling itchy hands and feet. I lotioned, ignored it, but it kept getting worse. I kept thinking of the IG lady though, and I decided to go to my doctor. She thankfully said, lets test your liver just to check. Turns out I had cholestasis of pregnancy, and likely saved my baby’s life by not waiting.”
Diabetes
A woman testing her blood sugar.Photo credit: Canva
“When I was in high school one of the science classes had to do a project on systemic diseases. This kid chose diabetes. They noticed the symptoms matched what they had been feeling lately. Went to the hospital and it turned out they were days to hours from a diabetic coma.”
Double uterus
“For years I had horrible periods, and had that whole ‘could be endo, could be fibroids’ runaround. But I also couldn’t use tampons – I would somehow just bleed past them, which made less than no sense—and my period cycle was so off sometimes I swore it was like I had two uteruses.”
“Then one day I was listening to a podcast and a woman started talking about her experience of living with two uteruses. And I was like ‘damn, that’s me.’”
“Told the GP, she reluctantly sent me for the scans, told me it almost certainly wasn’t that given the rarity. But yep, turns out I have two uteruses, cervixes and vaginas, and one unit of a kidney instead of the factory-issue two.”
Kidney cancer
“Didn’t have any dramatic symptoms other than poor appetite and fatigue. I knew I had something going on above my waist but not in my chest. Drs blew me off so I got a lung scan due to smoking history. Kidney cancer. Tumor was on the upper part and outside of the kidney. Small tumor, had a partial nephrectomy, 3rd post-surgery scan coming up.”
Low thyroid
“Way back when, after baby #2, I started gaining weight, felt like I had been run over by a truck (!), and couldn’t remember basic words like chair/table. I made an appt. with my OBGYN, ‘you’re depressed’ even though I denied feeling depressed, end of consult.”
“A week or 2 later, I remembered I had a family history of low thyroid (not that it’s necessarily familial) and made another appointment—oh!! My heart rate was 28! No wonder my mentation was garbage!”
Ménière’s disease
Doctor lookin in a patient's ear. Photo credit: Canva
“I started getting ringing in my ears and sometimes my hearing would become ‘muffled’ for short periods of time like I was under water. I was reading everything I could find relating to my symptoms and absolutely everything pointed towards Ménière’s disease. Still, ‘it’s anxiety,’ and my GP laughed and called me Doctor Google.”
“Eventually ended up at an Out of Hours clinic one night because my vertigo was so bad and I’d completely lost my hearing in one ear. This lead to a referral for an MRI and eventual diagnosis of… Ménière’s disease.”
Multiple sclerosis
“Went to the doctor and he asked in a condescending manner what ‘Dr. Google’ said I have. I said that my symptoms matched up with multiple sclerosis.”
“Two years later I visit him and he has a resident following him around. She was the one that performed a test on me (Babinski reflex) that indicated neurological damage that led to my diagnosis of: multiple sclerosis.”
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
“After an egg retrieval, I got myself to the ER and told them I definitely had a severe case of ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome. I thought it was a no-brainer. Boston IVF had warned me of what to look for and I had nearly every symptom, including the ‘go immediately to the ER’ ones.”
“The ER doc kind of laughs and goes, ‘Maybe we should avoid googling symptoms.’ He recommended Tylenol and was going to discharge me! It took me forever to convince them to just do imaging and check my ovaries—first time I’ve ever heard a doctor say, ‘Holy sh*t, that can’t be right.’”
Ovarian torsion
Model of female anatomy.Photo credit: Canva
“Diagnosed myself with ovarian torsion last year. The pain was indescribable and couldn’t even keep down sips of water. Went to A&E. Medical staff tried to diagnose me with a kidney stone despite having no issue with peeing. Just saw I was fat and ignored my long standing PCOS diagnosis.”
“Multiple ultrasounds showed no calculi, but moving the wand over to just above my uterus did show my left ovary had dislodged and was hanging out there, being strangled by a 9cm cyst.”
Pulmonary embolisms
“I diagnosed my mother’s PEs (pulmonary embolisms). She’d had abdominal surgery the week prior and made an off the cuff remark about having to sleep upright as she was short of breath when lying down.”
“That didn’t sit right with me so a quick google told me about how PEs can happen, especially after major abdo surgery. Told her to get to emerg, STAT—sure enough, 3 PEs. She’s fine now, thankfully, but she sure as hell could’ve had a stroke if she hadn’t have mentioned anything.”
Rhabdomyolysis
Cheery drink.Photo credit: Canva
“Around an hour into my shift at a hospital lab I went to the bathroom and noticed my urine looked like cherry cola. I talked to my former paramedic boss, told her what I was experiencing, and that I was concerned I had Rhabdomyolysis. She agreed and told me to head to the ER.”
“I walked myself across the street to the ER and told the PA the story and told her I was worried about Rhabdo. She kind of dismissed me. … 2 hours later she comes back with a nurse carrying two bags of saline and tells me that my CK levels are so high the lab is having to do serial dilutions to quantify the results which is why it’s taking so long.”
Yeast infection of the ear
“My younger brother dealt with persistent chronic ear infections and was supposedly diagnosed with eczema in his ears. They would often weep pus that smelled foul and he would swab them every day. They were red and flaky inside, which prompted the eczema diagnosis, but I don’t think explained the pus?”
“So after 10 years of dealing with this, he gets fed up with it and decides to send off samples of his own for private testing so he could review every single bacteria that was present himself. Turns out the biggest colony was Candida.”
But, as with most issues, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. The Internet, when used responsibly, can actually help strengthen the relationship between patients and doctors. Knowing what questions to ask, understanding basic terminology, or even finding reassurance from credible sources can make medical appointments less intimidating and more collaborative.
Doctors themselves often say they don’t mind patients bringing in what they’ve read online. The key is to approach it with curiosity, not confrontation.
Ellana Stinson, MD, MPH, MBA, told Upworthy, “I appreciate patients coming with questions and I think bringing up their findings as questions to give me the opportunity to talk them through it is when it has worked the best with my patient interaction and relationship.”
Instead of saying, "Well Google said and I want this because of Google,” she suggests that patients try something like, “I read that these symptoms could be related to [condition]; what do you think?” It opens up a real conversation rather than a debate.
“When they come with an open mind to better understand their health it works out best for everyone.”
So maybe “Dr. Google” isn’t ready for a medical license just yet. But used wisely, it’s not such a bad assistant. Especially if it helps you better advocate for yourself.