Odd Things

When your body does odd things, things its never done before, what do you do?

Say you get pains in odd places, or something. Do you go to a doctor? Look it up on the web? Talk to a friend?

What's enough to make you go to the doctor? Are you ever right when you self-diagnose? If you did look it up on the 'net before going in, do you tell your doctor what you think you have?

Partially from being an engineer, and partially from my time in EMS, I tend to place less than perfect trust in doctors. There's just so much variability in human reactions and experiences, such a breadth of possible causes for the same problems, and such a limited set of tools that actually FIX medical problems (as opposed to treating the symptoms or trying to boost the body's own responses), that I often have a hard time convincing myself that going to a doctor will really help.

Oddly, I take the reverse approach when counseling others, especially long-distance. "You should go to your doctor and get it checked." How many times have I said that?

Do I think that my own exam and diagnosis is equal or superior to that of doctors, do I place a lower value on my life and health than that of others, or is it the conditioned reflex from years of EMS to avoid liability? Frankly, I'm not sure.