Dr. Google...I think I have...

So you suffer from a bit of a headache, some nausea, fatigue, feeling chills at times, some neck pain, a bit of tingling in the fingers and some abdominal pain.  Punch your symptoms into the computer and Dr. Google diagnoses you with:

Fibromyalgia
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Hypothyroidisim
Diabetes
Chronic Pain Syndrome
Hypertension
Meningitis

and...and...and

With all this information, how can someone accurately self diagnose themselves?  Don't get me wrong, I think that knowledge is helpful, but if fallen into the wrong hands it can be a detriment and not an aid.

Something to think about when talking about symptoms.  The definition of SYMPTOM is an objective change that cannot be observed or measured.  Look at the list of symptoms:  Headache, nausea, fatigue, tingling, pain; none of these can be measured (accurately).  I believe this is why sometimes when you present with pain, some practitioners will tell you that "its all in your head." There is no good way to measure.

When you go to your doctor, they are looking at SIGNS that go along with common symptoms.  SIGNS are objective changes that can be observed by clinician.  For example, neck "pain" may go along with reduce range of motion in the neck indicating some type of joint dysfunction.  A headache may go along with an elevated body temperature or fever indicating a local or systemic infection (that can also be measured by doing blood tests and looking at a blood cell count).

Before you go jumping to conclusions about what you may be suffering from, maybe its time to check in with a health care professional to get a second opinion.