I'm not exactly a hypochondriac but I am a bit of a worrywart. So whenever I feel under the weather, you can bet that I'll be googling the symptoms while contemplating my life with [whatever life-threatening illness you can think of]. WebMD has been okay, but I don't find that it really puts me at ease. If anything, it makes me even more paranoid. Freemd.com is a pretty new website, I *think*, that allows you to interact with it to enter your symptoms and have the program spit out what it thinks might be wrong and what your options are in dealing with it. There are a handful of check-ups, also, that allow you to answer questions and get the doctor's analysis of whether or not you have said condition and what you should do about it (for example, see a doctor or go to an emergency room immediately). The website is really pretty nicely designed, easy to follow and has a multi-sensory element of a corresponding video of the doctor in charge.

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Shadow G. Hey T, welcome to the aging process (just kidding) :-) At my age if I did that the way I feel most days, I'd spend my life on the computer ;-(

6/26/11  •  Votes (1)

T N. LOL. I KNOW, it feels awful. It's just a fight against time at this point.

6/26/11  •  Votes (0)

Jon B. T (and everyone) - Medical websites are a double-edged sword. They provide basic information...but rarely information that i would ACT on without getting a real Dr's, face to face diagnosis. Same with medical blogs...these are scary - when someone writes "I took that medication and my arm fell off" - what am I supposed to do with that piece of info? Be careful

6/29/11  •  Votes (0)

Bobby K. That is the best part about this website, it doesn't aim to diagnose, but instead offers triage advice on how urgently one needs medical care. First time I ever saw a site that did this!!!

6/29/11  •  Votes (0)

Lorraine W. Tran, Great find as much as I get sick I can always use a site that evaluates symptoms. Cool site, Lorraine W.

6/29/11  •  Votes (0)

T N. I agree - I think the doctor's pretty clear in this that he's not out to diagnose. I did a check-up for migraines - it goes through each of the symptoms and then gives a clear course of potential resources.

6/29/11  •  Votes (0)

Joanne N. Most medical sites state that the site is for informational purposes only and not to be used in place of a doctor but it is nice to be able to become informed and arm yourself with some knowledge so you can question your doctor about any concerns you may have.

7/28/11  •  Votes (0)

Robin H. Thanks. I've been looking for a better than WebMed site. I'll check it out.

9/11/11  •  Votes (0)

I think what I liked about this site was that rather than trying to figure out my own diagnosis which is usually wrong (though I swear I had a brain tumor and not just a headache...) is that it guides you to seeing the correct specialist and how soon you should see a doctor. That is more valuable than 1000s of pages of rare diseases that I really do not want to read about cause if I read them I KNOW I am going to have them.

I really like this website! It's oddly refreshing. It's very easy to navigate and once you receive a "diagnosis", everything you want to know about it is on ONE page so you don't have to click back and forth repeatedly (when you click on something, a little "note" pops up on the page and further explains it, then you can "x" it out).

I think this is a really good idea. Obviously I wouldn't recommend it for serious illnesses and symptoms but it's great if you want a second opinion, have minor symptoms, or are just curious.

However, it is yet another website that can't figure out what's wrong with me :/ but tells me the same thing every other website (and doctor) has been telling me for ten years. Most distressing....

But other than that it's something new to try if you're curious. Not recommended for serious or complicated health issues.