Where do you get information about your health or illness?

My head, the internet, the doctor. I have a lot of background knowledge and am pretty good at sifting through articles and information and knowing where to go to ask questions based on what’s going on. Generally, I’m okay with using some alternative stuff in conjunction with what the doctor says but I’m actually pretty reluctant to be as medicated as they’d like us to be. Of course, not when it comes to infections and the such. I don’t mind asking pharmacists for clarification but it’s hard to find one who knows anything well enough.

A bit of everything really. I’ll talk to my doctor, research things online and in medical books (I have quite a few of them), talk to family and friends that have experience with that particular situation or one similar to it, and talk to other medical professionals that I know. I trust the doctors that I have right now, but that hasn’t always been the case. When there was something going on and I didn’t trust my doctor, I got other opinions from other doctors.

Family and friends who happen to have various levels and types of medical training (MDs, clinical herbalists, etc.), my own minimal medical training, a handful of books, and good old traditional wisdom.

Doctors are the most trustworthy but I find they give you the bare minimum of information. They just vie you the “official” stuff. I have a particular health forum online that’s very trustworthy and I get a lot of information from people who have been through the same experiences. This helps me get a much better “day in the life” type view.

I have Kaiser insurance, so I can access my doctor any time of the day by e-mail, and they have a very extensive information site for general health questions.

Wow, give,* not vie. Whut.

My health provider gives me the diagnosis and an explanation. I then google it to get more info and to reinforce what the doctor said to get it straight in my mind. Sometimes I read blogs of people who’ve had the condition.

I get it from various sources including family and friends. Usually, if I feel I need advice, I’ll go to the pharmacy if it’s not serious enough for my gp. If I’m worried, the gp it is.
Sometimes I try to find natural treatments/remedies online first.

I would never just rely on a doctor for a chronic or complicated health matter. I rely on myself somewhat, the knowledge I have about my own body, and the knowledge I have attained thus far regarding health and medicine. If a doctor agrees with what I already kind of surmised, I tend to go with it. If they disagree, I get a second opinion. If I had no idea at all what was going on with me and a doctor says something that makes sense, I will try their treatment recommendations and see if it works within reason. I don’t hunt for a doctor to agree with me, but I am not going to just accept a doctors diagnosis and treatment if it makes little sense to me. I have been through several medical difficulties and in the end I am almost always right. Not that I am always right or all knowing about a diagosis or treatment, sometimes I am right just knowing what the doctor said made no sense and will not be helpful, or they are not understanding me.

I also utilize fluther, we have some great doctors here, and a little google sometimes, but websites sometimes have misinformation of course. Oh, but pubmed is good for studies. There have been times I have looked up information in medical texts and journals like JAMA.

Also, girlfriends. Sharing with them many times leads to some help.

I’ve received great informations from doctors, friends, family and the internet. I’ve also received wrong/unhelpful information from all of the above. I always get a second (or third) opinion anymore.

I read everything I can about the subject, from every possible angle. I will look at scholarly papers on the subject, homegrown e-books, and everything else in between. I look at alternative remedies and nutritional needs of a body with this problem, as well as western medicine. I see what everyone has to say, both pro and con. And sometimes you can learn as much from what they DON’T say as from what they do say.

In every field there are fads and trends. I try to see the sense that’s behind it. Sometimes it’s a lot of garbage, and sometimes it makes sense. If my doctor tries to counsel me regarding my nutritional needs and she/he has had a minimum of nutritional training to back up what they say, I am polite, but I ignore them.

For simple things I ask a pharmacist. For anything more serious I ask my doctor.

@downtide I think asking a pharmacist is done much less often in America than in other countries.