Good COLD morning!
It was 25 degrees in Ocala this morning, meaning you northerners must be shakin’ in your boots!
Last Night
Ryan and I took Sadie on a cold walk before dinner last night and came home to eat hot homemade soup. (More on that at lunchtime, because I’m pretty positive leftovers will be my lunch today.)
We spent the hour or so before bed immersed in The Scorch Trials and are already thoroughly enjoying the novel. For my fellow PBF Book Club participants, we’ll be voting on January’s book tomorrow, so stay tuned. Discussions about December’s book, The Violets of March, will take place today!
Workout
Today’s workout introduced arms back into my strength-training routine!
I’ve been cautious about working out my arms ever since I seriously sliced my pinky on Saturday. Today I figured I’d do whatever exercises didn’t stress my pinky or put pressure on my still-healing wound.
In the end my workout looked like this:
I super-setted the front shoulder raises and tricep dips and this workout flew by!
Google Diagnosing
During my workout, I also spent some time talking with two doctors at the gym.
This morning I awoke with a really odd feeling right above my chest… almost like a gigantic bubble that wouldn’t go away. It didn’t feel like a burp or anything else I’ve ever felt before and I was a little unnerved.
When I would drink water it would briefly subside, but then quickly return.
I’ve seen these two guys working out at our gym before and noticed them leave in scrubs after showering. I eventually got the courage to go over and pester them about my weird bubble thing since I figured they were in the medical field. I’m sure they never get asked random health questions by anyone ever.
Though they didn’t have a direct answer for me (obviously), they made me feel better about my weird bubble and I went about my workout feeling a little less anxious than I did when I first Googled my symptoms on my phone on our way to the gym.
Google diagnosing can make you one paranoid person! I often turn to the internet to “self diagnose” any issues I’m having and most of the time I feel like it’s a fairly decent resource if you rely on reputable sites like the Mayo Clinic for answers, though nothing can ever take the place of actually seeing a doctor. (Please know I’m not advocating self-diagnosing!)
I used to write about pharmaceuticals, side effects and medical conditions in my previous job and let me just say that I’m surprised I didn’t turn into a hypochondriac! Surprisingly, that job actually made me feel much better about knowing where to locate quality resources online and gave me better understanding of knowing when issues are serious enough to seek out a professional opinion.
Breakfast
After we got home from the gym and showered (thank you, Ryan, for washing my hair while I had my left hand wrapped in a plastic bag), it was time for breakfast.
I ate a filling batch of overnight oats made with Greek yogurt, milk, chia seeds, honey, oatmeal and a freshly sliced banana.
Question of the Morning
- Do you ever use the internet to “self diagnose” health issues? Any crazy stories out there?
Of Possible Interest
- A Rebuttal for Nearly Every Excuse Not to Go to the Gym (TinaReale.com)
- Top 25 Fittest Female Celebrities (FitSugar.com)
- Top 10 Healthiest New Years Resolutions (MSN.com)
- Delicious and Filling Healthy Quinoa Recipe (FaithandFunfetti.com)
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haha, that’s so funny you went up to the doctors. good for you! not sure I would’ve had the guts to do that.
i used to be a huge hypochondriac, but i’ve calmed down a bit. in high school i was convinced i had rabies at one point. i hadn’t even been bitten by anything. yeah, it was bad.
p.s. shaking in your boots is right! i live in mass, and it’s currently 4 degrees 🙂
i declare today HOT COCOA day! It’s so flipping cold over in NY, too!
I diagnosed myself with scarlett fever back in college, and everyone laughed at me – I called my mom and my doc and they both said I was crazy, but he told me to come in anyway. He walked into the exam room the next day and says, “Wow, you’re right!” then proceeded to call in all the interns to come check out the freak with scarlet fever!
that’s crazy!!!
I tend to self-diagnose using the internet too! Sometimes I can get a bit paranoid, but Google helps to calm me down and helps me decide if I need to see a doctor or not. That being said, doctor’s opinions are far more valuable and should not be replaced by Google!
my hubs is a dr so if i have questions I ask him. his diagnosis is always “you are crazy”.
LOL!
diagnosing via the internet will drive you crazy! avoid it like the plague!
sadie looks so sweet!
oh yeah. google is the best! but it can also scare the crap out of me! i think it’s best to always just swing by the actual doctor’s office. 🙂
I try really hard to stay away from google because it can give me panic attacks. I am a really bad hypochondriac…I get it from my Dad. I always think I am dying.
I asked my old hairdresser for animal advice bc my cat had a watery eye…he used to be a vet tech…he saved me a $40 vet visit fee and goodness knows what else. I don’t self-diagnose….you know I love a trip to the doctor 🙂
maybe the next bachelor will be a doctor? 😉
Oh my gosh I try to avoid looking online because I never know if its true or not and it makes me scared I have some fatal illness or something! Although the last time I did it was bc I had a rash on my arms so I went to see the doctor about it anyways…the rash was scartlet fever, which came from me having strep throat, which came from having mono. So I had mono, strep, and scarlet fever all at once. Who DOES that? Such a freak. haha
I am an obsessive googler and it can make you a crazy person! Whenever I don’t understand something I google it. Sometimes I get reassured but other times I get really paranoid. But I can’t stop!
I always feel like web md gives you the worst possible scenarios. In college I had swollen lymph nodes, exhaustion, and dizzy spells. When I tried to pull up the diagnoses, web md’s first conclusion was leukemia. This definitely upset me and made me feel extreme panic. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with mono. Still not fun, but much much better than my online diagnosis. Since then, I would rather just go to a doctor than create unnecessary stress!
Haha, google scares me.
My dad, brother, brother-inlaw, and little bro are all doctors (or on their way to being one) so I am pretty much set if I need help 😉
I love a good arm workout–can’t wait to teach some PUMP today!
Haha I’m DEFINITELY guilty of working myself up looking at web md!
Also, I’m on vacation in Florida right now and am experiencing this uncharacteristically cold Florida weather!! At least it’s sunny!
ALSO, I went into a publix here yesterday and thought of you haha!
My boyfriends Mom is a internet diagnoser when it comes to her dog. She’s always so paranoid that something is wrong with him, and when she starts reading all the horror stories on the internet it doesn’t make it any better!!!
My husband is a second year medical student, so even my smallest symptoms get me a thorough physical exam and complete health history! I guess that’s to be expected when diseases and viruses and sickness are all you hear about all day long!
oh man, i “self diagnose” myself probably far too often… of course i find the worst possible scenario too and then start freaking out. you’re right, the doctor is the best bet to ensure getting the right answers.
I try to stay clear of self diagnosing via the internet as it usually scares the poop out of me!! i do have family members who believe everything they read online and it really isn’t the best thing.
YES YES YES!!! I do that all the time- but there are some scary things out there! I remember it felt like there was an electric flash in my heart that would come randomly across my chest. My attitude: have fingers, will Google. I read that those were symptoms for an oncoming heart attack!!! I quickly went to the doc and after a few questions, he told me it was an after shock from a particularly exhausting workout i had done. My body wasn’t used to it- that was all. I was scared to heck! Most recently, i got a sort of skin condition on my face. I was concerned because a) i am a teen so the slightest zit gets me screaming for the dermatologist b0 i have always had clear skin
So i Googled and diagnosed myself with rosacea. Thank goodness i saw a dermatologist! She said it was from an allergy and i am not acne prone/ have oily skin so i can’t have rosacea. Lesson learned : if you are worried about your condition go to the doctor!
Yes its 11 degrees here – This does NOT make me happy! I also hope it warms up down there because I was looking forward to running my half in warmer weather!
I agree Dr. Google is scary! I have tried it before and it never turns out good, now I just go to my doctor 🙂
We are having a super nice day today, up in Canada we are used to -20 Celsius this time of the year, and today’s high is 7!
I frequently write about medical conditions/injuries and their symptoms. I occasionally feel I end up with bouts of hypochondria because of it!
I’ve only successfully self-diagnosed myself once. I had all the symptoms of a stress fracture. Granted, I needed a doctor and some imaging studies to confirm it, but I was right.
OMG I totally know what you mean about Google scaring you when you look up symptoms!! I’ve done a few of those symptom checkers and every time they seem to tell me that I might have all sorts of scary diseases. Now that I finally have a doctor, I like to spare myself the catastrophizing thoughts and just go ask her!
i think we can all be guilty of self diagnosis and its dangerous. My first question to you–I’m a Board Certified NP–What did you eat for dinner last night? e
chicken soup! and then i ate a bowl of overnight oats (initially planned for this morning’s breakfast – i had to remake them!) at around 8 p.m.
That first picture of Sadie is so cute 😀
Yep. DEFINITELY diagnosed myself with a blood disorder a few years back.
It was 8 degrees this morning when we woke up. I don’t think the heat turned off all night. All I think of is $ signs, burning through all that oil! #northernerproblems
I try my best to not self-diagnose, although for some reason, I don’t get as worried if I do when the issue is my own versus when I’m doing it for my husband or our dog (she tore her ACL 3 years ago and I about had a panic attack googling stuff on that!).
Oh yes, i definitely have. I really shouldn’t though-last time my stomach hurt, a google diagnosis convinced me that I had a stomach ulcer! Luckily, I felt fine the next day 🙂
HAHA. I turned into a huge hypochondriac in nursing school. I was so bad that I could even be convinced that I had male only problems even though I’m a woman!!
And yes, it is freezing in Massachusetts today. The dog’s water in our mudroom was frozen this morning!
Freezing up north? YOU GOT IT! 18 degrees this morning. 🙁
Have you ever seen Ellen Degenerous stand up? When she talks about the depression commercials and how they say.. are you stressed? are you tired?… and she responds, yes I’m alive! Haha
not sure if you know this, but I was at target the other day in north tampa and they have a new choboni flavor: apple cinnamon. it’s not at publix, but it’s delicious and has actual pieces of apples in it.
Apple cinnamon? OMG! I need to look at target here. That sounds awesome!!
yep! target has a huge selection compared to (my) publix. it’s one of the 0% ones. good luck!!
I usually do a generic self-diagnosis before I make an appointment, but always go in if something seems really off. I do agree it can make you paranoid though lol, especially WebMD. That thing has suggested illnesses I hope I NEVER get.
Currently 23 degrees in Michigan…we consider that warm since it can get down to the single digits and all. haha.
I ALWAYS try to self diagnose myself. I freak myself out every time! I look at all these different diseases and get scared I have all of them lol!
I had surgery a week ago and my cuts on my stomach are glued much like your finger, the doctor told me that I was 100% allowed to get the glue wet and that showering wasn’t an issue. I have been showering all week and the glue has stayed 100% in tact. Maybe you can get your finger yet to make showering a bit easier?
I have tried to self-diagnose using Google but I normally find that everyone has asked the same questions I have and no one has an answer. Then I usually mini-panic because I have some incurable, unknown problem. HA!
I do a lot of self-dianosing for my acne issue, usually in between my derm appts. I figure that’s ok since my acne isn’t a serious medical condition!
I think winter finally decided to show up but only briefly! It was about 17 here in DC this morning!! Tomorrow is going to be back in the 40s and then the 50s on Friday.
I will use google to look up symptoms sometimes. It helped me when I was having all my stomach problems a couple of years ago. I did a little research and figure out that it might be gluten that was the culprit. That ended up being right.
FIrst…Josh is the absolute worst about self-diagnosing. He had himself convinced that a bug bite he got on our honey moon was a poisonous spider bite. He asked everyone we came into contact with about it…It ended up being a mosquito bite.
Second, Thank you so much for putting the link up to my quinoa recipe. I almost spit out my water when I saw that while reading today. It really is so yummy!!
i saw it when clicking through my google reader this morning and wanted it for breakfast!! it looks delicious!
I always self-diagnose through WebMd, but I never really believe anything until I go to the doctor. I get myself all worked up, go to the doctor and nothing is wrong. So now, I try to wait a day or two to see if the symptoms pass before I do anything else.
I think it’s adorable that Ryan is washing your hair for you… it stinks that you got hurt, but it’s terribly romantic that your husband gets to take care of you. 🙂
Wait, what was the bubble thing?!?!?! I’ve TOTALLY had that before. It always goes away on its own, but it is so disconcerting!
Thanks so much for the love!
And I diagnose myself via Google all the time. Although sometimes it really does work. Weird on the bubble thing. Hope it goes away.
Haha…I used to always go on WedMD’s symptom checked until I realized that it was usually telling me I had one extreme or the other. It would say I either had a tension headache or brain cancer or something!! I had to stop…would make me way too nervous!
I had googled something once about a small red blotch on my dogs stomach and some of the stuff was so horrifying that I took him to the vet the very next morning and good thing I did. The red mark was from him platelet count being so low that he was running the risk of bleeding out. I never would have taken him in had I not googled it because he was running around and playing, eating and drinking, nothing out of the normal. so yes I will google stuff because maybe if it isnt right it will give me the urgency to do something about it. Haha
Last night my friend and I were talking about ‘Dr. Google’ and how it makes us get super paranoid.
Your breakfast looks so yummy.
one of my friends moved to England- they use a like web MD style thing in urgent care clinics where a “Junior Doctor” types in your symptoms and a diagnosis pops out. makes you feel suuuuuuuper comfy when a 19-21 year old is pushing random buttons and handing you pills 😉
it’s like mid-80s in CA lately!
I used to google EVERY single time I wasn’t feeling well. And everytime this happen, I would call up my mother convinced I was eventually going to die. It was not good for my emotional well being. haha.
I still google some things.. but now I find I am trying to diagnose every single thing that happens with my dog. That isn’t good either!
Julie, would you please list how much of everything you put into your over night oats??? I tried to make them before, but it was a mess. i never know how much of each ingredient to put in?!
I always joke that this job is giving me an honorary medical degree…I know more than any non-medical professional needs to know about cancer and surgery!