About two months ago, while wrapping up interviews, I noticed a prickly, tingling sensation in all 10 toes. At first I brushed it off- maybe my hose or heels were too tight, and I had been sitting for extended periods of time on airplanes. But it never went away-it was constant and in both feet.
My first thoughts, of course in panic, were diabetic neuropathy, a spinal cord lesion. Statistically, I knew that diabetes is extremely common, but I didn't have ANY other symptoms. And not only is my BMI a nice 21, I had recently started eating more healthily, nearly eliminating simple carbs and fats completely. I considered stopping by student health to have my blood sugar checked.
Stupidly, I googled it. I knew very well I'd run across crazy, rare diseases and freak out. Multiple sclerosis kept coming back up, and that almost seemed more likely than diabetes at one point. A resident I know was diagnosed recently and I couldn't get that out of my head.
After two weeks of parasthesia that quickly spread throughout both feet, I finally called my mom, a pharmacist. She quickly recommended getting some B vitamins in, because apparently oral contraceptives are associated with that (I had no idea, and have taken them awhile without problems). I had actually considered a vitamin deficiency early on and took them for a week or so without improvement so I stopped.
After about a month of vitamins, it finally went away. I guess between my "healthy diet" and OCP, I became a statistic. And I learned a really important lesson.
You can't objectively assess yourself. Going to the doctor sucks, but sometimes it's better than the alternative of getting much worse. I am even cautious about discussing medical issues with close family, because the closeness still impedes objectivity.
Also, healthcare professionals should take their own advice and not google their own symptoms.
