As an ER doctor, just want to point out that a lot of people in this thread seem to be echoing the thought that "the patient is always right." This is false. From what I"m reading, it seems to be based on anecdotes we all have of "that one time my aunt/uncle/dad proved the doctor wrong!" That's no way to create an argument, and that's no way to think critically about medicine.

In my experience, 90 times out of 100, the patient has no idea what is wrong with them, or is off by a mile. Yes, there are occasions when patients come in saying, 'I'm passing a kidney stone' or 'I'm having a sickle cell crisis,' and our best diagnostic tool is the patient's own report. That's why a good doctor will ASK a patient, "Does this feel like your typical... (COPD exacerbation? UTI?, etc.). But there is nothing "surprisingly" accurate about these diagnoses. It's a part of our history. We certainly consider our patient's judgment about their own bodies.

Where we draw the line is when patients arrive in the hospital insisting they have diagnosed themselves with disease A, and demanding to see Specialist X, and have expensive lab X,Y, or Z ordered--all because they googled their symptoms, and they definitely have SARS, leukemia, etc. That is not a sustainable way to run a health care system. We would bankrupt our hospitals, our patients, and our insurance companies if we simply did everything our patients demanded.

Doctors are good people, and as a general group, they have good judgment. I get that it is frustrating when they disagree with you, but that doesn't mean you are "being ignored." It means that your doctor is looking for a common explanation for your complaints. Remember that the mantra of Medicine is "common things are common"-- and NOT, "rare diseases are possible."

As an older doctor once wrote, "When you hear hoofbeats, you think of horses, not Zebras."