I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week • Hacker News Board

Re: I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week

#41

Post by blakesterz » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:45 PM UTC

They wrote...

  "Turns out it was Lyme disease (yes, the real one, not the fake one) and it (nearly) progressed to meningitis"

What does "not the fake one" mean, I must be missing something?

Re: I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week

#42

Post by morshu9001 » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:45 PM UTC

sofixa wrote: post #19

I'm guessing this is the USA with the absurd healthcare system, because otherwise this part is wild: > You need to go to the emergency room right now". > So, I drive myself to the emergency room It is absolutely wild that a doctor can tell you "you need to go to the emergency right now", and that is an act left to someone who is obviously so unwell they need to go to the ER right now. With a neck so stiff, was OP eve…

Uh, standard in America is to take an Uber Ambulance

Re: I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week

#43

Post by WhyOhWhyQ » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:45 PM UTC

reenorap wrote: post #17

[flagged]

I think it's morally wrong to trust a child's well-being to an LLM over a trained medical professional, and I feel strongly enough about this to express that here.

Re: I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week

#44

Post by unyttigfjelltol » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:46 PM UTC

morshu9001 wrote: post #23

cogman10 wrote: post #10

Yikes. But I have to say that prompt is crazy bad. AI is VERY good at using your prompt as the basis for the response, if you say "I don't think it's an emergency" AI will write a response that is "it's not an emergency" I did a test with the first prompt and the immediate answer I got was "this looks like lyme disease".

I figured this out diagnosing car trouble. Tried a few separate chats, and my natural response patterns were always leading it down the path to "your car is totaled and will also explode at any moment." Going about it a different way, I got it to suggest a simple culprit that I was able to confirm pretty thoroughly (fuel pressure sensor), and fixed it.

The problem is, once you start down that sequence of the AI telling you what you want to hear, it disables normal critical reasoning. It’s the “yes man” problem— you’re even less able to solve the problem effectively than with no information. I really enjoy LLMs, but it is a bit of a trap.

Re: I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week

#45

Post by looknee » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:46 PM UTC

@shortrounddev2 can you please post the response ChatGPT gave in response to your prompt? That seems pertinent.

Re: I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week

#46

Post by labrador » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:46 PM UTC

Prompt: "I have this rash on my body, but it's not itchy or painful, so I don't think it's an emergency? I just want to know what it might be. I think I had the flu last week so it might just be some kind of immune reaction to having been sick recently. My wife had pityriasis once, and the doctor told her they couldn't do anything about it, it would go away on its own eventually. I want to avoid paying a doctor to tell me it's nothing. Does this sound right?"

LLM sees:

    my rash is not painful
    i don't think it's an emergency
    it might be leftover from the flu
    my wife had something similar
    doctors said it would go away on it's own
    i want to avoid paying a doctor

LLM: Honestly? It sounds like it's not serious and you should save your money

Re: I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week

#47

Post by andrepd » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:46 PM UTC

reenorap wrote: post #17

[flagged]

I swear on all that is holy, I cannot tell if this is sophisticated satire or you are actually for real. 100% not being facetious.

Re: I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week

#48

Post by ikrenji » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:46 PM UTC

bro described the perfect LLM prompt that would have got him the right diagnosis instantly. instead he put in some garbage and got garbage back

Re: I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week

#49

Post by lenerdenator » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:47 PM UTC

I think you'll see this happen a lot more. Not just in the US where docs cost money, but anywhere there's a shortage of docs and/or it's a pain in the butt to go to one.

YouTuber ChubbyEmu (who makes medical case reviews in a somewhat entertaining and accessible format) recently released a video about a man who suffered a case of brominism (which almost never happens anymore) after consulting an LLM. [0]

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yftBiNu0ZNU

Re: I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week

#50

Post by cogman10 » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:49 PM UTC

reenorap wrote: post #17

[flagged]

> a child's fractured arm

... Um what?

The only way to diagnose a fractured arm is an xray. You can suspect the arm is fractured (rotating it a few directions) but ultimately a muscle injury will feel identical to a fracture especially for a kid.

Please, if you suspect a fracture just take your kid to the doctor. Don't waste your time asking ChatGPT if this might be a fracture.

This just feels beyond silly to me imagining the scenario this would arise in. You have a kid crying because their arm hurts. They are probably protectively holding it and won't let you touch it. And your first instinct is "Hold on, let me ask chatgpt what it thinks. 'Hey chat GPT, my kid is her crying really loud and holding onto their arm. What could this mean?'"

What possessed you to waste time like that?