[savemylife]

edw519, I hesitated for a day before posting this update (and a good couple of weeks before my original post) for exactly that reason. I realize that this is Hacker News, and not a medical web site. So I truly apologize if what I've done is inappropriate. HN is a great place, and I'd never want to abuse it.

In the end I rationalized my decision by thinking that if my post isn't actually appropriate, that it simply wouldn't get voted up. It's a community site, and in the end the community chose to vote it up. I think that's worth something, though I certainly do see your point.

I'd make one correction to your argument though- I'm trying to crowdsource a diagnosis, not my medical care. There is a big difference.

[qeorge]

I don't think he meant it was inappropriate to submit, but that he's concerned for your health. It sounds like you've got it under control, but it is really good advice - smart people w/ Google can make good guesses at most questions, but you shouldn't bet your life on it.

Its a very interesting case and I've enjoyed following it, so please keep updating us. And best of luck with your continued recovery!

[seasoup]

And you are crowdsourcing it as a last resort, you've seen the medical professionals and they have failed to provide a diagnosis.

[edw519]

savemylife, my comment was meant for your well being, not ours.

Nothing can be more important that saving a life so your threads are not only appropriate, they are most welcome.

I don't know if I could be as brave as you are in your quest, but obviously you have been through quite a bit and I trust you know what you're doing.

I consider diagnosis to be a subset of health care, hence my concern. Take everything here with a grain of salt. I hope you find a trusted health care professional, and more importantly, good health. Best wishes.

[savemylife]

OK, in that case I totally misunderstood. Apologies, and thanks for your concern.

It is indeed hard to know what to make of a lot of the suggestions I receive here, but the quality level of the comments is way above the kind of discussion you would get in most places by posting such a story ("have you tried crystals or magnets?") Already it has turned up something (Celiac) that apparently has been entirely overlooked by all of the doctors I have seen thus far. Even if that turns out to be a dead end, it's worth knowing about and investigating.

[kellishaver]

I think the important distinction here is that you're not just saying "Hey, Internet, what's wrong with me?" and leaving it at that. You've been under the care of (many?) physicians and continue to be. So you're not taking the Internet's word for it and rushing off to try some hair-brained "cure" (Trying a gluten free diet, even if that's not the issue, certainly won't harm you. I'm sure if the Internet had said "drink a bucket of Draino" you'd have drawn a line). You're just looking for information and ideas beyond what you and the doctor have already discussed/tested for. You're just exploring other possibilities and then following up on that with your doctor. I'm glad to see you're finally starting to get some answers and I hope you're able to, at least, get to the bottom of all of these problems.

Keep in mind, too, though, you may not have one definitive diagnosis. You could have _______ and also ________, or ________ caused by ________, which then makes ________ worse. The body is a complicated thing.

[Robin_Message]

Did anyone else instinctively highlight the end of this to see the spoilers?

[prawn]

Only after reading your comment!

[kellishaver]

The sad part is, after reading his reply..... so did I.

[mike-cardwell]

I'd suggest that if anyone wants to follow your progress further, they subscribe to your website feed. There's no need to keep posting updates here.

[w1ntermute]

I don't agree. That's no different from suggesting that we only need to link to one article on TechCrunch or the NYT site, for example, since if people are interested in reading more of their articles, they'll subscribe to the TechCrunch and/or NYT site feeds.

And like edw519 said, the first post was much more interesting than the average HN post, so I say keep 'em coming.