Before getting to the "diagnosis part"... whenever there's a question or a suspicion, I spend enough time, mnay hours if needs be, to go to my trusted medical websites, and learn as much as I can, before considering going to the doctor. Not that I don't trust the doctor, but with the wealth of knowledge available, it's easy to learn as much or more than the doctor knows... (BTW, we have a magnificent young ultra smart lady doctor that we trust.. totally.)
That said, in the best circumstances testing is not perfect.
With finger numbness, my doctor suspected carpal tunnel, and sent me to a neuroligist, who did extensive testing and confirmed the tentative diagnosis... This led to a carpal tunnel operation and subsequent recovery period. Final result?... It was not carpal tunnel, and the $12K operation did no good... Further reading of medical abstracts infer an uncommon problem, as idiopathic (cause not known) peripheral neuritis... which has no known or accepted cure. Knowing this, now, I can deal with it and accept it, putting it into perpective and realizing that it is not as serious as first thought.
On the other hand three of my best friends have had serious problems, that advanced rapidly and which killed two of them.
The first was pancreatic cancer... one week of intestinal upset, the diagnosis, and three weeks later death.
The second was a Canadian 6 mo. resident in our FL community who had a persistant mild cough in January, but waited until the end of March to return to CA, for free medical care. Diagnosis, lung cancer. He died in September.
The third, my roomate from college. A pediatrician, who at the first hint of a problem tested for prostate cancer. An extemely rapid onset and growth, resulting in an almost immediate prostatectomy, followed by 7 weeks of intensive radiation treatments. He's ok now, but a very close call.
Conclusion? Hmmm... diagnosis and cure are not certain, but better the devil you know, and IMO, knowing as much as possible, independent of the doctor, doesn't hurt.
Secondly though YMMV, homeopathic diagnosis and treatment is less to be trusted than accepted medical practices as defined by the National Health Organizations... especially for potentially serious or fatal problems.
My opinion only.
