Category: Diagnosing – and misdiagnosing

– posts here focus on how difficult it often is to get an accurate heart disease diagnosis in women

Is it a heart attack – or a panic attack?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 28 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

As a heart attack survivor who was misdiagnosed and sent home from the E.R., I now have a keen (maybe obsessive?) interest in women whose cardiac events are being dismissed by doctors. Reports in the New England Journal of Medicine, for example, show that women under age 55 are SEVEN TIMES more likely than men to be misdiagnosed in mid-heart attack and sent home.(1)

But sometimes, people who are utterly convinced that they’re suffering from misdiagnosed heart problems may instead have conditions like panic disorder. In fact, Dr. Mohammed Memon, editor-in-chief at Medscape Reference, cites studies showing that about 40% of patients with panic disorder seek treatment because of frightening chest pain. But how to tell the difference?  Continue reading “Is it a heart attack – or a panic attack?” →

How to be a “good” patient

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 16 Comments

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by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

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Here’s how to be a “GOOD PATIENT”:

  • Get sick (preferably with a short-term acute ailment).
  • Get an appointment to see your doctor.
  • Get diagnosed.
  • Get a prescription.
  • Get better.
  • Thank your brilliant doctor.

Now, here’s how to be a “DIFFICULT PATIENT”:         .          .    
 Continue reading “How to be a “good” patient” →

Are you a ‘health seeker’ or a ‘disease seeker’?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

I recently wrote about a woman who has few if any cardiac symptoms, no definitive test results, and very little if any reason to believe she might have a heart condition. Yet she is so utterly convinced of her extreme risk for having a heart attack that she actually describes feeling like a “ticking time bomb”.

Her conviction may have something to do with the increasing media coverage of atypical signs of heart disease in women (= a good thing).  Or it may have something to do with the possibility that she is “catastrophizing” by looking to snag an attention-getting heart disease diagnosis (= a bad thing).

I’ve recently subscribed to medical historian Dr. Jan Henderson‘s fascinating blog called The Health Culture, and that’s where I was once again reminded of a book that may actually help to inform this woman’s case. Continue reading “Are you a ‘health seeker’ or a ‘disease seeker’?” →

Getting help during a heart attack: ‘delayers’ vs ‘survivors’

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥   @HeartSisters

If you thought you were having a heart attack, would part of you worry about being embarrassed if it turned out your symptoms weren’t that serious after all? Would you dread the attention of an ambulance coming to your home?  If so, you might be considered a “delayer”.

On the other hand, would you likely call 911 immediately because you believe that embarrassment passes quickly and without long-term damage, while a heart attack does not? If so, you’d be considered a “survivor”.

Check this chart to see which category you belong in – and then take whatever steps are required to move yourself immediately from delaying to surviving.   Continue reading “Getting help during a heart attack: ‘delayers’ vs ‘survivors’” →