This Doctor's PSAs About The Most Commonly Misdiagnosed Health Conditions In Women Should Be Mandatory Reading
If you've never been misdiagnosed or had a serious health issue dismissed by a doctor, I hope it never happens to you. But if you're a women, unfortunately it's something you're more likely to have to deal with.
Multiple studies have shown that we're more likely to be diagnosed later than men or receive a misdiagnosis. In 2019, a study found that women tend to get diagnosed later than men for over 700 conditions.
Additionally, women are 50% more likely than men to get a misdiagnosis after a heart attack and 33% more likely to be misdiagnosed after a stroke — and missing a diagnosis like that can be life-threatening.
I've personally had a missed diagnosis that made a big impact on my life, and I know so many other women who've been through something similar. In 2022, a doctor missed my breast cancer diagnosis and said everything looked normal. Months later, I got a second opinion and found out that I needed a mastectomy. I was absolutely shocked.
I'm now cancer-free, and I wrote about my whole breast cancer journey here, including how I found it. But after a doctor missed my diagnosis, I'm not a "chill patient" anymore.
Now I'm that patient who reads every little thing in my online chart, researches every symptom, medication, and side effect, and still doesn't 100% believe my doctors when they say I'm fine. Having such a serious diagnosis completely missed has absolutely left its mark on me.
So when I came across Dr. Erin Nance (@littlemissdiagnosed) on TikTok, I had to follow her. For the whole month of October, Dr. Nance has been doing a daily PSA on one of the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions in women, and the series is so important.
Dr. Nance specializes in orthopedic hand and upper extremity surgery. She has had a private practice, Nance MD Hand Surgery, in New York City for the past eight years.
Her viral TikTok series covers a wide range of conditions, from rare autoimmune disorders to conditions that can affect all genders but which often present differently in women in you might expect.
In each video, she gives a brief overview of the condition before opening the floor for commenters to share their lived experiences.
For example, on the 14th of the month, Dr. Nance posted a video about strokes, saying, "Stroke is the third leading cause of death in women. Young women are over 33% more likely to be misdiagnosed when having an acute stroke. Most women who are misdiagnosed are either told they have anxiety or a migraine."
According to the American Heart Association, one in five women will have a stroke in their lifetimes. Strokes kill more than 90,000 women a year, and Black women are at the highest risk.
Young women can have strokes as well — like in 2022 when Hailey Bieber opened up about what happened when she had a mini stroke.
Dr. Nance goes on to share some of the common symptoms of stroke in women that are often missed. "These are the unique symptoms of stroke in women: loss of consciousness or fainting, general weakness, not just weakness in one arm or leg, shortness of breath, confusion and responsiveness or disorientation, sudden behavioral change, agitation, hallucination, nausea or vomiting, seizures, or even hiccups."
"Now women can also get the classic signs of stroke. The droopy face the slurred speech, the weakness on one side of the body, but these unique symptoms are often the ones that are overlooked."
And in the comments, women shared their own stories of what they experienced themselves or observed in loved ones who have had a stroke:
Their stories are a really powerful illustration of the way women's symptoms can differ from what you may have been told a stroke looks like.
Watch Dr. Nance's full video on strokes in women here:
@littlemissdiagnosed / Via tiktok.com
Similarly, on the 16th, Dr. Nance shared a PSA about heart attacks in women, saying, "More women than men die of heart disease every year, yet women have an increased risk of being misdiagnosed with acid reflux stress or anxiety. And the worst part is, women know something is wrong but no one will listen to them."
Heart disease kills more women than every type of cancer combined, and according to the American Heart Association, 45% of women over the age of 20 live with some type of cardiovascular disease.
Then, she shares the symptoms every woman should watch out for. "These are the signs besides chest pain that women exhibit having a heart attack that are often missed by doctors: new onset of unusual fatigue for several days, new onset of sleep disturbances, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, nausea or cold sweats, indigestion or gas-like pain, pain in an arm or pain that goes in the neck, the jaw, or the back."
"The longer a heart attack goes undiagnosed and untreated, the more likely the damage is irreversible."
And in the comments, people once again shared their personal experiences with heart attacks in women.
Their stories are so incredibly important.
Watch Dr. Nance's full video on heart attacks here:
@littlemissdiagnosed / Via tiktok.com
Dr. Nance told BuzzFeed that she was inspired to create the series after corresponding with a woman who'd been in pain for 10 years and unable to get a diagnosis. "I just thought, how many other people are out there who are suffering with problems that have solutions, but either because people don't believe them or (and this is really women in general) they're they're misdiagnosed with having anxiety, or it's all in your head."
"So I really wanted to provide a series that was educational, so that you could learn what some of these conditions are, and, at the same time, give a voice to the people who have these conditions.
I see you. I hear you. I understand how difficult this road can be. Some of these women have been misdiagnosed for five,10, 15, 20 years. And at some point, the diagnosis journey becomes more exhausting than the disease itself."
And Dr. Nance shared that she's also been through a long and confusing process of trying to get a diagnosis herself after experiencing strange new symptoms after a Covid infection. Opening up about how it felt, she said, "Where do I go? Who or what is the next step? Do I get a brain MRI? Do I go see a neurologist? Do I go see a rheumatologist? I didn't even know where to start. And I'm an expert in the field."
"As someone who is very adept at the inner workings of the American healthcare system and insurance companies, it's a rude awakening when you're on that other side. I have great compassion and empathy for for patients who have to deal with these things."
So Dr. Nance started making these videos to help patients — and women in particular — advocate for better care. "Part of why I do this series is to bring awareness and education so that patients can become their own advocate. And that is like by far the most important message of this entire series: all people, but especially women, need to be the CEO of their own healthcare."
"I want it to be a place where women feel seen, they feel heard, and they feel inspired to be their own advocate."
She also explained why symptoms for conditions like heart attack and stroke can be so different in women than what we've been taught to expect. "A classic symptom is based off of research that was done almost exclusively in men. So for example, a lot of the cardiac studies which are what we base our treatments on, were based on research that didn't even include women in the study."
It also doesn't help that we tend to picture middle-aged and older men as classic heart attack patients. Dr. Nance pointed out, "When you go on to Google [and look up heart attack], the first 20 images are of men clutching their chest, whereas the fact is, more women die of heart disease than men."
It's not just doctors who overlook these symptoms. "It goes both for doctors and and the women themselves. Doctors aren't able to treat you until you get to the ER."
"And so if you kind of convinced yourself, 'Oh, well it can't be that because it's not what I've been told my whole life is the symptom of a classic stroke,' or 'I'm too young to have this,'" not knowing the signs could prevent you from even seeking treatment.
By the way, overlooking the "female" symptoms of these diseases can hurt men too, because men can also present with these non-classical symptoms. Dr. Nance explained, "You shouldn't discount men who have certain symptoms that are very common in women."
Ultimately, people of all genders should be educated on the symptoms that are more prevalent in women because you never know how a medical condition might show up for you.
Dr. Nance also discussed why certain reproductive and womens health conditions can be so difficult to get diagnosed. "We need more attention because we need more research to be able to actually make an impact. A lot of these diseases just don't have a good PR person. There are certain conditions where they're a bit rarer, but they get a lot of attention. I don't understand why a condition that affects 50% of the population doesn't have that same attention and the intensity of research that I would hope to have."
If you're someone who wants to advocate for greater awareness of a women's health condition like endometriosis or PMDD, Dr. Nance says the best thing to do is look for patient groups and see which organizations actual patients support. "I think the best is to learn from the people who are actually living with it and ask them which groups have the biggest impact."
Dr. Nance continued, saying, "Attention matters and awareness matters. You are not going to convince a panel of men that something that like endometriosis is something that they are going to get behind. Because it just hasn't happened. And that's why we need more women, not just in health — we need women in positions of power in finance, in media, and everywhere so that we can ensure that our voices are the ones that are heard."
Finally, Dr. Nance says that the response to her video series has been humbling. "I'm incredibly overwhelmed by the response. I've never received so many thank you's in my life and a part of me really doesn't feel like I deserve it. I feel like I'm doing something so, so small."
"The videos are not just meant to be educational. They're really to provide this emotional gap between patients and the doctors that treat them so that people know that there are doctors who care about you. And I understand that you might have had a bad experience in the past, and no doctor is perfect. All of us have a bad day and all of us miss things. I have missed a diagnosis. I have had had patients who have gone to see other doctors, but it doesn't mean that there aren't still good doctors out there who are still trying."
Follow Dr. Nance on TikTok and check out the full series.
Have you ever been misdiagnosed? Are you struggling to get a diagnosis right now? Share your stories in the comments.
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