Updated May 27, 2026, 2:45 p.m. ET
During her final year of dental school, Christy Kirk experienced numbness on one side of her body.
Home alone, she recognized the signs of a stroke—her speech slurred and her eyes fixed to one side. Speaking was a struggle.
A neighbor rushed her to the emergency room. By the time they arrived, her speech had returned, albeit slowly.
Despite her clear symptoms, doctors concluded it was merely a panic attack after she passed a neurological exam.
Kirk, however, felt that her experiences throughout dental school—managing anxious patients—had never led her to a moment like this. She didn’t believe her concerns were taken seriously.
“I was usually a very calm person,” she explains. “Yet they sent me home with Ativan, which frightened me because I was certain something else was wrong.”
After a sleepless night and persistent symptoms, she turned to another neighbor, a neurology resident, for help.
“I was lucky he knew me and wanted to assist,” Kirk remarks. With his help, she managed to get an MRI five days later.
Her instinct turned out to be correct. The stroke symptoms had been real all along.
“I felt unheard,” Kirk shares. An undetected hole in her heart was identified, leading to a minimally invasive procedure to close it with an occluder.
She’s not alone in this experience. Many women frequently have their symptoms dismissed when seeking medical attention, often turning to forums like Reddit when they feel neglected by doctors.
A 2023 study indicated that traits typically associated with women may cause healthcare providers to wrongly interpret their symptoms, believing them to be exaggerated. This can lead to women receiving recommendations for psychological services more often than men who might be prescribed pain relief instead.
It’s more than ‘just one misdiagnosis’
Kait Leno, 47, faced a similar situation when her rising heart rate was misattributed to anxiety. It wasn’t until she suffered a heart attack in 2024 that doctors discovered her medication caused a dangerous interaction.
Leno emphasizes that her experience isn’t just about one misdiagnosis but a broader problem of misunderstood complex symptoms.
Living with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), she faced chronic pain and various debilitating symptoms.
After a COVID-19 infection, Leno’s health worsened while her symptoms lingered.
“I was in severe pain every day, yet they kept saying I was just anxious,” she recalls.
Despite their skepticism, she even tried somatic therapy. Later, a brain aneurysm was discovered and removed surgically, but by the end of the year, her health began to decline again.
Prescribed propranolol for high blood pressure, Leno experienced a hypertensive crisis and subsequently developed an NSTEMI heart attack due to a blockage. When her husband called their doctor, she was sent to the hospital under the impression of having a panic attack, only to be given a psychiatric evaluation and released.
Six hours passed before any monitoring occurred as her symptoms still went unrecognized as a heart attack.
“My blood tests showed troponin levels well above normal,” she states, insisting that her experience was far from panic-driven.
‘I have gone through this for a reason’
Seeking better care, Leno turned to Mayo Clinic.
“Finally getting clear explanations and understanding regarding my health fundamentally changed how I approach medical visits,” she shares.
Feeling the need to stay composed, she believes that showing frustration can lead to negative labels. She now documents her symptoms with AI tools to provide context to her healthcare providers.
Engaging with HeartMates, a community supporting heart health challenges, she finds strength in advocacy, stating, “It gives my hardships purpose.”
As for Kirk, now nearing 50, she’s ready to share her story after years of fear. A neurologist had cautioned her against disclosure, suggesting it might undermine her credibility as a dentist.
“I worried about whether I could still be a dentist or a mother,” she recalls. Those fears felt all too real.
Yet, having spent 23 years in her career, she now shares her past with patients facing their health challenges.
“I deeply care about my patients and want to help them,” she affirms.
“I don’t want anyone else to endure what I’ve faced,” Leno reflects. “Many dealing with invisible illnesses lack a voice, and I’ve never hesitated to use mine.”
