3 Signs Your Doctor Isn’t Taking Your Heart Health Seriously

Gerry Langan, a 34-year-old Asian American mom of twin toddlers, was diagnosed with heart failure due to her pulmonary tension. To monitor her heart and blood vessels, Langan sometimes wears a cardiac catheter inserted directly into her chest—a medical device that nearly cost Langan her life four years ago.¹

It started when Langan noticed pus emerging from the area where her catheter had previously been inserted. She notified her regular cardiologists, who brushed off her concerns. As her symptoms got more severe, Langan was told that all that she needed was a simple antibiotic, even though she reminded them of her condition and voiced how much pain she was in. Infections from cardiac catheters can be deadly, and while an oral antibiotic can be used to treat mild cases, Langan’s infection was particularly intense.

Her condition worsened, and eventually, Langan developed a fever and chills. She was eventually rushed to the hospital where doctors noticed that she was going into septic shock—signified by a super-high fever, shallow breathing, and disorientation—and immediately treated her for the infection.

As frustrating as it is, Langan’s experience with having pain dismissed can be a common ordeal among certain groups of people. Women tend to have worse outcomes than men do overall when they see cardiologists (e.g., their pain intensifies, or their condition deteriorates) and are more likely than men to die after receiving cardiological treatment. Women of color, particularly Black women, fare even worse: While heart disease is the leading cause of death among women of all races in the US, Black women are 2.4 times more likely to develop it than white women “and are more likely to die younger compared to white women,”³ Estelle Jean, MD, a cardiologist, tells SELF. The reasons for this are complex, but institutional sexism and racism—and a lack of access to affordable care—can play a major role.

Doctors are humans too—and some might handle your treatment with certain gender or racial biases (or other limitations), which Langan felt played a role in her case. She now sees a cardiologist she really vibes with and is empathetic to her experience, though she met with a few doctors who weren’t the right fit—and showed some warning signs they weren’t in a position to treat her condition thoroughly—before getting to that point. If you’re looking for a new cardiologist—or are starting to cool on your current one—here are three red flags to watch out for.

They aren’t connecting the dots—or are getting lazy in the discovery process.

Chest pain and shortness of breath can be common signs of a heart attack and heart failure in both men and women, but women may also experience different symptoms, like nausea and fatigue, which doctors can sometimes overlook. (Doctors are trained in spotting these differences, but only an estimated 22% of cardiologists fully implement them when treating women.) “A woman may complain about fatigue and is told to just exercise,” Sharayne Mark, MD, FACC, tells SELF, which could be (potentially) deadly advice if that fatigue stems from an artery blockage.

Without an actual diagnosis, Dr. Jean notes that it also doesn’t hurt to get up to speed on how common cardiac conditions (like heart failure, heart disease, and heart attacks) present themselves if you’re more at risk of having them (say, someone in your immediate family had a heart attack at a young age). That way, if you’re showing symptoms, you can flag them to a doctor right away. “I recommend that women educate themselves about the various ways that heart failure and other serious cardiac conditions can present,” Dr. Jean says.

Also: Your cardiologist should be asking you open-ended questions—something that only one third of docs do when evaluating their patients.⁷ (In other words, they only ask “yes” or “no” questions when discussing symptoms, leaving little room for you to expand on what you’re experiencing.) If your doc is dismissive or just won’t really let you speak, seek a second opinion ASAP. You could also enlist the help of a patient advocate—someone who works within a doctor’s office or hospital and is solely there to help people navigate the health care system—to help. They might be able to assist you in pushing for a new provider (and even work with you to file a complaint, if it comes to that). Not all hospitals or doctor’s offices have them, though, so when you’re looking for a new cardiologist, see if you can confirm that they’re part of an organization that has a patient advocacy program.

They aren’t communicating directly with you.

The catheter infection episode, sadly, wasn’t Langan’s only run-in with shoddy cardiology care—she went through a handful of docs who were straight-up unresponsive in the early phases of her diagnosis. “I would send a message in the [patient] portal and wouldn’t hear back for three days, and it was from a nurse who did not know me,” she recalls. (Langan says she has now found a care team responsive to her needs, but it took some time to get there.)

While nurses, physician assistants, or other staff members will sometimes share info like your vitals and test results, Dr. Jean says your cardiologist should be responding most of the time—or all of the time if your case is really serious. “In most cases, the cardiologist should communicate about critical cardiac conditions,” she says. “They can answer important questions about your diagnosis and treatment plan.”

Whenever possible, Dr. Jean recommends asking your cardiologist for thorough post-visit notes—“including a summary of what was discussed, test results, the treatment plan, and educational material,” she says—so you can review them later and prepare follow-up questions. If your cardiologist’s office is slow to get them to you, or their notes are hard to follow or don’t seem personalized to you, let them know how you’d prefer to communicate (and be communicated with). If it’s still not working for you from there, consider seeing someone else.

They don’t believe you.

Prior to getting diagnosed with heart failure, one doctor suggested that Langan was using drugs because she had an elevated heart rate on her EKG reading—even when she repeatedly told them she wasn’t high. (FYI: An elevated EKG reading, which records electrical signals from your heart, can sometimes happen for people with heart failure.) They made this assumption because she was in her 20s, and most people with the condition are diagnosed in their 60s or 70s. Though doctors are usually trained to spot signs of drug use (and to know when it makes sense to test for it), not being believed as a woman in a medical setting can be (unfortunately) common: One study found that when both male and female patients flagged their heart disease symptoms, the cardiologists assessing them were more likely to diagnose women with gastrointestinal or mental health disorders.

Again, a patient advocate could be helpful when you feel like you’re not being heard, but bringing a loved one who’s got your back with you to an appointment can also give you some confidence—and support. If you still feel like your cardiologist isn’t on the same page as you, Dr. Mark says that is a clear sign that it is time to go elsewhere. Of course, finding a new-to-you qualified doc isn’t the easiest task. If you’re insured, you can either call your insurance company for referrals or search through their online network of affiliated doctors, if they offer that option. If not, getting recommendations from people you know or reading online reviews can go a long way: Sites like ZocDoc or Yelp can also come in handy if you don’t have a direct referral, or you could search “[your city] + cardiologist recommendations” on Reddit to see if you get any leads.

Ultimately, your doctor is on your team—their sole goal should be to help you get better. But cardiologists are people too—meaning they’re imperfect, whether that’s due to bias or other limitations, and not every one of them will be able to meet you where you’re at. Continue to advocate for yourself and loop in a loved one if things feel frustrating or you get stuck. Even if the process takes some time, you’re going to get the care you need—and deserve.

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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