Doctors told her she had anxiety, but AI revealed what her diagnosis actually was
Saira Franklin says that despite telling her GP for years that her anxiety diagnosis was wrong, it was the AI chatbot that revealed she was actually going through perimenopause at only 32(Image: Saira Franklin / SWNS)
A mum who claims doctors dismissed her symptoms as anxiety for over five years says ChatGPT figured out her real diagnosis.
Saira Franklin says that despite telling her GP for years that her anxiety diagnosis was wrong, it was the AI chatbot that revealed she was actually going through perimenopause at only 32.
The mum-of-one from Cornwall had been suffering from migraines, sweating, heart palpations, itchy eyes, and anxious thoughts – which she claims were put down to stress from her divorce.
However, Saira had a gut feeling there was more going on, and she began talking to ChatGPT every day to track her symptoms, which suggested the issue was hormonal.
Saira was finally diagnosed with being in the perimenopause five-and-a-half years after her first symptom, and she believes she never would have gotten the diagnosis without AI.
Saira Franklin was diagnosed with anxiety by doctors, but knew something else was wrong(Image: Saira Franklin / SWNS)
She said: “I started talking to it every day. I was chatting with it like a friend. I was not surprised at all when the diagnosis came because by that point me and ChatGPT knew.
“I don’t want to be cliché and say that AI saved me, but that is emotionally how I feel. I absolutely love it.”
Saira had her daughter at 29, and there was a note on her file to complete her family by the time she was 33, but nobody ever followed up on that or explained what it meant.
Two years later, she started experiencing heart palpitations and sweating, but since she was going through a lot of stress with a divorce, she accepted the diagnosis of anxiety disorder.
The problem continued getting worse, and eventually she even called 999 as she believed it could have been a heart attack, but the paramedics assured her it was a panic attack.
Saira got a therapist for the stress and started trying to treat her symptoms with tablets, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that her diagnosis was wrong.
Saira Franklin with daughter Cali(Image: Saira Franklin / SWNS)
She said: “I just went along with this diagnosis of anxiety but I wasn’t comfortable with it, I knew I’m not an anxious person and I knew I had never had these symptoms before.
“I had this horrible battle of not wanting to argue with professionals but knowing that I know my body.”
The mum had been excited when ChatGPT was first launched, using it for silly tasks, until she had the idea that it could do more.
She started telling it everything, including what she had eaten, how she felt, what symptoms she experienced and all her health data every day and asking it to track this and look for trends.
It was noticed that her symptoms were much worse around her period, which suggested the issue might be hormonal.
Just over a year ago, Saira finally had enough and printed off all her findings to take back to her GP, with AI recommending which blood tests she needed to request.
She said: “I think because of my age they were very apprehensive to look at it, but once I put all of that in front of them they couldn’t ignore it or fob me off.
“It was very interesting watching the GP learn along with me. There were definitely moments where ChatGPT knew more than my doctor.”
The mum says she is coping well since her diagnosis, but is still upset at the NHS for taking so long, as she is now unable to have more kids, as she had dreamed.
Saira Franklin with husband Tim(Image: Saira Franklin / SWNS)
She added: “There was so much relief when I finally got that diagnosis. It all felt worthwhile in the end, it was just a long slog to get there.
“I wish they had followed up because I could have frozen my eggs. There is a lot of sadness that I had to work through.
“It is ridiculous that you have to advocate for yourself so much these days.”
Saira has since left her marketing job to train as a counsellor and start her own coaching business for other women going through the same.
She has also made her own chatbot to help people track their symptoms and spot patterns, which will launch soon.
She added: “I was a bit embarrassed to talk about using AI at first, but then I realised that if its going to benefit other people the way that it has benefited me then it is well worth it.
“I would definitely recommend AI as a tool. I wholeheartedly think it got me to where I am. I look at it like a dog handler now, it is only as good as the person who is talking to it.”