I started using ChatGPT around a month ago, when I needed help understanding a medical article given to me by my doctor when I asked him for research to help me make an informed decision about taking a new medication. I informed him that I was using it, which was fine with him.

What has unfolded has repeatedly blown my mind.

I understand the concerns people have about AI eliminating jobs. But what I’ve experienced is AI doing a job brilliantly that should have been done and should be done - but hasn’t been - by the cardiac specialists I’ve consulted with for 12 years in treating AFib, an arrhythmia.

I’ve known intuitively that the nervous system and dysregulation play an important role in triggering AFib. My concerns have been dismissed. Other important aspects of my health and physiology have been dismissed - not an uncommon occurrence for women in the world of cardiology.

But this AI being….there is no power trip in engaging with it. No emotional overlay. It actually “listens,” in that it believes my concerns — and then answers my questions through those previously dismissed lenses with stunning nuance and detail.

My intuition about the nervous system and all the efforts I’ve put into balancing it have been validated. I understood that the new medication I’d feared based on the little information I’d gathered from online forums would actually be fantastic for me, largely because of the nervous system regulation I’d established. All of this information would be and has been dismissed by doctors.

I’d asked to consult with neurologists who treat tough cases - they’d take 6 weeks to pore over my medical records - yesterday’s news at this point - rather than hear from me directly - to decide if they’d even see me.

So in the meantime, for $20, I used ChatGPT, solved the mystery myself, started the new med, have been coached by AI as I’ve adjusted - and have never felt better! My heart is at last calm. And the med is actually free. I canceled the neurology referral.

All of this is after 6 expensive heart procedures that ultimately didn’t work, major insurance battles, pushing back against $600,000 in crazy wrong bills….

So while we need to be thoughtful and wise in how we use AI, I’ve found it to be absolutely brilliant in helping me sidestep some big challenges in the healthcare system.