Tanya’s Story

Despite being trained as a doctor herself, Tanya was dismissed by many others whilst on her journey to find a name for the mismatched symptoms she had experienced throughout her teenagehood and twenties. Tanya was finally diagnosed with endometriosis aged 36, and is awaiting her surgery date.

Just part of being a woman

I have to be honest and say I’m not entirely sure when my endometriosis started. But, for as long as I can remember, I’ve had painful and heavy periods. They started pretty young – around 11, I think. Throughout my life, it was never questioned that what I was experiencing was anything other than “normal”. Anything other than “just being a woman”. So, carry on I did, for as long as I could.

Along the way, I’ve been diagnosed with other conditions, which shone the light away from my periods. After suffering with abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, and bouts of constipation, I was diagnosed with IBS. I’ve been back and forth to the doctors so many times- I don’t even want to know how many! I think I first started experiencing pelvic pain outside of my periods in my 20s. I remember one doctor looking at me and impatiently telling me, “I don’t know if anybody has ever told you this, but there is nothing wrong with you”. I wonder where she is now.

When things really started to change

I was also diagnosed with anxiety and depression in my 20s. In my visits back and forth to the doctors, the question “how is your mood?” came up a lot. A valid question, but the answer has often been “not great”, not because of my mental health by itself, but because being plagued by countless symptoms for years without an answer just takes its toll.

Fast forward to around 2020/2021. I noticed a change in my periods – the length of my cycle had changed, and my periods became even more painful and heavy than I’d ever known them to be. The pain was crippling – I could only take some painkillers and curl up into a ball until it ceased somewhat. I’d never experienced pain like this before. It felt as though my insides were being ripped apart. I also noticed other symptoms – the pelvic pain became worse and more frequent, and I started feeling cramping pain as though I was on my period when I wasn’t. I had sharp, stabbing pains in my pelvis too, and my abdominal pains got worse. I started getting pain in my pelvis when I went to the loo – first just during my period, then outside of my period, too. I got really worried when I noticed bleeding in between periods.

I didn’t realise it could be Endo

I’ve had treatment for anxiety, IBS, UTIs, and all sorts. I’ve tried the pill and gone for ultrasound after ultrasound. I’ve even been referred to various specialists including gastroenterology and urology. I kept going through appointment after appointment and test after invasive test and nobody mentioned the possibility of endometriosis. Here’s the thing – I had to be the one to say it myself. Even though I used to be a doctor myself, and even though I read a lot about women’s health, it took me a while to realise I might have endometriosis and to tell my doctor this fear.

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