Endometriosis: Louise’s Story

It started when I was around 15-16. I’d never had regular periods but before then they were just building up in pain levels. I worked at a chemist and one day I couldn’t go into work because my period pain hurt so much. I remember my mum telling me that “you can’t just take a day off work if you’re in a little bit of pain.” I then promptly vomited in bathroom and collapsed on the cold tiles.

I was bleeding huge blood clots, I had searing pain running down my spine and my thighs.

The bloating is real. I’m larger as it is, but putting on 5-8 kgs every time before I’d get my period made me look like a lumpy, frumpy balloon (I also have PCOS, yay me). Stretch marks for days devastate your mental health as a teen who has no idea what’s wrong with her body.

I had to go to 5-8 different doctors before one finally gave me a referral to see a gyno to get exploratory surgery. What I heard every single time I went into a doctors office was, “oh you’re too young to have that”, “your periods will sort themselves out” and my favourite – “just lose weight and your problems will go away”. Every single doctor told me that.

I wanted to scream at them and say something was wrong with my body.

My advice for people with endo or who are in the process of trying to get diagnosed – listen to your body and don’t give up. I’ve vomited and cried out of pain so many times, had excision surgery, and tried all the things. Listen to your body. If you need to rest, then rest. If you need a heat pack and chocolate, treat yo-self to a heat pack and a whole block of your favourite chocolate. Your mental health is more important. You are important.