Harrowing reality of endometriosis laid bare as two friends reveal ‘screaming in pain’ and ‘bleeding for 72 days’
GROWING up, Gabriella Pearson, and Anna Cooper each knew the crippling pain they suffered with during their period could not be normal.
But despite repeatedly visiting their GPs, each were told their monthly debilitating agony was an ordinary part of being a woman - and are now paying a price.
In fact, both women were suffering from symptoms caused by endometriosis - a serious inflammatory condition.
Endometriosis affects one in ten women in the UK.
But getting diagnosed takes an average of eight years and 10 months, according to new research published this March to mark Endometriosis Awareness Month in the UK.
Shockingly 78 per cent of sufferers also reported at least one doctor telling them they were making a ‘fuss about nothing’.
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It’s a familiar tale for Gabriella, now 31, from Epsom, Surrey, who recalls: “No matter how many times I went to the GP when I was younger they dismissed my continual agony as just ‘period pains’.
“As well as living with constant discomfort not being taken seriously badly affected my mental health.
“Throughout my teens, I felt alone and anxious.”
Friend Anna, 30, from Wrexham, North Wales, had endometriosis symptoms from age 11 years old - but multiple doctors ignored her until she was 18.
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Anna says: “When I bled for 72 days in a row I was told it was normal.
“One doctor said the pain was in my head and I needed psychiatric help. I was as good as told I was making it up.”
Both women are scarred for life having waited almost a decade each to finally receive a diagnosis - years which have left them with irreversible damage to their health.
They have had 21 operations between them and both gone into menopause before 30.
While Gabriella struggles to have a baby, Anna must use a stoma bag due to the damage on their reproductive organs.
Anna says: “I am an extreme case and don’t want to frighten people but it’s important to recognise how serious the implications of delays in diagnosis and treatment for endometriosis can be on the entire body.
“It’s not just about having heavy periods.”
Gabriella: 'We're trying for a baby'
Gabriella, who is married to will-writer Aaron, 37, started her periods at the age of 10 and “from the beginning they were heavy and excruciating”, she says.
These are hallmark symptoms of endometriosis - but doctors dismissed Gabriella with IBS or a dietary issue.
Gabriella says: “Sometimes I would lie on the floor screaming as it hurt so much.
“I would double up knickers and use night-time pads continuously and it would still leak through.
“It was traumatic, frightening and distressing. I went to the doctor multiple times. They said it was typical growing pains and suggested I was making a fuss.”
Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. It can cause severe pain in the pelvis and make it harder to get pregnant.
It causes a chronic inflammatory reaction that may result in the formation of scar tissue within the pelvis and other parts of the body - therefore, early intervention is key.
It wasn’t until 2015, when Gabriella was 23 years old, that her mum read an article about endometriosis and insisted on a referral to a gynaecologist.
Her condition was identified at last, as she recalls: “It was a relief to know what was wrong and I finally felt validated.
It’s hard not to consider what might have been different if I had been taken seriously from the start and treated earlier
Gabriella
“But I was heartbroken about how many years I’d lost to it.
“And I didn’t yet realise how much my health had been irreversibly damaged in that time.”
There is no cure for endometriosis, but treatment typically involves a keyhole operation called a laparoscopy where unwanted cells and adhesions are removed as best possible from affected areas.
Since being diagnosed Gabriella has had five surgeries on the damage caused to her bowel, womb, fallopian tubes, bladder and ovaries.
A hysterectomy (removal of reproductive organs) may be suggested, or a chemical menopause.
As endometriosis responds to the hormone oestrogen, a number of hormone treatments attempt to block oestrogen in the body and place the body in a temporary menopausal state.
Gabriella has been put on chemical menopause three times in the hope it would reduce her lifelong pain.
During her most recent operation, in February 2024, surgeons discovered endometriosis had fused her left ovary to her bowel and up to her rib.
She has also suffered from fertility problems.
Gabriella says: “My husband Aaron is so supportive and I’d love to be a mum but sadly we haven’t been able to have a family yet.
“At my last operation surgeons said I was lucky not to lose my left ovary completely.
“It’s hard not to consider what might have been different if I had been taken seriously from the start and treated earlier.
“It’s important to me now that other women who speak up aren’t ignored.”
Anna: 'I had a hysterectomy at 28'
Anna, who is married to director Scott, 35, claimed she was continuously fobbed off by doctors, including a gynaecologist, from the age of 11.
The former optician's dispenser says: “Even the first gynaecologist I saw at 16 years old said there was nothing wrong.
“I now know I was entitled to a second opinion, something I want other women to know they can ask for.”
In June 2011, aged 18 years old, Anna was finally diagnosed with severe endometriosis covering her bowel, bladder, ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Surgeons battled for five hours to attempt to remove the cells, but lasting organ damage had already occurred.
She has since undergone 16 operations to date for endometriosis-related issues.
Eventually, she had major surgery - a hysterectomy aged just 28 years old owing to tissue damage causing obstructions in her bowel.
Her large colon was damaged beyond repair and has been removed, leaving her with a 16cm scar.
My symptoms being ignored for so long left a devastating impact on my entire body.
Anna
The function of her remaining bowel and bladder are so impaired she must use stoma bags to empty them.
Anna says: “My symptoms being ignored for so long left a devastating impact on my entire body.
“At only 30 years old I have been in and out of hospital continually and had major surgery multiple times.
“I live with two stomas, agonising pain, exhaustion and horrific and irreversible harm to my bladder and bowel.
“I underwent a full hysterectomy two years ago so now I am also menopausal.”
Anna shares a daughter, Grace, eight, with Scott.
She says: “I’m lucky I conceived Grace naturally before my hysterectomy and I’ve set up a beauty business so I can still work part-time.
“But I feel angry and let down as a woman. I wasn’t listened to, but I want to make sure future generations are.”
Together Anna and Gabriella have founded charity the Menstrual Health Project - a free, supportive and educational resource for gynaecological health.
Along with specialist medics the two have created resources including an endometriosis diagnostic tool kit and a menstrual guide for girls under 18, which is already being used in some schools.
Anna says: “Any pain that stops you living your life happily isn’t okay.
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“We can’t change what happened to us, but we can use our experiences positively, so others know what is normal and what isn’t.
“Women must feel empowered, informed, and understood. Our health should be prioritised. It’s never ‘just a period pain'."