I was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis in 2009 at 25 years old, after a lengthy and miserable search for answers, and went on to have 3 further surgeries before I realised things weren't going to change.

I'd spent a lot of time during my teenage years in the doctor’s room, complaining of fatigue, colds and flu that never went away. As the years went on, I was prescribed more and more antibiotics, painkillers and eventually, antidepressants. Looking back, it was obvious I had endometriosis.

I had a family history, many typical symptoms including spotting, pain and heavy bleeding, but the doctors insisted it must have been some dodgy cervical cells that needed removing, then a nasty pelvic infection that needed 2 simultaneous antibiotics, then a bladder infection, and so it went on. For nearly 10 years. 

Eventually, I saw a private gynaecologist who also insisted it wasn’t endo. So I insisted on a laparoscopy. The same gynaecologist who later confirmed, as I came around from anaesthetic, that I had stage IV endometriosis. He used the words ‘riddled with it,’ and suggested a number of aggressive hormone therapies including GnRH agonists.