A 20-Year Mystery Solved: I Finally Got Diagnosed with Endometriosis
A woman who suffered intensely painful periods for some 20 years was finally diagnosed with a revealing ailment — helping to clear up a mystery that began plaguing her even before she became a teenager.
A Lifetime of Pain
Jen Moore, 35, a former wedding cake baker, said she was unable to stand up straight when she first began experiencing painful periods as a girl of 11 years old. Doctors put her on birth control pills to try to reduce her periods, but that didn’t alleviate her pain over the years.
A Lifetime of Misdiagnosis
She was informed by doctors that what she was experiencing was "normal," she told the news agency SWNS — and that she was just someone who was "unlucky" to have painful menstrual periods. But during the COVID lockdown, when she came off the contraceptives after 22 years, she said she "didn’t recognize the person she became" and would often pass out from the pain and blood loss.
The Turning Point
When she went to a physician due to her menstrual pain and had an ultrasound, she was told that no endometriosis had been detected, she told SWNS. Not satisfied, Moore, of Cambridge, England, paid on her own to have an MRI scan. She was ultimately diagnosed with endometriosis and adenomyosis, conditions in which the lining of the uterus grows in places where it should not be.
A Lifetime of Regret
Moore said, "At the time, I thought it was normal because I didn’t know any different." When she was young, she said, her mother took her to see doctors — and Moore said she was told that her painful periods would eventually stop. She also said that today she still feels "rage" at what happened to her.
A Lifetime of Impact
Moore said that even now, she feels "exhausted" and that there "isn’t an area of my life" that this hasn’t touched. She said that even though she had painful periods for so long, she wanted to go to college and try to live as normal a life as possible, "despite being bed-bound" for about a week every month.
The Impact of Endometriosis
Moore has learned that she has endometriosis on her bowels and her bladder — "it’s everywhere again, it’s just relentless." She said she’s had "this condition damaging her organs for 22 years — that’s a lot of damage to unpick, so surgeries are never magic and [don’t] always provide a pain-free life."
Conclusion
Moore’s story highlights the importance of greater awareness, early diagnosis, and better support for those living with endometriosis. As Janet Lindsay, CEO of Wellbeing of Women, said, "Endometriosis is a condition that affects the lives of many women, often for years before a diagnosis is made… For too long, women’s pain has been dismissed or misunderstood."
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is endometriosis?
A: Endometriosis is a condition in which cells similar to the lining of the uterus, or endometrium, grow outside the uterus, often involving the pelvic tissue and enveloping the ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Q: How common is endometriosis?
A: Endometriosis affects approximately 1 in 10 women of reproductive age, although the exact prevalence is not known.
Q: What are the symptoms of endometriosis?
A: Common symptoms of endometriosis include pelvic pain, heavy or irregular menstrual bleeding, and infertility.
