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Submitted by PatientsEngage on 2 October 2015

Although an estimated 176 million women around the world suffer from the‘secret plague’, too few primary care doctors know how to diagnose it and the specialists to whom they are sent are ill-informed. Read here about Endometriosis

The Guardian’s coverage struck a chord with sufferers who too often spent years searching for a diagnosis. Although women will often find themselves with a prescription for the contraceptive pill, far too many are sent away by a doctorwho tells them it’s all in their head.

A lack of awareness generally, social stigma over reproductive health problems and uncertainty over what level of pain is normal – specifically around menstruation – were often cited as hurdles to obtaining treatment.

"I mentioned my painful periods to various healthcare professionals, for example the nurse when I went for smear, and it was always dismissed as normal....I’m a well paid, well educated and confident woman. Yet I struggled to convey to anyone how ill I was, or how much I was suffering. I felt guilty about missing work – as if taking time off “just for period pain” was somehow skiving. I think this has a huge amount to do with our confusion as women – and society more generally – as to what constitutes a normal or acceptable amount of menstrual pain.

"I suffered with terrible period pain for years and my mother just told me that “periods are painful when you’re young”. They steadily got worse as I got older. Whenever I went to the doctor I was always told it was probably just menorrhagia and given painkillers. They didn’t work and often seemed to make it worse. Nobody was sympathetic, not even other women, who thought I was exaggerating. I had to give up working in my 40s as nobody wants to employ somebody who can’t work for three or four days month. It used to feel like I had a pelvis full of razor blades."

"I too was told it was all in my head, then diagnosed with illnesses I didn’t have. I was even told that I didn’t have endometriosis at one point without even having surgery."

Read the entire article at http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/29/endometriosis-experiences-women-period

 

 

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