1. Let’s start with the classic: What’s your worst, funniest, or most awkward period story?

I was in London on my OE. Ahead of a evening of partying, I borrowed my friends white jeans. This was clearly before the days where I had learnt to properly track my cycle so somehow I had no idea my period was due. I stayed the night at a boys house who lived reasonably far out of London. I think had to wake up early, throw on my clothes from the night before (yes, my friends white jeans) and jump on a 4 hour bus ride to the other side of London for an appointment for a new leg (for context, I am an amputee). I arrived into the town, went to the bathroom and realised the white jeans were no longer white with a large period stain on them. I ran to a supermarket with a jumper around my waist (we’ve all been there) and got some stain remover from the supermarket. Scrubbed it the best I could in the public toilets then headed to my appointment. The carnage of that day, while hungover, will be forever imprinted in me.

2. Have you been diagnosed with a women’s health condition (like endometriosis, PCOS, PMDD, etc.)? If so, how did you know something wasn’t right, and what was your journey like to get answers?

I was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2021. I first experienced crippling period pain not long after I got my period when I was 14. Very quickly I was taking time off school each month and ended up seeing a gynaecologist who put me on the pill. While I still think that this may have been the best solution to manage what I was dealing with, the word endometriosis was never mentioned. I then, unknowingly to me, was putting a band-aid on an issue that would eventually show itself again later in my life. I came off the pill in my mid twenties because I wanted to see how I felt without it. My period pain came back so intensely and continued to worsen as the months went on. It wasn’t until  I met my husband who pointed out that being screaming, crying and laying in the fetal position in pain once a month wasn’t normal. I then started to explore what this could be while we were trying (without success) for our first baby. I was then diagnosed with stage 2 endo and have since also been diagnosed with Adenomyosis. The journey to getting answers was tough. I felt gaslit, dismissed and ignored for years to the point where I too started to believe that I was being dramatic and how I was living was normal.

3. What was your diagnosis experience like?

Alongside pain, gut issues were one of my biggest symptoms. I tried to seek answers for this for years, I vividly remember leaving a doctors office with an IBS brochure and have spent so much money seeking alternative treatments to help manage my symptoms. It wasn’t until I was almost 30 that I first heard the word Endometriosis. Luckily, I found myself in front of the right people (Caitlin Fris, who is on our advisory board) being one of them, she directed me to my gynaecologist who got me into surgery within months, something I know I am very privileged to have had.

4. How has your condition changed your daily life?

I now don’t live with monthly pain. I still experience a bit, something that has worsened since having a baby but it in no way stops me being able to do my day to day tasks. Previously my life would have to go on hold for a few days every month and I would live in dread of my period. Now, I still live in some degree of pain at times and am still learning to manage my gut symptoms but overall the impending doom I used to feel each month has lessened dramatically and I have learnt, and am still learning, how to manage each month.

5. What symptoms made you think something wasn’t right with your body?

First it was pain, then it was the gut issues I had realised I had been living with for so long. This showed up for me via chronic constipation, something I am still learning to manage. I have a complex medical history with having had child cancer so I am not sure what symptoms relate to what condition but I know endo can impact the bowel so it’s something I am continuing to find a way to manage. The final straw was our inability to fall pregnant. We tried for months until I eventually had my surgery which helped us finally fall pregnancy. Unfortunately our first pregnancy ended in a loss but we eventually fell pregnant with our baby girl.

6. Have you tried anything that has helped you manage your symptoms?

I don’t think there is anything I haven’t tried and I am still continuing to try new things to find what works for me as my journey evolves and changes. I am a firm believer in alternative medicine to support my body so I take supplements, I always have been since I was really young. I see Loula at Mother-Well to support me wherever I am at in my journey (gut health, pain, fertility, pregnancy). I have also found seeing a psychologist helpful to unpack my relationship with pain.

7. What’s one thing you wish more people understood about women’s health?

That of course it’s complicated living in a female body, we have a merry-go-round of hormones and cycles but that’s doesn’t mean it should be ignored or dismissed.

8. If you could tell younger you one thing about your body, what would it be?

It’s not all in your head. Everything you are experiencing is real. Keep searching for the right people who will listen, follow your gut, the right people will hear you out and help you find answers.

9. When your body feels hard to live in, how do you take care of yourself?

I try switch off and allow myself the time to be slow. That isn’t always easy as a Mum and a business owner but even if it’s just going to bed early and watching my favourite show, I find just giving myself the mental space to be like “this sucks, and that’s ok” is sometimes all I need to wake up the next day feeling more optimistic.