“My cramps were so painful it felt like contractions - I was dismissed for five years before my endometriosis diagnosis.”
13,208 次觀看・1 年前
A woman with stage four endometriosis says her painful cramps feel like “contractions” – and claims she was dismissed for five years for being “dramatic”.
Mathilde Barker, 20, first experienced back pains while dancing aged 15, a few years after starting her period.
At first, she says she was told the pain was a muscle strain but after undergoing physiotherapy over the years there was no improvement.
As well as severe muscle pain, she experienced cramps which felt like contractions, a loss of appetite, light-headedness, dizziness and nausea around her time of month.
For five years, Mathilde went back and forth to doctors but claims she was told her pain was “normal” for a woman and even sent for cognitive behaviour therapy for medical anxiety.
Mathilde finally went for a referral and had an ultrasound and MRI which didn’t show up anything, but she was told she could go for surgery to see if she had endometriosis.
Endometriosis is a condition where the tissue of the lining of the womb grows in other places.
Mathilde underwent a four-hour operation at Epsom General Hospital, Surrey, and doctors found stage four endometriosis – discovering pockets of it in the back of her pelvis in April 2023.
She was “relieved” to be diagnosis and has now been fitted with a Mirena coil – a progestogen hormone released into the womb – to help ease her symptoms and help with fertility.
Mathilde, a musical theatre student at Laine Theatre Arts, from York, North Yorkshire, said: “My cramps were like contractions.
“If labour is that painful, I don’t want to go through it.
“The diagnosis was a big relief.
“It can’t stop me now.”
Mathilde first went to the doctor after experiencing back pain following a dance show.
She said: “After a dance show I was in so much pain. I thought I’d done my back in.
“They told me it was a muscle strain and I’d get better in a few weeks.”
Mathilde’s pain didn’t subside, and she went to see an osteopath who said she had a sprained sacroiliac joint.
She saw a physio on and off for two years, but her pain didn’t subside.
She said: “It became an issue as I was now dancing full time.”
When Mathilde started college aged 18, she saw a different osteopath who suggested the pain may be related to her period.
She said: “I found out the pain was starting before my period came.”
She was referred to a gynaecologist but told it likely wasn’t related to her period.
Mathilde said: “They said it was a normal thing for women and prescribed me painkillers.
“I started to get quite frustrated.
“I put up with the pain.”
After a trip to A&E she claims she was told again it wasn’t her period and put on anti-depressants instead.
Mathilde said: “They just thought I was being dramatic.
“They thought it was depression I was developing.”
Mathilde also tried the contraceptive pill but found her mental health took a downward spiral and quickly came off it.
When she went to the doctor again, she was sent for cognitive behaviour therapy for medical anxiety.
She said: “I did three sessions of it and thought 'this isn’t right'.”
Mathilde finally got a referral and was told she could have surgery to look for endometriosis.
She waited six months and went for the surgery in April 2023.
She said: “They found stage four endometriosis – the most severe stage.
“It was all round the back of my pelvis.
“It was a big relief. It was genuine pain.
“I burst into tears when they said they found it.
“It was a reason for all the pain.”
Since the surgery, Mathilde has been in pain less often but still experiences the same intensity of agony.
Endometriosis is a lifelong condition and Mathilde will have to continue having surgery to treat it.
She said: “Be strong willed with it.
“You’re the one who feels what you're feeling. Don’t let anyone tell you that pain isn’t there.”
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