I was diagnosed with Endometriosis and Adenomyosis after 20 years of agonising periods – doctors told me it was ‘normal’ and I was just ‘unlucky’
A woman who suffered period pain so agonising that she would pass out was finally diagnosed with debilitating Endometriosis and Adenomyosis – after 20 years of pain.
Jen Moore, 35, from Cambridge, was unable to even stand up straight when she first began experiencing painful periods as from the age of 11.
Doctors put her on the contraceptive pill, but she continued to suffer from symptoms as she grew older.
She was told that it was ‘normal’ and she was just ‘unlucky’ – but after coming off the prescription after 22 years during lockdown, she says ‘didn’t recognise the person she became’.
Jen, a former wedding cake baker, revealed that and would often pass out from aches, and blood loss, while menstruating.
However, another trip to the doctors, and an ultrasound, claimed no endometriosis had been detected.
Frustrated, Jen decided to pay for a private MRI scan – and was diagnosed with Endometriosis and Adenomyosis, conditions where the lining of the uterus grows where it shouldn’t.
‘At the time, I thought it was normal because I didn’t know any different,’ she explained.
Jen Moore, 35, from Cambridge, was unable to even stand up straight when she first began experiencing painful periods as from the age of 11
‘My mother took me to the doctors and said she was concerned and I was told that it was normal and unlucky and that some of us just get painful periods that should stop.
‘I was put on the pill when she was 11 and that it was it.’
Jen said that professionals told her what she was going through was ‘normal’ – and that ‘even if she did have endometriosis, then all they would do is put me on the pill’.
‘I feel rage at a system that has allowed the gaslighting to happen to people with Endometriosis,’ she continued.
‘I also feel heartbroken, thinking about myself as an 11-year-old, who had no idea she was about to go through so many of these things.
‘I feel hope that generations are standing up and saying that they don’t want to tolerate this anymore.
Jen (pictured) – who suffered period pain so agonising that she would pass out was finally diagnosed with debilitating Endometriosis and Adenomyosis – after 20 years of pain
Doctors put her on the contraceptive pill, but she continued to suffer from symptoms as she grew older
‘But I feel that it shouldn’t have to fall to the patients to do that, the burden is on them.’
Jen admitted is also ‘exhausted’. ‘The conditions feel like they consume everything and there isn’t an area of my life that it hasn’t completely changed,’ she added.
Jen said that over the years, she at times ‘gave up’ on getting a diagnosis because she started to question herself and think her symptoms were in her head.
‘The doctors went from trying to reassure me and trying to tell me that this is normal and okay to almost an aggressive tone,’ she explained.
‘It was like “half of the world have periods, why are yours so special? What do you expect us to do about it?”
‘I just gave up because when you are told that something is normal for so long, you just start to believe it and I started to question myself and if maybe it was in my head.’
Jen wanted to go to university and live her life normally best she could – despite being ‘bed bound for a week’.
Now, she has now discovered that she has Endometriosis on her bowels and her bladder, which means that she is still in pain every day.
Jen wanted to go to university and live her life normally best she could – despite being ‘bed bound for a week’. Now, she has now discovered that she has Endometriosis on her bowels and her bladder, which means that she is still in pain every day
‘It’s everywhere again – it’s just relentless,’ she admitted. ‘I’m still in pain every day and that’s a common thing, even if you don’t have any Endometriosis left in your body at that point.
‘I’ve had this condition damaging my organs for 22 years – that’s a lot of damage to unpick so surgeries are never magic and it doesn’t always provide a pain-free life.
‘Unfortunately, there is still a lot of Endometriosis for me and it will take a long, long time to unpick.’
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, leading to women not having access to the care they need.
‘This story highlights the urgent need for greater awareness, early diagnosis, and better support for those living with the condition.
‘Our Just a Period campaign is advocating for improved care, education and resources so that no woman is held back by her menstrual health.’
You can visit Jen’s website here: https://http://www.jenmoore.co.uk/
