A woman who suffered excruciating periods has said she was diagnosed with endometriosis after seeing 20 doctors across 18 years.
Dearbhail Ormond, from Surrey, also grew up experiencing extreme fatigue and pain after sex.
She said she began experiencing painful periods from the age of 16, and after seeking advice from a range of medical professionals, she received no answers.
The 42-year-old has since given birth to a baby girl and founded a company to help other endometriosis sufferers.
Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.
It shouldn’t be this tough. I think that’s the entire point. We remain so ignorant, as a profession, of medical conditions that primarily affect women. It’s not an inherent mystery of the universe. It’s simply a lack of bothering to do the research and come up with better ways.
We can do better than we do now.