It is hard to say when my story began.  From the age of 16, I started having ‘problem’ periods.  My GP put it all down to my age.  I was put on the Pill and sent away.  People told me that my periods would become lighter, regular and much easier on the Pill.  Really?  Not mine.

Julie KoretzOver the years, I’d go back to my various GPs, as pain, heavy and irregular periods would rear their ugly heads.

At the age of 22 I was told that if I ever wanted children, I’d need help.

In 2003, at 37, things got much worse.  I suddenly became very ill.  My periods would last much longer than normal, sometimes one would just merge into the next.  I was having a constant battle with anemia.  As fast I was receiving iron from the tablets, it would just drain away again.  The pain was becoming unbearable and outside of my cycle (but then again what was my cycle?)  Even with the Pill my periods were all over the place.  It was like my body had lost control of itself. I remember watching others around me, getting on with their lives, having a period each month didn’t seem to stop them in their tracks, they didn’t need to take time off sick, so why did I?  Perhaps I was just a bit pathetic and couldn’t cope like others?

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Sarah

Some days my pain is so excruciating that it takes every little last bit of willpower I have to drag myself out of my bed and face the world. Those days used to be a few out of every month, now those days are every day.  I know the cause of my pain.  I know what the solution is.  I know when that solution is coming and it is only a few weeks away, but time seems to somehow dilate and those few weeks seem as far away as the stars and planets that I stare at on those few cloudless nights we have in the grim north!

So here is my story.  Long and tedious it may be, but it is my story nonetheless and it is time that I put it all down in one place.

I have just turned 40.  I feel it.  In fact, add another 20 years on…that’s how I think I feel. This state of mind is not normal for me but it has been the status quo for over 2 years.

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I’m 23 and was diagnosed with endometriosis in January 2012. 

I had my first period when I was 11 and they were always painful, but my older sister was the same and doctors just said it was normal. I went on the pill when I was 17 to help make my cycle more regular, but I still suffered a lot with the pain and I always bled very heavily. I suppose I just accepted it.

I remember one month when I was 19 the pain was worse than normal. I came home from work and went in the bathroom to change, and within seconds there was a trail of blood on the floor. As I said, my periods had always been heavy but I’d never seen anything like this. My parents took me up to A&E but we didn’t really get any answers. They didn’t want to examine me because it would have been uncomfortable for me as I was bleeding. I’d had a boyfriend for over two years at the time and we were sleeping together but we always used protection, so I didn’t think I could have been pregnant but they said that was a possibility. My boyfriend at the time wasn’t very nice – I called to let him know I was in the hospital and his response was that he was going out with his mates, so I didn’t feel comfortable discussing the issue in front of my parents! The doctor told me I should come back in a few days to be examined, but stupidly I never did. Other than that, they told me to tri-cycle my pill to make my periods lighter and they sent me home. READ MORE… »

Katie HoggIt all started in 1985 when, at age 10, my first period arrived. It was nothing particularly memorable. I remember my mum gave me a sanitary towel and I had a bath.

Shortly after this happened my parents divorced and I now lived with just my dad.

Age 12 – My periods had become very heavy. I often leaked through my clothes and I was very embarrassed. Several times I was at school with no other clothes to change into and had to walk around all day with a jumper or coat wrapped around my waist to disguise the marks on my clothes. I didn’t feel comfortable talking to my dad about it so I just suffered in silence.

Around this time I also started to be bullied (we had moved to Scotland where my dad is from and my English accent made me a target for abuse). At 13, I had gone back to England to visit my mum and decided to stay there as I was becoming too distressed from the abuse.

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My periods started the week before my 11th birthday. They weren’t painful or heavy to start with but they were irregular and a bit of a nuisance, which I guess is pretty normal in the beginning.

By the time I was 12 they had gotten much, much worse and were heavy and painful. The pain got so bad it was causing me to vomit and pass out, I was getting migraines, and I was missing school because of it. I would spend my time curled up on the bathroom floor waiting for the pain to pass. I went to my GP who decided to put me on the contraceptive pill and give me mefenamic acid (Ponstan). I also got tested for anemia because the bleeding was so heavy, but that came back negative.

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gemma binnsHi, my name is Gemma Binns and I live in Liversedge, West Yorkshire in England.

Here’s my story. I started my period when I was 10 or 11 and straight from the get go they were bad. Very painful and heavy, however they started off fairly regular so my mum decided not to do anything about it.

By the time I was 13 I was having periods every 2 weeks at which point my mum took me to the doctors. All they said was I was still young and it would take time to regulate and that some women have more painful periods than others. But he still put me on the pill.

I remained on the pill until I was 22. My periods were still very painful and heavy throughout my time on the pill. I came off the pill as me and my fiance were trying for children. My periods from that point got worse and worse to the point where I was only going a week without bleeding and there wasn’t a moment when I didn’t feel pain.

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