Four Australian Women Speak Up About Endometriosis

They say: It’s all in your head.

You know the symptoms I’m talking about – the vomiting and the sweating. (Not to mention when you pass out and act “dramatic.”) And all of the excessive bleeding? You’re just over exaggerating.

Go exercise. Why don’t you just do some yoga or jog a little? Eat better. You’re probably just constipated. Have you tried using a gentle laxative or adding more fiber into your diet? Periods are supposed to be uncomfortable. Get over it.

If you’re a woman who has Endometriosis, then you’ve probably heard at least one of these comments and your pain is probably dismissed as complaining or is described as something that is normal…

On SBS News, four young women who’ve been hearing the same things were finally given a chance to speak up.

These women were told that their pain was nothing but a figment of their imagination. One woman compared her period pain to having a horse kick her in the pelvis. Another young woman told SBS News that she had three seizures in one day due to pain. While a third woman was forced to have her healthy appendix taken out because doctors assumed that was the issue. Unnecessary surgery to remove an organ…Does that sound normal to you?

In Australia, women face the same issues that we do in the United States when it comes to dismissive medical professionals and delayed diagnoses. Women are told that their periods come with pain and that pain is normal. (“Discomfort” would be a more accurate term.)

But I have news for you-you should not be clutching onto the wall for support or vomiting from the pain. A while back my co-workers had to hold onto me because I passed out and fell down three flights of stairs. I woke up with a fever of 102. My friends tried to call an ambulance, but I told them to wait a few minutes. I had a few protests, but after taking a few sips of water, my fever broke and I was able to get up and continue working. That wasn’t the first time that’s happened to me and I’ve been told more than once that fainting is normal.

Whenever you feel pain, it’s your body’s way of telling you something is wrong.

You shouldn’t have to suffer every month, or in some cases, every day as many of us do with Endometriosis. Time and time again I have seen the same story told by one of my fellow #EndoWarriors. And I have read the stuff of nightmares.

Endometriosis has caused women to go through frightening things. I read one woman bled from her skin every month because the lesions would rush to the surface, while another said she’d get nosebleeds because there was Endometriosis in her brain! (Endometriosis can travel anywhere in your body, except the spleen.)

My cycle is roughly a 45-to 75-day cycle. I’ve already gone through a box of super plus and I need to go to the store later today to get another box. I am plagued with migraines that render me useless. The only positive is that whenever I do have a migraine, I don’t get horrific cramps and vice versa.

This short video of these women describing what they feel is all too familiar.

I understand the physical pain and the emotional turmoil that comes with Endometriosis and being told everything you are feeling is in your head or that you’re just there to beg for drugs. Going to your doctor should not leave you feeling more helpless than when you walked in, however, it is a reality we’re forced to face.

The moral to this story? We need to keep speaking out and sharing our stories. Our voices need to be heard. I don’t ever want to see anyone suffer from this disease the way that I do, but the silver lining is that I have my fellow sisters and warriors with me. Let’s keep fighting for a cure.