Amber's Story "My period pain was getting worse with each period"

I was diagnosed with endometriosis when I was 19 years old. I went through my teenage years finding that when it came to that time of the month, I knew it was going to be quite painful and that each time was probably going to be more painful than the last.

I think I was about 15 when I asked my mum to take me to the doctors because it was becoming unbearable, and like many of the other doctors I saw, they just gave me more pain killers, a new pill and off I went again. I just learnt, each month, to work around those days.

During my first year of university, I was at work and on a lunch break outside when I passed out on the side of the road. No-one stopped that I knew of to help me. I eventually woke up and slowly made it into work and said to my coworker that I needed to go home. My flatmate then took me to the university doctor and he pushed me to be referred to the hospital for a check-up. My checkup came up with nothing.

At nineteen family planning and the university doctors pushed for surgery to see if they could find any growths and recommended I got an IUD put in at the same time. I woke up from surgery with a nurse with black, blue, and blonde hair staring at me. Whilst thinking I was going nuts, I was told that they had found endometriosis growth. I was so happy that I had an answer.

A month went on. I was getting intense bleeding and even worse pain than I had before. I was in my school holidays. I knew that if I didn’t work I wasn’t going to be able to pay my bills and rent each week. Between juggling infections (stomach incisions from surgery and IUD), pain, and work, I was getting very down and relied on any painkillers I could find to get me through the day. I lost friends because I was too upsetting to be around, and was told that I was overreacting.

During getting dropped off at work for a shift, I asked if my sister could take me to SkyTelevision to pay our TV bill. She was more than happy to and said she would wait in the car. I walked in, waited in line and started feeling odd. Yes, I passed out again. This was when I decided this IUD is not for me. I have since found a pill (Microgyon50) that has been able to keep pain under control.

I have now finished my Communications Degree, majoring in Media and Marketing. I have to say if it wasn’t for the doctors and nurses at University Medical Centre, I don't think I would have been diagnosed yet. I joined up as a volunteer at Insight Endometriosis a couple of years after my diagnosis to meet more people my age that have endometriosis and I did meet some wonderful, amazing people, but have yet to meet more. Both Deb and Annette have been welcoming and very knowledgeable when it came to answering my questions.