as a doctor herself, Tanya was trained to support patients, however, her symptoms were dismissed time and time again, until she raised the idea of endometriosis herself.

I need younger me to know her quality of life is worth fighting for

I was told that I was just unlucky and suffering from painful periods

He stopped his exam, looked me in the eyes and said “I don’t see anything wrong; the pain is in your head.

For the longest time, I felt like I was just being a dramatic person, and all of this was normal

I didn’t know much about Endometriosis until I realised that it could be the cause of my many issues

I remember thinking ‘surely not’, this happens to other women. Not me. Surely not

I wanted answers and I wanted to know what was wrong with me.

I was pretty upset with the diagnosis as immediately the fear set in around my fertility.

When you know the feelings aren’t normal but all the tests come back clear you do start to think it’s in your head

Trans men and nonbinary people with periods (like me) often avoid going to the doctor when it comes to our private parts

The pain was so bad that I would vomit and miss days of school

My anxiety levels continued to increase and I had severe panic attacks, during which I genuinely thought I was losing my mind

I thought it was normal and that I just had worse ones than most people or that I was a bit too sensitive to them.