Divya
Divya, 31, Wellington
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Looking back, I think my symptoms began around sixteen. I noticed that the pain I was experiencing during my period would keep me awake overnight, and I would struggle to go to school the next day. I thought that this was just normal period pain that every woman was dealing with, because that's often what women are told.
It wasn't until I had a boyfriend in my twenties and his mum saw me in significant pain that she gifted me my first wheat bag. That wheat bag stayed with me for a very long time, and it gave me so much relief that painkillers couldn't.
My periods started getting very painful in my mid-twenties, and it was no longer just one day of symptoms. I was seeing my GP more than my friends or my family. My period became so debilitating that I was calling out of work often. I couldn't see my friends.
By the time I was on the waiting list to get my surgery, I had stopped working altogether and the pain was at significant levels. I was taking painkillers all day, every day. I couldn't sleep for more than a few hours at a time before the pain would wake me and the cycle would begin again.
I was on the public waiting list for about a year, and it wasn't looking likely that my number would be called for another three years or so. It was incredibly hard being in pain constantly, only feeling some respite when taking heavy painkillers. I ended up asking my parents if they would fund my surgery privately. It felt like life or death at this point. I couldn't keep living like this.
In December of twenty twenty-three, I had my surgery with an excision specialist. The endometriosis was confirmed. I healed well from surgery and had a blissful six months pain-free. Then I started experiencing pain again. I was heartbroken. I knew the chance of it growing back, but I didn't expect it to be so soon.
It forced me to confront everything in my life. I had to let go of unhealthy relationships. I abstained from alcohol completely. I started eating really well. Managing my stress levels became my full-time job.
I am now two and a half years post-surgery, and I genuinely feel the healthiest I've felt in my adult life. My period is a non-issue. I don't need a lot of painkillers to deal with it. I can continue living my best life. I was able to travel internationally to see my family. I've been to music festivals. I danced till the sun rose. Like, life—I've got my life back right now, and it feels really good, but also very scary because I know that endometriosis can grow back.
I want everyone to understand that endometriosis is so much more than just a bad period. People experience pain when they're not on their cycle, every day of the month. Uh, it is significant and debilitating.
What advice would I give to someone trying to be diagnosed? Um, endometriosis makes you be your biggest advocate. You need to speak up for yourself because only you know what's going on in your body, and you need to communicate that to a doctor. And if your doctor's not listening, you need to find a doctor that will listen.
Track and monitor your symptoms because everyone's cases are so individual. And that is the best way to find a pattern and hopefully get help soon.
A close up of Divya’s visible Endo signs- scars, and erythema ab igne