Endometriosis Awareness Month: Worthing woman launches Menstrual Health Project after years of living with endometriosis

Gabriella Pearson, 29, and her friend Anna Cooper, a fellow sufferer from Wales who has become like family after they connected on Instagram, are working together to raise awareness and help others affected by menstrual concerns and conditions.

They launched Menstrual Health Project at the beginning of March, Endometriosis Awareness Month, and are now working behind the scenes towards it becoming a registered charity.

Gabriella said the average diagnosis took eight years and she and Anna were ‘so fed up’ with the naivety surrounding the subject.

She added: “I would really like to raise more awareness and education of endometriosis and how it affects so many women who feel completely alone and crippled by it.

“When I was diagnosed, there was no one talking about it on social media and I didn’t have the confidence to talk about it. There is such a taboo about talking about periods.

“We want to give other girls a better chance, so they can understand the symptoms, the dos and the don’ts.”

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Gabriella is lucky to have been referred to an understanding consultant but it was a long road to get to that point, having started her periods at ten.

She explained: “They were always very heavy, excruciatingly painful periods. By the time I was 13, I was in despair and the only answer I was given was to go on the pill.

“I suffered all through my teens and had a lot of time off school with bowel and stomach issues. I tried to do more when I was 21 but I was told it was IBS or I was gluten intolerant.

“Then all the gynae symptoms ramped up, so I went back to the doctor. I had a lot of resistance in the beginning, I was made to feel like I was a nuisance.

“The only way I found out about endometriosis was when my mum saw a tiny article in a newspaper in 2016 and said to me I think this is what you’ve got.

“I finally got the referral to the gynaecologist and had a laparoscopy, which led to the diagnosis of endometriosis.”

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Initially, it was found on her bowel and left ovary but in her most recent surgery a few weeks ago, her fourth, the endometriosis had spread so aggressively, the bowel was stuck to the pelvis and there was a cyst on her fallopian tube.

Gabriella said: “It is a whole body disease. People don’t realise the domino effect. I have chronic back pain and I have had to have a lot of time off. I have been in and out of A&E and lost jobs because of it.

“It’s erratic. I am always in pain, either dull, medium or excruciating. Some days I can manage more, some days less. Some find it is worst when they are ovulating.”

There is no cure but there are products for pain management, like the heat pad that Gabriella uses.

She said: “It is an area that should be focused on because so many women are affected and it affects so many things in your life.”

Gabriella is currently doing finance and admin for a children’s charity but finds she can manage to work only part-time.

She and her husband moved to Worthing from Surrey in lockdown and have been trying for a baby for a year without success, another thing affected by endometriosis.

Her aim is to get people talking about what life is like dealing with the condition and other chronic illnesses that severely impact on people’s lives.

She and Anna have just launched an Endometriosis Diagnostic Toolkit in collaboration with BeYou and they hope to provide guidance for schools, GP practices and work places in future.

Visit www.menstrualhealthproject.co.uk to find out more about Menstrual Health Project.

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