Chloe Browne, 37, was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2016, after years of debilitating period pains. She says it’s about time the condition was taken seriously.

“When I first went to my GP, aged 14, about my period pains, I was told they’d go ‘once I had my first child’. Well, guess what – I’m not planning on having kids. I know ladies who’ve been told it’s ‘just part of being a woman’. I’ve been fobbed off with stronger and stronger painkillers, put on oral contraceptives, and told I might have PCOS.

It was only when I insisted on referral to a gynaecologist, and later a second referral to an endometriosis specialist, that I received an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis, possible adenomyosis and specialised excision surgery for endometriosis.

We’re taught to put up with it and shut up, partly because we don’t talk enough about what is still considered a taboo subject by many. You have to ask yourself – if a condition that caused such severe, disabling pain affected up to 10% of men, would we be facing the same problems with late diagnosis, and lack of funding into research and treatment?

Widening the discussion and increasing knowledge about endometriosis amongst medical professionals can only be a good thing. Let’s challenge the stigma and encourage more research and funding into the treatment of endometriosis.”

Images: iStock / Rex Features

Why you should be getting checked for endometriosis if you have bad period pains