Endometriosis - Tia’s story
This July, Endometriosis UK is hosting Walk for Endo 2025, challenging participants to walk 8,000 steps a day to raise awareness and vital funds to support those living with endometriosis.
Endometriosis is a chronic, often debilitating condition where tissue similar to the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body, causing severe pain and possible fertility problems.
I’m supporting the campaign as someone personally affected by the disease. I was diagnosed with endometriosis in February 2025, and this challenge is deeply personal to me.
My experience started at age 11 and disrupted much of my early teenage life. I tried various treatments over the years, but continued to suffer with severe pain. Some treatments even caused bone thinning, and nothing seemed to help. I felt at a loss as to what to do next.
At times it felt like barbed wire was wrapped around my organs, as if someone was trying to rip them out. The pain shot through my hips, legs, stomach, even my elbows and shoulders.
Following a scan earlier this year, a small cyst was found, and my condition rapidly deteriorated. After weeks of debilitating pain, I decided to go private, where a gynaecologist quickly suspected endometriosis and arranged for a laparoscopy - keyhole surgery used to diagnose the disease.
The laparoscopy confirmed I had endometriosis. The recovery was extremely tough: I couldn’t move without feeling like I was being stabbed. My partner had to do everything for me, and I’m extremely grateful to those who supported me.
At my post-surgery check-up, I was told that endometriosis tissue is also likely growing inside my ovary, which can’t be fully removed without an ovarian hysterectomy, which is something I’m not prepared to consider at 25. Doctors explained that without hormone treatment, the condition could continue to spread to other organs.
After trialling several options, one of which caused me to suffer from poor mental health, I’m now on medication containing three different hormones which seems to be helping, but the pain is still intense with frequent flare-ups.
Although I’m still in some pain, I’ve found a balance that works for me mentally and physically. I was lucky to get diagnosed early. Many women suffer for years, undiagnosed, because they don’t have access to specialists or can’t afford private care. We need to stop treating endometriosis as just a gynaecological condition, it affects the whole body, and recognising that would increase the number of people receiving a diagnosis. Organisations like Endometriosis UK and Endometriosis South Coast are essential in giving women a voice and pushing for better care and early diagnosis.
