The Food Medic - Living with Endometriosis: A Story of Strength, Struggle, & Hope | With Carla Cressy

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Starting point is 00:00:26 terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over deliver. I would be vomiting, unable to go to the toilet and in such severe pain that I would pass out and have migraines. Today I'm joined by Carla Cressy, the founder of the Endometriosis Foundation. It wasn't until she was 25, after years of misdiagnoses, hospital admissions and even unnecessary surgery, that she finally received a diagnosis of endometriosis. I'd love to go back to the moment that you realised that something wasn't quite right. When I started my period, it was very clear that something wasn't right. What point did it get to when someone said, look, I actually think this is is something else I think it's endometriosis. That point actually never came. Hello everyone and welcome back to the Food Medic podcast. I'm Dr Hazel Wallace a women's

Starting point is 00:01:15 health nutritionist and former NHS doctor and I'm back for a special women's health series of the Food Medic podcast. In this mini series we're diving into all things women's health, from expert insights and myth-busting chats to mini Ask Dr. Hazel episodes, where I answer questions submitted by you. Expect accessible, evidence-backed tips to help you feel empowered, not held back by your menstrual cycle and more. Today I'm joined by Carla Cressy, the founder of the Endometriosis Foundation, who I met on a panel a few years ago and was so inspired by her work, but also really moved by her story. Carla's journey began when she was just 14, when she started experiencing symptoms that were repeatedly overlooked. It wasn't until she was 25, after years of misdiagnoses, hospital admissions, and even unnecessary surgery, that she finally received a diagnosis of endometriosis. Carla's

Starting point is 00:02:12 story sadly reflects the reality for so many, with the average diagnosis delay for endometriosis in the UK still around eight years. But through it all, she turned pain into purpose, founding a charity, contributing to national health guidelines and speaking up in places like parliament and downing street to push for real change this conversation is an honest and powerful look at the reality of living with endometriosis and why we need to be doing so much more if you're enjoying these conversations and want to go beyond just understanding your hormones and your menstrual cycle and actually learn how to work with them, my latest book, Not Just a Period, is available to pre-order now. It's a practical, science-backed roadmap that helps you align your cycle in every

Starting point is 00:02:54 area of your life, from nutrition and mood to body image, skin, hair, and more. If you're ready to feel more in tune with your body and supported by your hormones rather than confused by them, I'd love for you to check it out. You might notice a QR code floating around if you're watching the video free to scan or if you're listening to the audio version you can find the link at the bottom of the episode show notes. Carla. Hi. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me. You're so welcome. I've been so excited to have this conversation with you. And I mean, I know your story, but I'd love to go back to the moment that you realized that something wasn't quite right and maybe your journey to getting a diagnosis of endometriosis. Yeah. I mean, I think like most people, I knew really early on that something wasn't normal. I have three sisters, so I'm one of four girls,

Starting point is 00:03:47 and I was the only one that was kind of on all fours, doubled up in pain on my period. And I also had really irregular periods just from the off. So it was quite known very early on that I had PCOS. And so my periods were really irregular, but I also had endometriosis, which I later found out. And so I had these very irregular periods that would come kind of every two weeks, but they were incredibly painful. So every two weeks I would be vomiting, unable to go to the toilet and in such severe pain that I would pass out and have migraines and take time off school. So really, really early on, I was 14 when I started my period, it was very clear that something wasn't right.

Starting point is 00:04:32 Actually went straight to the GP and that was kind of my life for a good five, six years, just back and forth to the GP, trying every hormone treatment known to man that was available, but nothing helped. And just before my 15th birthday, actually, my mom took me to see a gynecologist and they performed an ultrasound scan. Didn't see anything and kind of sent me on my way. So really early on, really, really early on. And it just went on and on. I almost feel like bored of even talking about it now because, you know, you feel like you've said it so many times. And it's just that it is that case of just going on and on and on and trying to get that help and just not being listened to. 1920 and I was in my first real serious relationship and I started to experience like bleeding during sex and such severe pain during sex that I would have to stop and burst into tears and that's when I then had another kind of support system there to say this isn't normal

Starting point is 00:05:38 so you know my mum would join me at GP appointments my partner then partner would join me at GP appointments but we just didn't get anywhere for years um and it was always a case of going back and forth try a different hormone pill but also these hormone pills didn't work for me I never managed to kind of catch a break and then I remember um I was googling my symptoms you know irregular bleeding pain during intercourse pain kind of all outside of menstruation as well because this pain was all time around at this point the older I got the symptoms were just becoming more and more debilitating and I remember googling my symptoms and they were very similar to that of cancer so I went to the GP and I wasn't quite 25 I think I was 22 at the time and I asked for a smear test and my GP actually agreed I think you should have a smear test and they performed the test three times and

Starting point is 00:06:40 all three times the lab refused because my age so for this really kind of a long time I genuinely thought I'm gonna die like this is something really sinister and no one cares and you know because you just feel like you're not getting anywhere you know for help um and yeah it just went on for years um and I lost my first job because I just kept passing out and we didn't know what was wrong I would go to work and then an hour later I would be unconscious and be in the back of an ambulance and this would happen if if it's during my period week two three times in the week and then I'd be in the hospital and having scans and nothing's seen and it was just really really difficult really really difficult time especially when

Starting point is 00:07:25 you didn't don't have answers and this went on I mean it took just over 10 years to get a diagnosis so this just went on and on for a really long time and during that time my weight really dropped and I would struggle to eat and I'd had this kind of big bloating tummy and no one knew why um it was just so hard and I know that I'm probably echoing so many other people's experiences as well and eventually it was actually when my bowel just completely stopped working and again lost a lot of weight couldn't hold weight couldn't particularly eat very much because I always felt really full up and then if I would eat it was almost like I was force-feeding myself because I would feel sick and I would feel pain from eating and I didn't know why and so the doctors again you know oh you've got an eating

Starting point is 00:08:16 disorder or you're anorexic or you just need to eat more and it just it was just this horrible cycle of almost like you're going to someone for help, but they're actually pushing the blame on you and making you feel like either this isn't actually happening or you're causing it. And it was just a really difficult kind of moment to just trying to get someone to listen to you because because nobody would um but when my bowel stopped working and when I say stopped working I literally could not pass a bowel movement for three weeks one time so I would be hospitalized with chronic constipation where my bowel was so kind of stuck that the stools would actually back up on themselves and start going the other way and I'd be vomiting instead it was awful it was just horrendous and that went on for about a year but I think once the bowel symptoms started that's when I started to be taken a little bit more seriously yeah but again no one was there to

Starting point is 00:09:18 kind of connect the dots because I was still having all these period issues as well. So eventually I, yeah, I just kind of gave up going to the doctors and started managing at home. And then there was a few A&E visits and it was just kind of the same old thing. There were times where I probably should have been in hospital, but I chose not to because I knew what the outcome would be. I knew I'd just be given Orimorfe and all these medications that were actually slowing my bowel down even more that the doctors thought were going to help and they weren't. So it just went on for years. It was exhausting.

Starting point is 00:09:55 It cost me my career, my job, relationships. It was a really sad, lonely time. Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine like 10 years of experiencing that. And in that 10 years, were you given any answers or any potential diagnosis? Or was it, this is just painful periods? I got the painful period thing very early on. But my main one was incurable gastroenteritis. Really?

Starting point is 00:10:22 Yeah. So it's like a neurovirus, you know, the neurovirus. So if I'm not like, you know, going to the toilet 12 times a day, which isn't normal, because I'd get backed up for so long and then all of a sudden something would happen or I'd have a huge pain attack and where the endometriosis pain and cramps would be so intense, it'd actually get my bowel movement. So it would almost be like a love-hate relationship with these periods. Or it would be the complete opposite and I just cannot physically go. And that was because I had obstruction.

Starting point is 00:10:52 So the incurable gastroenteritis, IBS, that was a big one. But I knew that wasn't right because I've always been into my nutrition. And I'd always keep food diaries. And I would always eat very small and then wait and see how I reacted. And I was fine with all of the kind of IBS, don't eat this, don't eat that kind of food groups, and I knew it wasn't that. It genuinely would be anything I ate. It didn't matter what it was.

Starting point is 00:11:19 It would either kind of flare me up or make me feel sick. But again, it just kind of went back and forth back and forth the overlap between IBS and endometriosis is such a like a common yeah misdiagnosis but also they can coexist and I've seen it being misdiagnosed in the hospital when I was working within the gastro team as well where someone's been told they've got IBS and they're sent into hospital and then lo and behold, they actually had endometriosis.

Starting point is 00:11:49 We do find a lot of people can have endometriosis and IBS. Yes. But what I also found was, because when I, I mean, I'm jumping a little bit forward, but when I eventually got diagnosed with endometriosis

Starting point is 00:11:59 and cut out a lot of the food groups that I was told to cut out, when I then started to kind of reintroduce them or if I'd eat food with gluten in, for example, it really affected me. So then I would think, oh gosh, they were right. But actually the longer you cut all these foods out, the more they are going to affect you

Starting point is 00:12:18 when you do then try to kind of bring these back in. So it was a real kind of, there was no education around endometriosis when I was diagnosed Instagram wasn't even really a thing in 2014 so it was really a kind of a trial and error you know trial and error learn for yourself it was really really tough actually yeah yeah I can only imagine because even now like we hear stories of women still waiting eight years, like 10 years is just obscene. What was the moment where you got the diagnosis? Like what point did it get to when someone said, look, I actually think this is something else.

Starting point is 00:12:55 I think it's endometriosis. So that point actually never came. I had a huge, I say huge. If I was at home, I wouldn't have gone into the hospital I would have literally just managed through it but I was out with friends, we were having dinner and I just had a pain attack and before I knew it I was on the floor

Starting point is 00:13:15 everyone was around me in this restaurant and I was taken by ambulance and we were actually in the city and I was taken to a London hospital and they told me it was gastroenteritis. The Hot Honey McCrispy is so back at McDonald's. With juicy 100% Canadian raised seasoned chicken, shredded lettuce, crispy jalapenos and that completely craveable hot honey sauce,

Starting point is 00:13:37 it's a sweet heat repeat you don't want to miss. Get your Hot Honey McCrispy today. Available for a limited time only at McDonald's. Anyway, and then I went home to my mom and she straight away, you know, you need to go. She actually took me to the GP surgery. And I remember I was in so much pain, I couldn't even make it up the stairs. So I had to stay downstairs. I couldn't physically get up the stairs, but that was normal for me.

Starting point is 00:14:02 I'd had years of that. I remember I used to crawl from the bathroom to the bedroom just to go to the toilet because I couldn't physically stand up straight because I was just in so much pain yeah and I went to the GP and first straight away they said you need to go to the hospital I went to the hospital and they told me they thought I had acute appendicitis so straight into surgery and they've've done the old fashioned kind of appendectomy where they kind of cut you from like the belly button to the hip. So I had this great big incision to remove my appendix in an emergency, but my appendix was still intact and it wasn't that. So I'm in this hospital and they've taken my appendix out, but my infection markers were really, really high. I think they're in the seventies. And I remember they said, I can't

Starting point is 00:14:43 go home until they're below six, but I was like 72, 74. I was septic. high I think they're in the 70s and I remember they said I can't go home until they're below six but I was like 72 74 I was septic and I remember they put tubes everywhere I had tubes up my nose down my throat everywhere they couldn't get the um cannula zinc so I was so dehydrated I was just really really poorly and they it was kind of there was a few touch and go moments and there was kind of mention of all these weird and wonderful potential diagnoses that it could have been. And then I think I took a term for the worse. I was in the hospital for about three or four weeks. I took a term for the worse and then I woke up and I'd had another surgery. I was kind of in and out of consciousness throughout this time.

Starting point is 00:15:22 And that's when they tried to perform a keyhole surgery to just to look inside to see kind of what was going on but then they quickly uh changed that to a laparotomy so another incision so they can't it's kind of like a cesarean incision yeah um and that's when they found that there was so much endometriosis i had had endometriomas, the chocolate cyst, there was so much scar tissue. And they just said it looked like someone had just poured cement into my pelvis. Everything was just stuck together and completely destroyed by endometriosis. So I spent obviously a little while longer in the hospital recovering. They didn't treat the endometriosis, but they did kind of do what they can. And they drained a lot of kind of like blood and just trying to get me as well as they could to get me out of there

Starting point is 00:16:11 and then referred to a specialist hospital, which I did not even know existed. I'd never heard of endometriosis before and neither had my mom, which I thought was, you know, crazy considering she's a woman. So already we were kind of like what is this what does this mean and then we would look for answers and they just weren't there there wasn't even nice guidance on endometriosis so it was a real difficult time navigating that diagnosis um so that diagnosis kind of came by accident because they thought my appendix had ruptured so yeah and how did it feel to like finally have a diagnosis I know that at the time it was still like there was a lot of answers and what can you actually do to help me in this situation but was there a sense of relief not really because it made

Starting point is 00:16:58 it more difficult I think because at that time and still to some degree now, there was this big misconception that endometriosis is just painful periods. And so when I got discharged from the hospital, they used staples to close my incision. So I had to have staples for seven weeks. So I literally would have to be bed bound and I couldn't like leave these staples were quite heavy duty staples and I remember I was told to try physiotherapy while I'm waiting for my referral to the specialist hospital and so I went ahead and I called to do the referral with my mom and they said oh sorry we don't do anything for painful periods so I was just kind of met with this kind of block because as soon as I said endometriosis they would say oh we don't do yes yes nothing um and I remember after kind of this

Starting point is 00:17:53 diagnosis my stomach would swell up and obviously the last time that happened I was septic and having surgeries so I would go into A&E with this big swollen tummy, still quite unwell from the operation. And they would say, don't really know much about it. And it was quite a scary time because I had this diagnosis. For me, the diagnosis was quite a serious situation. It came around in a serious situation. I didn't know much about it. I didn't know what it meant.

Starting point is 00:18:21 I didn't know what it meant for my fertility. I didn't even know at that time that it had been causing all the bowel issues as well and then nobody was there to help so it was it was really tough really tough so hard so so hard looking back is there anything that you would say to like your younger self who was going back and forth to the GP in and out of hospital it's hard because I know a lot of people say you know advocate for yourself but I did yeah and my mom like we really did we did not stop and it was so difficult and funny it was just recently I went through my medical notes and in 2004 I think I would have been 2005, I would have been 13 or 14.

Starting point is 00:19:05 My doctor's handwriting, it actually says, mum worried there's something wrong. And all these like bleeding and pain kind of notes written. And I think we were so active with that. We were so, you know, we were there every two weeks with these symptoms. What more could we have done? Yeah. How did your journey lead you to set up the Endometriosis Foundation? Because obviously,

Starting point is 00:19:28 like you've been through such a huge experience yourself and what you've done with the foundation is incredible. So, I mean, how did you get there and what was your vision with setting it up? So I never planned, it was never my intention to set up a charity. I actually started by just setting up a Facebook group because I felt so alone. I didn't know anything about it. And I was blogging at the time and I wrote a blog that was called Post Baby But No Baby. And I kind of just explained what what happened in the hospital and this diagnosis and I remember at the end of it I wrote has anyone else heard of this I just I had no idea what it was and when I did google it it kind of just came around like this rare condition that some women

Starting point is 00:20:20 might have after they've had children and that was it there just wasn't much information um and that a hysterectomy was a cure obviously we know that that's not true but that's all the information that was available to me at that time so it started with this online support group and when I wrote that blog I remember I put it out in the just on Facebook um and then by the morning I woke up to my phone going crazy and it had been picked up by the newspapers and it was just everywhere and it was in Z News in India Newsweek in America this everywhere it was like women diagnosed with rare womb condition women nearly died died, women's organs stuck together. And I was like, what on earth is going on? But from that, I just had this influx of messages and

Starting point is 00:21:13 letters from so many women from all over the world who were going through exactly the same thing. So many women who were struggling to get diagnosed or being diagnosed in such extreme circumstances similar to me worse and I just was blown away I could not believe that this kind of experience that I'd had for at that time the last 10 years and felt so alone there were so many other people experiencing very similar, if not the same thing. And it just blew my mind. And this support group kind of went from 40 people to tens of thousands of people. And I just remember thinking, oh my goodness, like this is horrendous. Like what is being done? Nothing was being done. We're all being told the same thing. It's just bad

Starting point is 00:22:06 periods. You know, endometriosis is just a period issue. And I think that's the problem because painful periods is a symptom of endometriosis. The condition isn't a period issue. That's just one symptom. There are so many other symptoms outside of periods that are you know related to endometriosis that nobody were kind of speaking about and it was from then that I started to kind of share my story which looking back I probably wasn't in the best place to do that but I did it and it just kind of created more I suppose opportunities to meet more people that were going through it. And I just found this, from the support group, it just kind of led to this platform that just brought people together. And I needed that so much because although I had my family and my friends,

Starting point is 00:23:00 it was difficult for them, it was difficult for me to kind of explain to them or express myself, but also it's difficult for them to understand because I was 24. I just had an infertility diagnosis. I'd just been told I needed major surgery and potentially bladder may lose a kidney and part of my bowel and my ability to carry children and all of these things all at once. And it was just shocking to me, you know, and having had that quite traumatic operation and then learning that I need to go on and have more surgeries, it was really, really difficult. So it's kind of led to that.

Starting point is 00:23:47 But it was never my plan. I kind of didn't have this intention of, oh, I've just been diagnosed with this. I set up a charity because that was the last thing on my mind. I couldn't even go to the toilet, never mind start a charity. But it just led to that. And I met so many people through the journey. And together, I mean, the charity is not just me you know there's a whole pool of us that are working together and and and doing this together and it's just through leaning on other people that it's creating that community that

Starting point is 00:24:16 wasn't there before yeah and you mentioned something um I really want to circle back to which was that painful periods are a symptom of endometriosis, but there's many more symptoms. And I'm conscious that we didn't even talk about what endometriosis is. And within where we work, we talk about it all the time, but for a lot of people, they don't exactly know what it is. So I'd love to just kind of circle back to what is endometriosis and what are some of the common symptoms that people might be experiencing? Endometriosis is a systemic inflammatory hormone-driven condition where tissue that's similar to the tissue that lines the uterus, which we call the endometrium,

Starting point is 00:24:58 is found elsewhere, usually within the pelvis, but it can actually be found anywhere in the body um and it can cause symptoms like painful periods or infertility um it can cause some people might have endometriosis in their chest and their lungs and that can cause pain particularly during the period um chest pain coughing up blood there are so many different symptoms and bowel issues bladder issues um it can really depend where it is uh on the symptom type of symptoms that you might have yeah for example because i had the bladder involvement the bowel involvement and the kind of pelvic involvement i would have all these kind of period related symptoms and then the pain and then the bladder related symptoms then the bowel related symptoms all grouped in together and a lot of

Starting point is 00:25:50 people do tend to have and I think that's why quite often the symptoms can be confused for other conditions yeah yeah yeah a very common symptom would be pain on opening your bowels or going for a wee and I remember sitting in an endometriosis clinic as a medical student which is quite like a unique clinic to be in and the consultant was amazing and he sat me down and was like if a woman ever tells you that she's got pain on opening her bowels and it's related to her menstrual cycle you better believe her that it's endometriosis. And it's something that just stuck with me forever. But I think, again, we often don't relate the two. So it's such an important symptom. You know, your story is really common, but not just for women who are trying to get a

Starting point is 00:26:37 diagnosis of endometriosis for all women's health conditions. And I think anything that's pain related, like if we look at the research, women more often are told that their pain's in their head yeah um are told it's like it's not real it's psychogenic and in hospital they have to wait longer to get painkillers and I just think like your experience is like part of a wider issue that we have that like women just aren't taken seriously I guess my question is like what do you think needs to happen in order for that to change I think it starts with education and I think we've got a long way to go yeah I really do it's it's not a case of there's um one body where you educate and then it kind of filters through which it does in a sense but it's going to take a really long time yeah so I think for me where I'm kind of positioned on the ground within that community of people

Starting point is 00:27:33 like me who are going through it educating each other and really kind of making sure we're equipped with the right information the right guidance and taking that to, because also these relationships we have with medical professionals are so important and they can really complement our journeys. So if you don't have that relationship with your GP or your gynecologist or your physiotherapist or your dietician, whoever, it's going to be really difficult to get the support that you need. So create, like not creating but kind of developing those relationships for me is so important and we're always kind of

Starting point is 00:28:11 encouraging that through the support the support that we offer yeah and so it's not just when people are trying to get diagnosed because from diagnosis through treatments and beyond your gp or your your team your medical team are always kind of involved yeah so it's about men maintaining those relationships as well because some people might um kind of experience uh endometriosis and get their diagnosis and have some type of treatment whether that be holistic or kind of medical or surgical. But then two, three years later, they might potentially begin experiencing issues again. And it's about, for me, it's really important to encourage people to keep that kind of dialect with those medical professionals so that they know what's happening with you in your life. They know if you're struggling, you know just to keep that relationship strong

Starting point is 00:29:06 yeah so that they're part of your your your journey because it's not a case of you you've got diagnosed that's it you know there's a whole pool of referrals and appointments that you go to i mean i remember after i'd been referred to the specialist center again i knew never knew it existed I remember one particular week I had like six appointments and I just thought how how am I meant to do this and work and manage home and walk my dog and have a bath you know like this was like a full-time job and so having that really that relationship with your medical team, being able to be honest and be able to share what's worrying you and also having, understanding that your voice is just as important in your

Starting point is 00:29:55 treatment journey as well. And it's not a case of just being told what to do. It's about, you know, what your priority is is what are you worried about um i know some people they they may be very very sure that they want to have children one day if that's a concern make sure you you speak on that and make sure that your medical team know this and if they're not particularly welcoming of you make sure the gp is involved and just having people to fight your corner basically I think is how I managed to kind of get through that pathway um but again it comes back to self-advocacy doesn't it which is tiring when you're in pain yeah it's so tiring and I you know the podcast we on this

Starting point is 00:30:40 podcast we have a lot of conversations about advocating for yourself. And I hate and I love that conversation because I wish we didn't have to. And that's coming from someone who's a medical professional. And I know that people have to do that, especially women, especially women in pain, especially women who have menstrual cycles or any needs related to their reproductive health is just always passed off as it's just part and parcel of being a woman. But I think there are women who are probably listening to this podcast who are probably in your DMs who think this might be happening to me or at least something's not quite right for those women what advice do you do you give them I mean I speak to a lot of women on a daily and you know I find a lot of people

Starting point is 00:31:33 are worried to move forward and and seek help because they don't think their endometriosis is bad enough and for me I'm always pain is pain yeah we should never disregard it and it doesn't mean that you're going to go to your gp and then next week you're going to be in an operation like that's not what we want yeah um but you should go to your gp and you should let them know what's going on because if it is a case especially with endometriosis it can be progressive for some people it might kind of rare up and then all of a sudden disappear. Yeah. Like the pain symptoms disappear and this does happen.

Starting point is 00:32:10 Yeah. Or for some people, they might find that with some small lifestyle changes or with bringing in some type of hormone therapy treatment or some kind of more holistic therapies, that's all they need. Yeah. And that's amazing. Yeah. some kind of more holistic therapies that's all they need and that's amazing because for me you know and I think when we think about endometriosis and we hear oh the only way to diagnose it is through surgery and the best treatment is surgery which to some degree and for some people that is their route to getting relief but not for everyone yeah and if that's not what you want then you don't have that.

Starting point is 00:32:48 You know, there's always a way to work around it and find what works for you. And I think just don't put that off. But one thing I will advise is to make sure you go prepared. I know it sounds really boring and you've probably heard it a hundred times, but keeping a symptom diary can honestly be really, really helpful. Not only for you to know what's going on and find patterns, but also for your medical professional, for your GP. And not just for you to know what's going on and find patterns but also for your medical professional for your gp and not just for diagnosis but for ongoing even still i've had a hysterectomy i've had a bowel surgery i've had it all i still keep a symptom diary because if i feel

Starting point is 00:33:15 something i think that's strange yeah and then that happens again i'll have a look at how close they are yeah and if they're kind of different. And that helps me think, okay, I think something might be going on here. And again, it's kind of feeding back to your medical team, no matter where you are in your journey, to make them aware so that, touch wood, if anything did kind of progress, then you've already made them aware and you're already kind of on their radar. But also printing the NICE guidelines can be so helpful in helping people get through the referral pathway because nine times out of 10, the biggest problem we have is people can't get past the GP. They just can't get past. They're told to try paracetamol or anti-inflammatories,

Starting point is 00:34:00 which nine times out of 10, before we go to to the GP we've already tried those things and they don't work so they're just it can be a real barrier to get past that first initial step but we do find when people go and they're more equipped and they're more prepared and they have this symptom diary and they have the nice guidance and they've found a specialist center that's close by or one that kind of makes sense to them and they want to go to and it shows that they've done their homework nine times out of ten the GP will also support that and help kind of work with you yeah but it is but it shouldn't be like that yeah unfortunately and it also shouldn't take people like me and so many other people to have to share such intimate and personal experiences to to get people to take this more

Starting point is 00:34:47 seriously but unfortunately that's the world we live in. Yeah yeah that's it but really good really good tips for people who are navigating that like even if it's not endometriosis just any anything that you think that isn't quite right and you just want to get listened to. So as part of your work you've been having like really big conversations in places like Parliament and we've seen like the Women's Health Agenda come out in England. So there's a lot of conversations happening.

Starting point is 00:35:13 But do you or are you seeing big change off the back of those conversations? Not really, not yet. No, there's some incredible people and supporters in this space for women's health. But I think until there is funding to support these initiatives and really help push them through, it's going to take a long time. And it's a lot of pressure and responsibility for those particularly the smaller charities the ones that are on the ground the ones that are involved

Starting point is 00:35:50 in people's care grassroots charities there's a lot of pressure on them but again very little financial support so I think until there's a real kind of push in bringing women's health to the kind of forefront and prioritizing that we are I think it's going to take some time yeah yeah I agree with you I would love to finish on one question um what's one myth about women's health or hormones that you wish we could finally leave behind? I think the biggest myth is that periods are supposed to be painful because they're not. They're not meant to be lovely and they are obviously uncomfortable, but we shouldn't be in pain. And, you know, it might not always be endometriosis. It could be absolutely so many different, you know, women's conditions. So I that the my main kind of throw it in the bin now let's not talk about this anymore is that periods should

Starting point is 00:36:51 not be painful and if they are please get it checked out yeah I completely agree with you I think it's fine to expect some cramping like your body's doing something amazing but really severe period pain or like pain that's making you take time off school or work or leaves you on the floor, on the bathroom floor because the tiles are cold and that's all you can do

Starting point is 00:37:13 is not something that we need to tolerate. So yeah, I love that one. Amazing. Well, thank you for your time today, Carla. That went really fast. It went really fast. Yeah. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:37:24 Amazing. Before we leave each other, I would love if you could just take a moment to rate the podcast, leave a review, or share it with a friend or a loved one that you think would learn a lot from this episode. If today's conversation resonated, my book, Not Just a Period, is available to pre-order now, and it's packed with practical advice to help you understand your hormones, manage tricky periods, and work with your cycle for better energy, mood and overall health. You can grab a copy now through the link in the show notes or via the QR code on your screen.

Starting point is 00:37:53 I hope you all have a great week and thank you so much for listening.

The Food Medic - Living with Endometriosis: A Story of Strength, Struggle, & Hope | With Carla Cressy

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