\n
“I was told that my symptoms were just part of being a woman.” <\/b><\/p>\n
These are words that are likely to be familiar to scores of women who have suffered years of seeking a reason for their extreme pain and heavy periods, before finally being told they have endometriosis. <\/p>\n
For years, the only way to definitively diagnose the condition – where cells similar to those in the lining of the womb grow in other parts of the body, external<\/span> – was through a surgical procedure. <\/p>\nBut this week it was announced that rapid, non-invasive, endometriosis tests would be made available on the NHS in England and Wales. <\/p>\n
For Zoe Armstrong, 35, from Bristol – who lost two pregnancies, including an ectopic pregnancy that became “trapped” due to her endometriosis – a rapid test could have made all the difference. <\/p>\n
She said it was “absolutely amazing” to hear that rapid tests could be made available on the NHS, having been told – like many – that her symptoms “were just part of being a woman”. <\/p>\n
While she might never know for sure, Armstrong, who now has a daughter, said a simpler test for endometriosis might have caught the condition before her pregnancies. <\/p>\n
“There is a little bit of sadness because there are so many people out there who haven’t been diagnosed yet, who think they have [endometriosis] and are in this loop,” she said. <\/p>\n
“Hopefully this will cut their waiting times down.”<\/p>\n
While Armstrong only discovered her endometriosis after an emergency surgery, others with the condition spent years looking for reasons for debilitating pain. <\/p>\n
It took 21 years for Charlotte Hutchings, 36, to get her endometriosis diagnosis, after suffering symptoms from the age of 11. <\/p>\n
Hutchings, who helps lead the Gloucestershire Endometriosis Support Group, said rapid testing could have made a “massive difference” to her life, and potentially could have avoided years of “countless doctors, hospital and A&E visits”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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