{"id":495554,"date":"2026-03-26T01:53:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/495554\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T01:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:53:15","slug":"endometriosis-left-me-in-constant-agony-and-doubly-incontinent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/495554\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Endometriosis left me in constant agony and doubly incontinent’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"\"
\n\t\tLaura with \u2018endo-belly\u2019 \u2013 painful bloating caused by the inflammatory condition (picture owner supplied)<\/p>\n

When Laura Packer\u2019s first period arrived<\/a> on her 12th birthday sleepover, it knocked her sideways.<\/p>\n

\u2018I remember looking down at my pyjamas and they were covered in blood. I was really sad because they were a birthday present and I loved them.<\/p>\n

\u2018And I was scared. I thought \u2013 this can\u2019t be a normal<\/a>,\u2019 Laura, now 31, recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a moment that marked the beginning of years of agony<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018My periods were like a massacre \u2013 I would leak through everything,\u2019 Laura, from Bedfordshire<\/a>, tells Metro starkly. \u2018I had the most horrendous pelvic pain<\/a>, to the point I would be sick and have terrible migraines.\u2019<\/p>\n

Although she looks comfortable as she chats over Zoom, the reality is Laura has spent years masking the pain<\/a> every day with tramadol, morphine, heating pads and a tens machine.<\/p>\n

Describing the agony she often lives with, Laura explains: \u2018It\u2019s like knives inside you, tugging at your organs and stabbing them. And a twisting pain, like someone has grabbed your ovaries. Not just on your period, but every day.\u2019<\/p>\n

When her periods first started, Laura hoped the pain would subside as they settled down, but when they didn\u2019t, she made an estimated 20 trips to her GP for help.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was told it was anxiety<\/a>, that I needed to drink milk [the vitamin D can help with period cramps] and to go for walks. I was told to test for sexually transmitted diseases, even though I was a virgin,\u2019 she remembers.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Laura
\n\t\tEndometriosis has taken over Laura\u2019s life since the age of 12 (picture owner supplied)<\/p>\n

The pain was even too much for Laura to use tampons, so she would double up on thick incontinence pads, which would leak at school<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018I felt gross, like there was something wrong with me,\u2019 says Laura, who manages a statutory advocacy service for people in prisons, hospitals and care homes.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was this weird girl who was always leaking, which was really embarrassing at that age. It made me very secretive and I became very good at hiding the bleeding. It was hard to concentrate in school when you\u2019re in that much pain and feeling self-conscious.\u2019<\/p>\n

Laura carried tissue everywhere, in case she needed to clean a seat when she left it, and had to plan all her activities around the nearest toilet.<\/p>\n

Despite this, she did well at school and went to Goldsmiths, at the University of London, where she juggled her sociology degree with continuing cycles of pain.<\/p>\n

At 19, Laura was finally diagnosed with endometriosis<\/a>, following exploratory surgery. Affecting more than 1.5 million women in the UK, the condition sees cells similar to those in the lining of the uterus grow in other parts of the body, causing a raft of symptoms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It takes an average of more than eight years to be diagnosed, according to Endometriosis UK, while a survey by Holland & Barrett reported that more than a third of women say menstrual symptoms have been dismissed by a healthcare professional. However, one of Laura\u2019s doctors was an endometriosis specialist, and as soon as he saw her bloating \u2013 often known as endo-belly \u2013 he correctly predicted her condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"
\n\t\tLaura has undergone six surgeries to try and alleviate the pain (picture owner supplied)<\/p>\n

\u2018I was so relieved to get the diagnosis, because so many medical professionals made me feel I was being dramatic, or making it up,\u2019 she remembers.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d heard a lot of: \u201cOh, it\u2019s just a bad period. You\u2019ll grow out of it. Come back in a year, see how you are.\u201d And: \u201cYou\u2019re functioning, you\u2019re going to school, you\u2019re going to college, you\u2019re working. So it can\u2019t be that bad.\u201d It was frustrating. I felt so dismissed. So I was just relieved that I wasn\u2019t being pathetic \u2013 or insane.\u2019<\/p>\n

That same year Laura had her first surgery to remove some of the endometriosis, which provide a few months\u2019 relief. Then, a year later, she was given medication to stop her periods, which forced her into artificial menopause<\/a> and caused her hair to fall out. She also suffered frommemory problems and extreme bouts of rage.<\/p>\n

\u2018One morning I got up, took a broom and just started beating the boiler. I have no idea why. Nothing had triggered it. I just felt rage like I never have before,\u2019 Laura recalls.<\/p>\n

Eventually, she abandoned that drug and has since had six operations to try and remove more of the endometriosis.<\/p>\n

The condition means that Laura also suffers from cysts \u2013 or endometriomas \u2013 which form on the ovaries, and can suddenly burst. Filled with thick, old blood, it can be agonising, says Laura, recalling one occasion on her graduation day, when she was 21. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018I went to stand on stage, and I could feel blood had gone all the way down to my feet. I had to rub my legs together to smear it so that it didn\u2019t hit the floor,\u2019 she explains. \u2018Everyone thought I was having a panic attack, but my dress and graduation gown was saturated with blood. It was really embarrassing.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead of celebrating with her friends, Laura got a taxi home, took painkillers and went to bed in tears. She didn\u2019t realise at the time that she should have gone to the doctor, as the rupture could have caused an infection.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"
\n\t\tLaura is waiting for surgery that could transform her life (picture owner supplied)<\/p>\n

Following her diagnosis, Laura has been posting about the realities of living with her condition on Instagram<\/a> as @endometriosisandme.<\/a> She explains how it can attack the nerves, muscles, and structures that control her bladder and bowel.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was left urinary incontinent at 21 and doubly incontinent at 26,\u2019 she says. \u2018At first, it was frequency, urgency and then it turned into leaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018It was awful. You can hide pain and do things to try and prevent it, but incontinence is a lot harder to hide. It\u2019s stopped me from doing so much; going to parks, beaches, and travelling.\u2019<\/p>\n

Even going to a shopping centre is difficult, admits Laura. Anything more than a half hour drive needs careful planning and all the things that we are told improve our health<\/a> and mental wellbeing \u2013 running, swimming, a walk in nature \u2013 are out of bounds.<\/p>\n

Having a relationship was something Laura always assumed would be impossible due to her condition, but in lockdown she met Owen online. The pair quickly fell in love and within two months had moved in together.<\/p>\n

However, her condition means sex<\/a> is too painful, and while they would like to have a baby one day<\/a>, Laura has no idea whether that will be possible and how much the surgeries have affected her fertility.<\/p>\n

\u2018I used to get horrendous pain with sex, but with opioids, I could tolerate \u2013 not enjoy \u2013 it. But for the past three years I have been unable to have sex.Every time Owen and I try, I am in agony, and have to stop. He is really understanding.\u2019<\/p>\n

Laura explains sadly that she has also had to give up on her dream of becoming a psychologist because she was unable to sit in lecture theatres for long periods, and, despite being engaged to Owen for three years she is unable to plan the wedding until she knows what is happening with future operations.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"
\n\t\tEndometriosis has affected Laura\u2019s career, friendships and family life (picture supplied)<\/p>\n

She has been told she can have a hysterectomy, but that it won\u2019t be curative. The next step is to try Botox in her bladder and sphincter, or possible bladder removal.<\/p>\n

\u2018I just want my bladder out. Because it causes me so much pain. I would have the surgery now if it could give me some quality of life back,\u2019 says Laura.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is bleak to live with. I have been on antidepressants since I was 15, and incontinence really impacts my mental health<\/a>, giving me constant anxiety and overthinking about toilets, planning things, whether I can go out. It keeps me home a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018The only light at the end of the tunnel is that surgery could repair my bladder \u2013 but there are a lot of risks, implications and complications to that surgery \u2013 which may not even work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018It is frustrating and unfair that young women are going to the doctors and being dismissed. If this was a male disease, I believe there would be a cure and much better support.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t‘This is not a period disease’\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Laura is speaking out as part of a Holland & Barrett campaign, which in partnership with The Endometriosis Foundation, has created the very first \u2018Endo Pants\u2019 to illustrate the symptoms of the chronic and inflammatory disease.<\/p>\n

\u2018Most people have heard about endometriosis, but they don\u2019t always understand the extent of it,\u2019 she says. \u2018I just want people to get how much it can affect every part of your life. This is not a period disease; it\u2019s a full body, inflammatory disease.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"
\n\t\tEndometriosis can cause intense and complex abdominal pain (By Rebecca Spencer)<\/p>\n

If you are suffering from endometriosis, or other conditions polycystic ovaries, fibroids or problems with period symptoms or your hormone cycle, you can book a free appointment online with a Menstrual Nurse at: https:\/\/www.hollandandbarrett.com\/info\/menstrual-nurse<\/a>\/\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Excluding trans girls from the Guides isn\u2019t just unfair \u2013 it\u2019s dangerous<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Pain under my rib led to being diagnosed with a cancer I\u2019d never heard of<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: We got my husband\u2019s diagnosis \u2013 he died within days<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\tComment now<\/p>\n

\t\t\tComments
\n\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\tAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAdd as preferred source
\n\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tThe Slice<\/p>\n

Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t