A woman with stage four endometriosis says her painful cramps feel like “contractions” – and claims she was dismissed for five years for being “dramatic”.<br /><br />Mathilde Barker, 20, first experienced back pains while dancing aged 15, a few years after starting her period.<br /><br />At first, she says she was told the pain was a muscle strain but after undergoing physiotherapy over the years there was no improvement.<br /><br />As well as severe muscle pain, she experienced cramps which felt like contractions, a loss of appetite, light-headedness, dizziness and nausea around her time of month.<br /><br />For five years, Mathilde went back and forth to doctors but claims she was told her pain was “normal” for a woman and even sent for cognitive behaviour therapy for medical anxiety.<br /><br />Mathilde finally went for a referral and had an ultrasound and MRI which didn’t show up anything, but she was told she could go for surgery to see if she had endometriosis.<br /><br />Endometriosis is a condition where the tissue of the lining of the womb grows in other places.<br /><br />Mathilde underwent a four-hour operation at Epsom General Hospital, Surrey, and doctors found stage four endometriosis – discovering pockets of it in the back of her pelvis in April 2023.<br /><br />She was “relieved” to be diagnosis and has now been fitted with a Mirena coil – a progestogen hormone released into the womb – to help ease her symptoms and help with fertility.<br /><br />Mathilde, a musical theatre student at Laine Theatre Arts, from York, North Yorkshire, said: “My cramps were like contractions.<br /><br />“If labour is that painful, I don’t want to go through it.<br /><br />“The diagnosis was a big relief.<br /><br />“It can’t stop me now.”<br /><br />Mathilde first went to the doctor after experiencing back pain following a dance show.<br /><br />She said: “After a dance show I was in so much pain. I thought I’d done my back in.<br /><br />“They told me it was a muscle strain and I’d get better in a few weeks.”<br /><br />Mathilde’s pain didn’t subside, and she went to see an osteopath who said she had a sprained sacroiliac joint.<br /><br />She saw a physio on and off for two years, but her pain didn’t subside.<br /><br />She said: “It became an issue as I was now dancing full time.”<br /><br />When Mathilde started college aged 18, she saw a different osteopath who suggested the pain may be related to her period.<br /><br />She said: “I found out the pain was starting before my period came.”<br /><br />She was referred to a gynaecologist but told it likely wasn’t related to her period.<br /><br />Mathilde said: “They said it was a normal thing for women and prescribed me painkillers.<br /><br />“I started to get quite frustrated.<br /><br />“I put up with the pain.”<br /><br />After a trip to A&E she claims she was told again it wasn’t her period and put on anti-depressants instead.<br /><br />Mathilde said: “They just thought I was being dramatic.<br /><br />“They thought it was depression I was developing.”<br /><br />Mathilde also tried the contraceptive pill but found her mental health took a downward spiral and quickly came off it.<br /><br />When she went to the doctor again, she was sent for cognitive behaviour therapy for medical anxiety.<br /><br />She said: “I did three sessions of it and thought 'this isn’t right'.”<br /><br />Mathilde finally got a referral and was told she could have surgery to look for endometriosis.<br /><br />She waited six months and went for the surgery in April 2023.<br /><br />She said: “They found stage four endometriosis – the most severe stage.<br /><br />“It was all round the back of my pelvis.<br /><br />“It was a big relief. It was genuine pain.<br /><br />“I burst into tears when they said they found it.<br /><br />“It was a reason for all the pain.”<br /><br />Since the surgery, Mathilde has been in pain less often but still experiences the same intensity of agony.<br /><br />Endometriosis is a lifelong condition and Mathilde will have to continue having surgery to treat it.<br /><br />She said: “Be strong willed with it.<br /><br />“You’re the one who feels what you're feeling. Don’t let anyone tell you that pain isn’t there.”
