Sheffield woman with four month long periods told 'have a baby' to make it better

A Sheffield woman who once endured a period that lasted four months has spoken out about how her menstrual cycles are wreaking havoc on her life.

Izzy Hawksworth, 21, suffers from agonising cramps, severe bloating and extremely heavy periods that can last anywhere from five days to several months. Almost every form of contraception she's tried has made her sick, and she once had a period that astonishingly lasted four months while she was using the implant.

Izzy has undergone ultrasounds, MRI scans and laparoscopy - a surgical procedure used to examine a woman's pelvic organs and abdomen - in an attempt to identify the cause of her symptoms. However, she's tested negative for endometriosis, a condition where tissue lining grows outside the uterus, and adenomyosis, where it grows into the muscular wall of the uterus.

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Doctors also considered whether Izzy might have a chronic illness called pelvic congestion syndrome or uterine arteriovenous malformations, a rare cause of heavy bleeding. But she's also tested negative for these conditions, leaving medical professionals puzzled and Izzy feeling 'lonely' and as if she's the only person in the world dealing with these mysterious pains.

Izzy, a writer from Sheffield, said: "In a way, I feel quite lonely because nobody understands how I'm feeling. None of my friends or family have periods that are like mine, so I feel like it's just me who is in this situation. I'm also petrified that I'll decide I want a baby in the future but then I'll have fertility issues because of all of my symptoms."

"I feel like my period actually ruins my life - I'm in constant pain and there's nothing that I can do to relieve that pain. My cramps even wake me up in the night and I get so bloated that I sometimes look pregnant. It also really affects my mental health - I am constantly looking in the mirror crying because I can't believe I'll have to go through this forever."

"I try my best to keep living my life as normal but it's so hard when I have to go everywhere with a hot water bottle on my stomach." Izzy began having painful periods when she was just 11 and started using the contraceptive patch when she was 16.

Since then, she's tried several types of the pill, the implant, and the injection, but they have all caused irregular bleeds and excruciating pain. Having requested her GP for referrals to a gynaecologist multiple times, she eventually had to resort to private healthcare through her father's insurance.

She voiced out: "The doctors never listened to me about my symptoms. I would make an appointment with them because I was bleeding and they would just make me change the type of contraception I was on.

"I went on the implant and it absolutely ruined my life - I was on my period for months and never got a break. I felt like my pain was constantly being dismissed, I would be begging them for a referral and they wouldn't do it. They only agreed to refer me when they realised I had tried every type of contraception available to me and there was nothing else they could give me."

Izzy has now been told she needs to try and find a type of contraception that helps her manage her periods. But she added: "I had an appointment with the surgeon and he asked me what my fertility plans were.

"I'm 21, I don't have any plans to have a child anytime soon. I've essentially got to manage my symptoms until I decide to have a baby as they've said my periods could be better after that - but that just feels impossible to do. I don't know how I will be able to survive another 10 years of feeling like this, it actually feels impossible."

Janet Lindsay, chief executive of Wellbeing of Women, says that women have been dismissed with their period pain for 'far too long'. She said: "For too long women and girls have been dismissed despite experiencing severe pain and heavy bleeding which can disrupt their lives, relationships, school and careers."

"They are not receiving the treatment, care and emotional support they need to manage these common yet debilitating problems despite effective treatment options being available. Our 'Just a Period' campaign seeks to address the unacceptable normalisation of heavy and painful periods, and make sure there is good information and education available for anyone who needs it."