I’m a monthly misery due to fibroids

YOU know those moments of sheer mortification that stick with you?

Incidents that don’t just leave you red-faced at the time but become memories that come back to haunt you when you least expect them? The ones that never fail to cripple you with embarrassment, no matter how long it’s been?

I’ve got loads – and a lot of them are period-related.

It wasn’t until recently I realised there’s a medical reason for my misfortune over the past couple of decades, since I took my first steps into womanhood at the age of 11.

I’ve got six substantially sized uterine fibroids which have been busy doing their thing in and around my womb while I’ve been gloriously oblivious to their existence.

Benign growths made up of muscle and fibrous tissue, they vary in size and amount, depending on the woman unlucky enough to have them. I have more than most but only a couple of big belters, which is something to be grateful for, I suppose.

They’re not life-threatening but can prove to be troublesome in pregnancy. They’re also responsible for heavy, painful periods, aches in the lower back and tummy, constipation, frequent urination, chronic fatigue and pain during sex. Delightful stuff.

When I was informed of their unwelcome presence in my body, I was shocked then smug. After years of trying to tell pals and family members that no one could relate to the traumatic, period-related experiences I’d endured, I had finally been proved right.

I couldn’t wait to text my nearest and dearest about the medical condition no one knew I had, and await the apologies.

I especially couldn’t wait to tell the biggest doubter of them all, my friend Suzanne, who has been poo-pooing my theory that I have been suffering more since we were both 13.

After a bit of research, I didn’t feel so smug, just royally hacked off at my luck.

Doctors don’t know what causes fibroids but they are linked to too much oestrogen being produced by the ovaries. After a lifetime of being told I had no excuse for premenstrual mood swings, suddenly I have one – and now I feel sorry for younger me, who just sucked up her lot and assumed she had anger issues.

My life has been a misery during my periods and I’ve had leakages without warning in the worst possible places at the most inopportune times. I’ve had to cancel plans, carry round extra clothing and spend hours at school and work terrified to get up from my seat.

I’ve never seen much written about fibroids, or heard people speak about them, until I was diagnosed. But I’ll be talking about them a lot more from now on – in the hope that at least one girl hears and realises she’s not abnormal or too angry, and neither am I.