'I waited 30 years for my endometriosis diagnosis'

"It's barbaric. That's how bad the pain is, It's absolutely barbaric."

A woman who waited 30 years to be diagnosed with endometriosis describes how she struggles in pain.

Nichola Howells from Manchester started experiencing extremely heavy periods at the age of 14 but spent decades being "dismissed" by doctors and even gynecologists.

The 47-year-old said it meant that by the time she was diagnosed she was "literally riddled" with the disease.

Nichola is not alone, with many other women reporting they were not taken seriously by health professionals.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was trying to change things by investing in training and women's health hubs, adding that "waiting decades for an endometriosis diagnosis is unacceptable".

In the UK, one in 10 women have endometriosis, according to the World Health Organisation.

The average waiting time for a diagnosis has now reached nine years and four months, according to a new report by the charity Endometriosis UK.

Nichola, who grew up in London, started taking contraception to try and manage the bleeding but as time went on her symptoms got worse.

She said she was ignored or dismissed by health professionals, with one doctor telling her to "rid herself of her crippled mentality".

By the time she was diagnosed, she had reached stage 4, with deep infiltrating endometriosis spread across her ligaments, intestine, pelvis, ovaries and uterus.

She said: "Three decades is absolutely insane, to the point where I am literally riddled with endometriosis."

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Source: BBC News, 23 March 2026