Young model faces early menopause aged 26 after doctors mistook her endometriosis for IBS

‘It’s a nightmare’

Instagram/Carlamcressy (Instagram/Carlamcressy)

A 26-year-old model from Essex faces early menopause after doctors mistook her endometriosis for IBS for 10 years.

Carla Cressy suffered from abdominal pain and sensitivity from the age of 14, reports The Sun, but was incorrectly diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome.

Endometriosis is a common condition that affects two million women in the UK, it occurs when tissue that behaves like the lining of the womb forms outside of the uterus.

It can be treated with Synarel (also known as Nafarelin), which has been known to cause pseudo-menopausal symptoms in young women.

Synarel reduces the amount of oestrogen produced in the body, which subsequently prevents the growth of endometriosis tissue.

Cressy admits that she has already started experiencing hot flushes, sweats and bizarre bouts of sickness.

“It’s a nightmare,” she said.

In addition to impairing her social life, it has forced her to abandon her promising modelling career, which saw her featuring in men’s magazines such as Nuts and Zoo.

She was even voted as one of the most attractive women in the UK in a poll by Nuts.

Cressy has undergone three surgical procedures to treat her endometriosis, however, she explained that the illness keeps returning and is now spreading to her other organs.

Her condition has left her spending a huge amount of time being a recluse at home and she revealed that it has left her socially isolated as she can’t make plans to go out with her friends.

Despite its commonality in Britain, Cressy confessed to never having even heard endometriosis until the moment she received her diagnosis, by which point the condition had developed to stage four, which causes cysts in the uterus.

She is using her experience to raise awareness of endometriosis in the hope that young sufferers will be diagnosed early, unlike her.

Cressy has created a petition which calls for better education of the condition in schools.