Woman with undiagnosed endometriosis mistaken for period pains visited A&E 200 times

Sinead Smythe wants to raise awareness for the excruciating condition

A woman who was suffering from undiagnosed endometriosis was dismissed as having period pains and fired from two jobs as a result.

Sinead Smythe visited A&E over 200 times due to the immense pain she was experiencing.

She was initially diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease before doctors realised the real reason why she was enduring so much agony.

Smythe wants to raise awareness for endometriosis and support other women suffering with the condition, which is why she’s set up a blog detailing her experiences.

On Christmas Day the young woman from Brighton posted a photo on Instagram that had been taken at the beginning of the year showing her in a hospital bed.

“My start to 2017 was horrendous (as you can see in the photo - I was hospital bound),” she wrote in the caption.

“I can’t even put into words what I had to go through physically and mentally.

“I know it’s hard but look for something positive in each day - even if it’s getting out of bed in the morning ladies. Keep your heads high!”

Previous articles have stated that Smythe believed that her pain could be due to an STI. However, Smythe took to Facebook to explain that this wasn’t the case at all.

She wrote that these claims were "very incorrect information.”

“I never feared over an STI as I was diagnosed with PID (pelvic inflammation disease).

“Also they stated ‘The now 20-year-old visited a sexual health clinic, fearing an undiagnosed STI could be causing her symptoms.’

“I visited a sexual health clinic because they treat pelvic inflammation disease and they actually moved me into seeing a consultant which then found my endometriosis!”

Although doctors have suggested undergoing a hysterectomy, Smythe has explained that there’s no guarantee that this would make any difference.

“It has come across as if it says a hysterectomy is a cure for endometriosis but it is NOT,” she wrote on Facebook in regard to previous articles.

“Women go through with this and still find themselves in the same situation as before.

“IF your doctor or anyone tells you a hysterectomy is a cure DO NOT LISTEN.”

Endometriosis is a condition in which cells similar to those in the uterus can be found in other parts of a woman’s body, Endometriosis UK explained on their website.

“Each month these cells react in the same way to those in the womb, building up and then breaking down and bleeding,” their website states.

“Unlike the cells in the womb that leave the body as a period, this blood has no way of escape.”

Endometriosis UK has clarified that there is currently no cure for endometriosis and estimates that around 1.5 million women in the UK currently suffer from the condition.

However, there are treatments available that can help ease the symptoms.