A young woman from Norwich has revealed how her debilitating endometriosis symptoms were dismissed for a decade, with doctors repeatedly attributing her pain to her weight or 'just a bad period'. Tehyana Johnson, 22, expressed a profound wish that 'someone would have just listened' to her pleas for help.
Ms Johnson's ordeal began with painful periods, heavy bleeding, blood in her urine, full body pain, and vomiting, symptoms she says were consistently ignored by medical professionals. From 2014 onwards, she recounts being 'fobbed off' and believes she has undergone more than 250 consultations in the past three years alone, all while her condition worsened.
She eventually self-diagnosed herself with endometriosis – a condition where tissue similar to the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body – before receiving an official diagnosis in July 2025. This came after a laparoscopy, a keyhole surgery, which revealed extensive endometriosis with lesions and scar tissue on multiple organs, including her bowels.
While the diagnosis brought a sense of vindication, Ms Johnson feels much of her suffering could have been prevented. She is now campaigning for earlier diagnosis of this 'invisible' and currently incurable condition. 'I'd been fobbed off for so long and told that this isn't what's wrong with me, so when I was diagnosed, I almost felt vindicated because I was right – but I was angry,' she told PA Real Life.
According to the charity Endometriosis UK, it takes an average of more than eight years from the first GP visit to receive a diagnosis for endometriosis, a condition affecting 176 million women worldwide. Symptoms vary but can include pelvic pain, severe period pain, heavy bleeding, and pain during or after sex or when urinating.
