A young Scots woman has told how she was left bed-bound with endometriosis for two years.
Suzanna, from Edinburgh, appeared on a new Channel 4 TV show to discuss her experience with taking hormonal contraception.
Host Davina McCall met with Edinburgh-based campaign group, Contraception Education Reform Team (CERT) in the Leith Theatre. In the programme, Davina told how Suzanna, 23, was given hormonal contraception as a teenager to manage heavy periods and severe period pain, reports Edinburgh Live.
Suzanna said after years of trying different methods, she discovered her symptoms were actually caused by endometriosis and believed the hormonal contraception she was using was 'masking' some of her symptoms.
Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.
Suzanna said: "I was really pushing, I knew something was wrong for years and years. They kept telling me I was too young to have this but I knew something was wrong.
"Basically, I was bedridden for two years whilst I was waiting to have my operation and they took away some of the endometriosis but now it's quite likely I'm infertile."
She said it was tough to get that news and is now urging other women to get a second opinion if they feel like something is not right.
She said: 'I think ultimately, you know your body better than anyone. It's okay to be pushy, it's okay to see a second opinion, it's okay to take up the doctor's time.
Davina replied: "These are all things we hate doing because we've been trained to hate doing them. This is the stereotype - be quiet, don't be loud, don't be awkward."
Another member of the group interjected: "And that's why we're so dismissive because they're like, oh they're complaining again - and yeah we are because it's still a problem.
Another woman from CERT who took hormonal contraception shared that she was having side effects for a year after and another said she was told by her GP 'to wait it out' after complaining of side effects.
Davina McCall's Pill Revolution aired on Thursday evening, June 8.
The documentary sees Davina investigate the options offered to women and asks 'are we giving women the care they need?'. The former Big Brother host has been calling for change for support and education for women's health after opening up about her experience with menopause.
Davina goes to great lengths to investigate how women across the UK are feeling about the education and choices around hormonal contraception as well as busting myths.
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