My name is Meghan Martin. I am 20 years old and I have endometriosis.

I have always had heavy periods. This started when I was 11 years old. I would change my pad or tampon almost every hour and couldn’t sleep through the night without bleeding through a pad. It took my mind away from class wondering if there would be blood on my seat when the bell rings. During soccer games, I’d dread the days we wore white shorts at away games wondering if I would be able to find a bathroom at half time after my coaches’ speech and make it back for the beginning of the second half.

I’m also tired all the time. No matter how much sleep I get, I am always ready for a nap and feel like I can fall asleep wherever I am. But I could deal with that.

The pain was what made my period unbearable. While middle school was accompanied by cramps and back pain, my experiences in high school reflects my endometriosis story the best.

In high school, I played soccer in the fall and ran distance for track in the winter and spring while playing more soccer with my club team. I loved school, was doing well in my classes, and had supportive, amazing friends that I am still close with four years later. I was eating well, intensively active for about 15 hours a week, and considered myself both physically and mentally healthy. But three weeks out of the month, I was in pain.

On the average weekday, I’d go to school, track practice, soccer practice, nap, and do homework or hang out with friends. The pattern stayed the same almost every day, but the pain I experienced depended on my menstrual cycle. During the week of my period, my cramps were so bad, I’d vomit almost every time I’d exercise. I’ve worn body heating pads to get through gym class and was dependent on Pamprin (an over the counter pain medication) for practice and the school day. After participating in soccer and track for the day, I would come home and lie flat on the ground until my back stopped spazzing. I then transitioned to laying in my bed to do my schoolwork because it was the only comfortable position. But this comfort also often led to me falling asleep during my homework because the more pain I was in, the more fatigue my body felt. 

I considered the second week of my cycle residue period pain. The back pain was similar, but cramps did not require a heavy dependence on Pamprin. For the third week, the back pain and cramps intensified again mimicking my period, this time only with less nausea. The fourth week was peaceful for the most part. A calm before the storm. Then I would get my period again. This cycle continued for years.

I was stubborn when I dealt with my period, not letting it stop me from doing anything, but it came with a toll. I learned how to cope with the pain but not how to thrive. By the time I made it to senior year, I was burnt out from ignoring the pain and putting extra effort into most days to learn in school and enjoy athletics. With all the hard work and determination I had put into being an athlete and my education, I no longer wanted to be a college athlete, something I’ve dreamt of since I was a little girl.

My mom didn’t give up on my dream though. Even though I had accepted my periods and how they affected all aspects of my life, my mom knew something was wrong. She knows that I have a high pain tolerance and wouldn’t be complaining of something unless it was bad. She jokes about how when my brothers and I were growing up she could almost always catch swimmers’ ear before it started for my brothers but would never know about mine until it was a double ear infection. She did some googling, as the self-proclaimed internet doctor she is, and determined I had endometriosis. Frustrated and tired, I told her she was crazy. There is no way I had some random disease that I have never heard of before after multiple gynecologists told me that it was normal. Everyone gets cramps.

During those gynecologist visits, I was asked: how painful were my cramps? I never knew how to answer. Yeah they were painful, but when I started to express that I was in pain, I remember the doctor questioning my answer. They asked how is it possible to run 8 miles before soccer practice if I was in that level of pain? Why didn’t I miss school because of the pain? The more they probed at my lifestyle, the more I doubted myself. Maybe I was overreacting. 

Looking back, I could have easily answered that I was stubborn and had a high pain tolerance, but as a teenager, I did not have the confidence to advocate for myself when I thought periods are supposed to be painful and my doctors were not supportive of my initial concerns.

Lucky for me, I get my stubbornness from my mother. She wasn’t willing to give up. She dragged me to an endometriosis specialist and about six months later, during finals week senior year of high school, I got laparoscopic surgery where I was diagnosed with endometriosis and my lesions were removed.

I had made the hopeful decision right before my surgery to attend University of Rochester following graduation and play soccer there, hoping surgery would solve my problem. Now, as a senior at U of R, I am grateful to be a captain of my soccer team, to grow in an academically challenging environment, and most importantly to have nearly pain-free periods.

Being diagnosed with endometriosis allowed me to physically and mentally pursue my interests and passions. It changed my perspective on pain and taught me that even if I think it is just in my head or since I can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.

I am fortunate to have caught my endometriosis as a teenager. But that does not mean my story ends there. There are still some residual effects of my pain and nerves that come with the uncertainty of endometriosis returning and feeling of dread every time I need to take pain medications for cramping. Will I be able to have kids later on and will they have to endure endometriosis too? Will my constant fatigue ever subside? Why is so little known about the disease?

Endometriosis had such a big impact on my life for years before I even knew the disease existed. I am actively learning more about endometriosis and sharing my story because it is often overlooked even though it affects such a wide population of menstruating individuals. One in ten women worldwide is a significant number and more attention needs to be brought to the disease to mitigate years of living with symptoms and improve quality of life for women around the world.

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To learn more about Meghan, visit About us page.