Even morphine doesn't help my horrific period pain

"It felt similar being stabbed, I'd beryllium connected my hands and knees successful pain."

Emily Handstock, 25 has struggled with play symptom for 10 years and has documented the agony she has gone done connected TikTok.

"I was admitted to infirmary and the morphine hardly touched the sides," she said.

She wants different women and girls to instrumentality portion successful terrible play symptom probe which could assistance signifier acquisition and healthcare and amended the lives of women successful the future.

Emily, who lives successful Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, has felt the agonising effects of her play since she was 15.

"It was horrendous bleeding, I'd person to permission schoolhouse and spell location and alteration – I'd bleed done tampons and pads," she said.

At times, she felt similar she would walk retired due to the fact that of the pain, but felt nine had "normalised" what she was going through.

"Throughout my teenage years I was told, 'you're conscionable experiencing a achy period. You're fine. Just person immoderate ibuprofen and suck it up'," she said.

"The intelligence toll is besides awful, you consciousness similar radical won't judge you and interest astir being good capable for schoolhouse oregon work."

Emily works arsenic a income manager and said her institution had been precise supportive and accommodating erstwhile she struggled.

"I'm truly fortunate that I tin enactment from location to assistance accommodate the pain, to marque definite I'm arsenic comfy arsenic I tin be," she said.

However, the interaction of needing clip disconnected enactment has been a concern.

"I person savings, it's thing I've ever done successful the cognition this could financially interaction maine by taking clip off, I deliberation that's a existent interest for tons of radical who endure that they whitethorn tally retired of sick days."

NHS Confederation research reported that the economical outgo of taking clip disconnected owed to issues specified arsenic terrible play symptom oregon ovarian cysts is estimated to beryllium astir £11bn a twelvemonth successful England alone.

• Dysmenorrhea is the aesculapian word for mean to terrible symptom that occurs during menstruation
• It is usually felt successful the little abdomen oregon pelvis and tin besides origin cramping
• Other symptoms tin see nausea, vomiting, fatigue, diarrhoea, headaches and weakness
• Severe Period Pain is erstwhile it affects your regular habits similar sleeping oregon going to work

Emily is sharing her communicative arsenic a Westminster study by MPs warned women experiencing achy wellness conditions, including dense periods, were being dismissed erstwhile they asked for help.

It stated that aesculapian misogyny was leaving women successful symptom for years and disrupted each aspects of regular life.

Last week, the Welsh authorities announced the first women's wellness plan, pursuing akin strategies successful England and Scotland.

It includes a absorption connected menstrual health, including endometriosis - thing Emily has welcomed.

Last month, aft 7 years of tests and scans, Emily had country for signifier 4 endometriosis, but had to "fight to beryllium taken seriously".

Emily is encouraging those who acquisition terrible play symptom to stock their experiences arsenic portion of a survey based astatine Cardiff University, which she said was "a validating acquisition to beryllium heard".

Dr Robyn Jackowich is 1 of the researchers moving the two-year Health and Care Research Wales Project.

It volition make a database of recommendations to some acquisition and healthcare providers.

"There's surely a request for it, fixed some however communal it is and what an unthinkable interaction it has connected the radical who acquisition it," she said.

Dr Jackowich said terrible play symptom was thing that tin beryllium experienced connected its ain oregon linked to different conditions, specified arsenic endometriosis oregon uterine fibroids.

She added that terrible play symptom wherever it becomes hard to transportation retired day-to-day activities was estimated it affects up to 29% of those with periods, making it hard for radical to "focus, move, slumber oregon miss schoolhouse oregon work".

The study, which is astir halfway through, is looking to talk to much people, including parents, teachers and assemblage pharmacists arsenic they "play a large relation successful young people's acquisition and entree to healthcare".