13/03/2026
12/3. 😨😨😨😥😥😥
I had a conversation just a few hours ago with a young Nigerian woman, and I have not stopped thinking about her story.
I am crying. 😭
She is 28 years old.
Calm.
Intelligent.
Soft spoken.
But the story she told me made my heart sink.
She said her menstrual pain started when she was about 16. At first everyone around her treated it the way society often treats women’s pain: “It’s just period pain.”😨😥
Her mother would give her painkillers.
Sometimes hot water.
So many herbs were recommended.
She took them for years.
They even went to the mountain to pray and lots of crusades
At school she would miss classes.
At university she would miss exams or presentations.
Every month when the pain came, it didn’t just hurt, it halted her life.
She described it in a way that stayed with me. She said:
“It felt like something inside me was being twisted and torn at the same time.” 😥😥😥😨😨😨
The pain would come in waves so intense she would curl up on the floor.
Sometimes she would vomit. Sometimes she could not stand upright.
But because she was young, and because so many people assume menstrual pain is normal, she kept being given stronger and stronger pain relief.
For years.
painkillers.
stronger painkillers.
injections from chemists.
manage it, some women just have painful periods.
No one investigated deeply.😨😨😨
Until last year.
She told me that earlier last year the pain became something else entirely.
She said:
It was no longer pain. It felt like my body was shutting down.
Painkillers stopped working.
One episode was so severe she fainted.
That was the moment she finally went to a major hospital and insisted something was wrong.
After scans, lots of imaging and tests, doctors discovered the real problem.
She had advanced Endometriosis. 💔💔💔
And alongside it, severe Adenomyosis.💔💔💔
Both conditions can cause extreme menstrual pain, but what shocked even the doctors was how long it had gone undiagnosed.
By the time it was discovered, the disease had progressed aggressively. The tissue had spread extensively and the uterus itself had become severely damagedddd and inflamed.
The doctors explained to her that the condition had reached a stage where the only definitive treatment left was a Hysterectomy, the removal of the womb.
At less than 30 years old.
She had to seek a second opinion as advised by the doctor.
She went to another hospital.
And another hospital.
Same thing.
She paused when she told me that part.
Then she said something very quietly…
Which broke my heart finally.
She said…
“If someone had listened when I was 16, maybe it would never have reached this point.” 💔💔💔
Her surgery was done to stop the unbearable pain and prevent further complications.
Today she is recovering physically.
But emotionally, she is still processing what it means to lose her womb so young.
She didn’t tell her story with bitterness.
She told it with a kind of calm determination.
She said…
“If sharing my story makes even one girl go to the hospital early instead of just swallowing painkillers, then it’s worth it.” 😨😨😨😥😥😥
And that is why I am sharing this tonight.
Because extreme menstrual pain is not something women should simply endure in silence.
Pain that stops your life every month is not “normal”.
Sometimes the body has been trying to speak for years and no one has been listening.
She doesn’t want to show her face yet because of stigma.
You know Nigerians.
But she said one day, she will summon courage to.
She is a follower.
She will read this too.
And I hope this real life story pushes us to do the needful.
What an experience.
She also said: OMA, I want to be your friend.
And I made a new friend today.
Bless her.🩷🩷🩷
What an experience.
Please women…
- go for scans.
- go for scans.
- go for tests.
- say no to herbs.
- says no to unnecessary supplements.
- say not to mixtures.
- say no to concoctions.
- churches are not hospitals.
- take care of yourself.
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