Capital FM DJ Katy J was diagnosed with endometriosis after 10 years of painful periods (Image: Supplied)Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy NoticeHaving suffered from painful and heavy periods for years, Katy J was sure that something wasn’t quite right. Whenever it was her ‘time of the month’, the Capital FM DJ would be hit by excruciating pain which often saw her left bed bound, being sick or even “blacking out”. Finally, after 10 years of searching for an answer, she was diagnosed with stage four endometriosis. “I was always aware that I had potentially worse periods than my peers. Even before I really would vocalise that it was a problem, I was aware that other people could have their period and not take a day off of school or university,” she tells OK!.
Capital FM presenter Katy J has opened up about being diagnosed with endometriosis
(Image: Supplied)
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“I had no option but to give in to the pain and end up in agony with it. It was a regular monthly occurrence that I’d be on the floor, crying, not able to move. I could not possibly leave my room for three or four days. That was the norm.” As a result, the pain reached a point where it began to take over Katy’s life. At that point, the radio DJ knew that she needed to take action and to stop acting as though everything was fine. “I got to the point where I couldn’t leave the house, I couldn’t walk,” Katy, 28, explains. “I had to drop out of my university course for my post-grad. I went back, but I had to stop. That was the big realisation for me that the jig was up and I needed to stop pretending that I was okay.”
Katy says that she was always aware that her periods were heavier and more painful than ‘normal’
(Image: Supplied)
Having previously been put on the contraceptive pill and being asked by doctors if her mental health could be the cause of her issues, Katy eventually got a gynaecological referral. It was there that she came across the word endometriosis for the first time, and was diagnosed with the condition after having a laparoscopy. “My bowel, my bladder and my uterus were stuck together. My right fallopian tube had expanded to the same size as my womb, it was full of blood. Everything was a mess, basically. It all made sense why I was in so much pain,” she reveals. “Getting a diagnosis was a big relief. While I discovered that the condition was under researched and underfunded, at least I knew what it was. It was a wild ride up until that point, but I knew that it wasn’t all in my head.” Following her operation, Katy received a nine month long treatment which saw her receive a course of injections that simulated a sort of medical menopause in order to allow her body to recover from her surgery.
Katy says that getting a diagnosis was a “big relief”
(Image: Supplied)
“I’ve had those twice now. I had an injection in my bum every three months, nine months at a time. It basically puts everything on pause,” she says. “I was 22 at the time and I was experiencing symptoms of menopause. Nobody warns you about going through puberty again when you come off. You go from relating grannies having hot flushes to being hormonal and spotty.” With endometriosis affecting 10% of women and those assigned female at birth, Katy is on a mission to raise awareness of the chronic condition. Having fought to receive a diagnosis of her own for years, she wants to encourage others to seek the answers they deserve. “If someone doesn’t give you an answer the first time you try, you have to keep going. You’re the only person that lives in your head less than your body,” she says. “You’re the only person who really knows intuitively that something’s not right, so be diligent and be forceful with that push for yourself.”Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnHealthIn the News
