105 – Mathilde Barker: endometriosis at 19, menopause at 23
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How did Mathilde Barker’s endometriosis symptoms go undiagnosed for five years?
On the podcast today, I've got a 23-year-old Mathilde who talks very openly about her experience of adenomyosis and endometriosis, and how long it took for her to have the right diagnosis, the amount of time she suffered, and also the different treatment options she tried, including putting her into an early menopause. So listen carefully and share this episode. because I can guarantee you'll know someone with endometriosis. So thank you so much for coming today. It's really great having younger people in my studio because my work is not just about menopausal older women. Increasingly, I speak to a lot of women with endometriosis who have taken years for the diagnosis, then they're not on the right treatment, they're still getting symptoms, and um it's getting more and more confusing for people.
So I'm really grateful. that you're here to talk about your experience. So just tell me a bit about w you know, your whole journey to get your diagnosis of adenomyosis and endometriosis.
Sure. Well, looking back it all kind of merges into one. But it was years of going back to the doctors, being turned away, misdiagnosed, uh, for example, had my appendix out. Oh, did you? Yeah, I did. And that's quite common. I hear that quite a lot. Um, I've also been put on antidepressants, anti anxiety. Uh I tried the pill, the coil. Um but it did come down to being diagnosed with endometriosis after five years, which I understand is quite quick. I mean it sounds quick,
but five years, I mean it's a long time. 'Cause how old are you now? I'm twenty-three now. Yes, so how old were you when you were diagnosed?
I was nineteen.
So you so you start having symptoms when you were fourteen? Ish, yeah. Yeah. So through GCSEs? Yeah, school.
Really hard time. Yeah. So what were your main symptoms? Uh back pain. And I I did a lot of dance when I was younger and I trained in dance. So the doctors always associated it with that and muscle strain and But you knew it wasn't. Well, at first I did believe that because you just do believe what medical professionals do tell you, especially at such a young, impressionable age. So I did think, oh, I need to stop dancing for six weeks, I need to see a physio, I need to see an osteopath. Um but then when I'd finished those courses, I'd had acupuncture, I'd tried everything, I just said to my mum, like this is this is not right, it's something wrong. This is not rye, it's nothing wrong. Yeah. And that's how I found out.
And what were your periods like? My periods were regular, they were normal, and I think that's what kind of threw me off. I didn't actually know what endometriosis was. Um, but I did, as time went on, suffer more and more with my periods, and that's how I got the correlation between the pain and the menstrual cycle and that's when I then was sent to a gynecologist.
And so how long after having your first symptom was that? Like three years,
three and a
half
years.
And then what did the
gynecologist do? I then had a scan, a ultrasound, and a MRI. But between those two scans was probably about a year and I had blood tests and I was put on the pill and I had the coil inserted. So all of that was quite a bit of a jumble for me of hormones and being told one thing and I actually had my scan and they said that the endometrial particles did show up but then I got a call saying they'd made a mistake and that they didn't show up. So
that's confusing. Yeah,
so I was told one minute that I did have endometriosis from the scan, and which isn't common because as we know it doesn't always show it doesn't always show up. Um, to then being told, Oh, we've made a mistake, like your scan was completely clear, completely normal and it's kind of like So what's causing it then? Yeah, exactly. And did going on the pill or have the coil make any difference? No. So going on the pill actually m messed up with my body and all my hormones were a bit all over the place really. And I'd just moved out. I had just started my degree course. It was a busy time for me anyway. So having
What did surgery reveal about Mathilde’s endometriosis and adenomyosis?
different hormones in my body kind of threw me off and I was still in pain.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Mathilde Barker’s endometriosis symptoms go undiagnosed for five years?
0:00–4:14
2
What did surgery reveal about Mathilde’s endometriosis and adenomyosis?
4:14–5:15
3
What are endometriosis and adenomyosis, and what symptoms can they cause?
5:15–10:10
4
How can inflammation and synthetic hormones affect endometriosis treatment?
10:10–15:01
5
What are the risks of medically induced menopause for endometriosis?
15:01–20:12
6
Why are endometriosis misdiagnoses and pregnancy advice harmful to patients?
20:12–27:23
7
How can symptom tracking help people get an endometriosis diagnosis?
27:23–30:41
8
What practical steps can help you seek care for endometriosis or adenomyosis?
30:41–33:48
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Dr Louise Newson Podcast
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