{"id":3370,"date":"2025-12-27T18:13:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T18:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=3370"},"modified":"2025-12-27T18:13:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T18:13:22","slug":"ive-quit-four-jobs-because-of-endometriosis-the-uk-needs-to-offer-menstrual-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=3370","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019ve quit four jobs because of endometriosis \u2014 the UK needs to offer menstrual leave\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alice Cooper can remembers being bent in half, lying down on the floor of a toilet cubicle at her office, with her hands wrapped around her stomach. Profusely sweating,\u00a0she couldn\u2019t move<\/a>, while tears are streamed down her face, as she tried to stay as quiet as possible.<\/p>\n

When the pain was just about manageable, Alice stood herself up, unlocked the door, and walked back out onto the office floor. To her colleagues, nothing had happened \u2013 and she never said a word, not wanting anyone to know what she\u2019s going through because, in her mind, they wouldn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n

Like one in 10 women, Alice has endometriosis, meaning the tissue that lines her womb grows around other organs in the body. The debilitatingly painful disease can impact every aspect of life: sex, fertility,\u00a0mental health<\/a>\u00a0-and work; those with the condition earn \u00a3130 less per month on average, and one in six give up their careers entirely.<\/p>\n

Alice admits that she has felt so guilty about taking days off due to the condition, that she ended up leaving jobs. \u2018I\u2019ve had to quit every role I\u2019ve been in, four in total, until my current admin position,\u2019 the 25-year-old<\/p>\n

Nicole Bowler, 24, was diagnosed with the same condition last year and has also felt the impact. She just deferred teacher training for a year, as balancing study and work, with her ill\u00a0health<\/a>, became too difficult. \u2018Being financially independent and having a job gave me purpose, so I\u2019ve lost a lot of self-worth,\u2019 she tells\u00a0Metro<\/strong>. \u2018Having so much taken out of my control has been extremely distressing.\u2019<\/p>\n

To improve circumstances, Nicole and Alice, along with many others, are pushing for menstrual leave in the UK for women with endometriosis or adenomyosis (a similar condition where the tissue grows inside the muscular wall of the womb).<\/p>\n

A petition<\/a>\u00a0proposing that everyone with the conditions be offered three extra days of paid sick leave per month has reached 74,000 signatures.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0government<\/a>\u00a0responded in August, saying that it is understood that the conditions cause \u2018difficulty and pain\u2019, but they claim the Equality Act 2010 already sufficiently covers the needs.<\/p>\n

\u2018Endometriosis and adenomyosis can be classified as\u00a0disabilities<\/a>, and individuals with a disability are protected from discrimination, and their employer is required to make reasonable adjustments,\u2019 they stated in an official reply.<\/p>\n

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\"DEC<\/div>
It took multiple appointments for Nicole to get a diagnosis (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, Nicole says it\u2019s been her who has been adapting, instead of the world, since her first \u2018heavy, painful and tiring\u2019 period aged 13. At the time, she was competitively swimming, training up to 26 hours per week with hopes of turning professional.<\/p>\n

\u2018On one residential swimming trip, I had to sit out of all the activities for three days, because I couldn\u2019t go 45 minutes without having to change a super heavy tampon. I was so self-conscious back then, and felt so embarrassed when, on occasion, blood started dripping down my legs,\u2019 she remembers.<\/p>\n

In time, Nicole began to avoid training, especially with male coaches, who didn\u2019t always understand why she needed to use the toilet often, before making the tough decision to leave the sport completely.<\/p>\n

When she began getting stabbing pains in her lower abdomen at 14, her mother realised how serious her \u2018period pains\u2019 were becoming and took her\u00a0to see the doctors<\/a>. \u2018I changed as a person, because I didn\u2019t have any of the energy that I used to have.\u2019<\/p>\n

A male GP remarked that it was just because she was a young girl, and that it was \u2018part of being a woman<\/a>\u2019. \u2018He even made a joke that \u201cgirls will do anything to get out of sport\u201d,\u2019 Nicole recalls.<\/p>\n

In the years that followed, she made\u00a0multiple appointments in an effort to get answers<\/a>, and sadly, even hospital stays after A&E visits brought no long-term solutions.<\/p>\n

Nicole felt continually dismissed. \u2018I was thinking \u201cIs it just me? Am I just being dramatic? Can I not handle pain?\u201d because I was constantly told that this is normal, so I doubted myself,\u2019 she says. \u2018I get so down about everything.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\"Alice<\/div>
Alice felt ignored for years (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alice had a similar experience, feeling ignored for years, despite extreme bleeding and pain. She tells\u00a0Metro<\/strong>: \u2018I\u2019d always come on my period in the middle of the night, and I\u2019d be in such agony that I was just trying to make it through to the next day. It would leave me absolutely shattered, and bleeding could be so bad that I\u2019d leak through my tampon, pad, knickers and leggings in an hour. I\u2019ve had to miss\u00a0school<\/a>\u00a0growing up, and work as I\u2019ve got older.\u2019<\/p>\n

The persistent problems meant that Nicole spent much time with her mum in Dewsbury, rather than with her friends at university in\u00a0Manchester<\/a>. She managed to graduate with a degree in journalism, but didn\u2019t have the experience she had hoped for. After that, she began working full-time as a lifeguard.<\/p>\n

\u2018There were multiple times when I had to call in sick. It kept being flagged to HR, so I\u2019d have to attend meetings. The only reason I didn\u2019t lose my job was due to a few understanding managers,\u2019 Nicole says.<\/p>\n

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Endometriosis<\/h2>\n
\n

Endometriosis is a condition where cells similar to those in the womb lining grow in other parts of the body, usually on the ovaries, outside the womb and on the fallopian tubes.<\/p>\n

This tissue breaks down and bleeds during your period, which can cause severe pain \u2013 although this pain can occur outside of menstruation too. For example, you can get pain in your lower tummy and back, pain during sex, extreme fatigue, and pain of bleeding in your chest and shortness of breath.<\/p>\n

There is no cure for this condition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The disease takes, on average,\u00a0around nine years to diagnose<\/a>. The condition can only be found during surgery, as it doesn\u2019t show up on scans, which can be part of the reason for a delay. For Nicole and Alice, it was around ten years after their first periods that they finally got confirmation of what they suspected.<\/p>\n

\u2018I had to take a month off after the surgery, where they also lasered the endometriosis from my bowel and bladder. My workplace refused to phase my return, and could not provide any reasonable workplace adjustments like teaching from the side of the pool instead of in the water,\u2019 Nicole, who was then working as a swimming teacher, says.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not being able to work and being made to feel like I was being dramatic about it knocked my confidence and caused stress. I was scraping by each month, struggling to afford rent and bills due to not being paid while sick.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Nicole has postponed her teacher training (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the recovery, she had six pain-free months and began training to be a school teacher, but symptoms rushed back.<\/p>\n

Nicole now suffers from sciatica, pain in her ribs, back, and abdomen, and feels fatigue and nausea. Once again, she has had to take an enforced career break, so, unsurprisingly, feels passionate about the UK introducing the bill for menstrual leave, something already offered in Portugal and Spain. Such a change in law would \u2018take some of the stress away\u2019 and the regular rest could help Nicole recover from pain quicker, she explains.<\/p>\n

\u2018It would finally acknowledge that it\u2019s a painful, inflammatory, full-body, incurable disease, rather than just the time of the month,\u2019 she adds.<\/p>\n

\u2018Women\u2019s health needs to be taken so much more seriously, but the government\u2019s responses can feel robotic, disheartening and like a punch in the gut.<\/p>\n

\u2018I can get statutory sick pay, but leave for endometriosis still goes down on my records, and taking off too many days can be a sackable offence. It\u2019s scary; I\u2019ve often feared losing my job.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Quitting jobs was easier for Alice than talking about endometriosis (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alice recalls the awkward conversations she used to face at work. \u2018I\u2019d get questions like \u201cWell, are you sure you can\u2019t come in?\u201d \u201cCan you come in later?\u201d \u201cHave you taken painkillers?\u201d I\u2019ve gotten better at speaking about it now, but before, it was easier to go than have the conversation,\u2019 she explains.<\/p>\n

\u2018I felt silly telling bosses, as I worried they were looking down on me and thinking, \u201cIt\u2019s a period, grow up.\u201d As there\u2019s not enough awareness, they think I just want time off. I didn\u2019t feel taken seriously.\u2019<\/p>\n

Now, Alice feels that the conversation is finally changing and becoming more positive, which has empowered her to talk about it more with her current employer \u2013 although, she adds, there\u2019s still a long way to go. One improvement she would like is more company flexibility on work-from-home days.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ve never really had that as an option, and it would make work so much more accessible for people with endometriosis. If someone can sit in their bed with a laptop, they can be comfortable, and going to the toilet often is easier,\u2019 Alice explains.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is a chronic illness that needs more support,\u2019 Nicole adds. \u2018It\u2019s very lonely taking time off, especially when no one gets it, so a law change would make me feel validated and supported.\u2019<\/p>\n

When a campaign reaches 100,000 signatures, there is an obligation to debate the proposal in\u00a0parliament<\/a>. If that happens, Alice wants MPs to know how life-changing it would be for women.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s not a small number of people that we\u2019re talking about. So many women suffer with this, and it would be such a better quality of life. Dismissing it again and again isn\u2019t what we need,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

\u2018Endometriosis is never going to be easy to live with, but it doesn\u2019t have to be as hard as it is now.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alice Cooper can remembers being bent in half, lying down on the floor of a toilet cubicle at her office, with her hands wrapped around her stomach. Profusely sweating,\u00a0she couldn\u2019t move, while tears are streamed down her face, as she tried to stay as quiet as possible. When the pain was just about manageable, Alice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t