A Stockport woman who battled 21 years for a diagnosis has bared all to raise awareness of a hidden and devastating condition.
Business analyst Lakshmi Hariprasad, 39, from Edgeley, says her excruciating symptoms started just before she had her first period aged 11.
But it wasn’t until she hit her 30s – having experienced a miscarriage, the breakdown of her marriage and an incorrect diagnosis of a wheat allergy – that she finally found out that endometriosis was causing her severe pelvic and rectal pain and bowel issues.
And after two failed surgeries, four years apart, Lakshmi has made the difficult decision to opt for the most drastic option – a total hysterectomy.
Lakshmi said that pain “so excruciating it was hard to even breathe, let alone move” was lessened briefly after her first surgery in 2015, only to return six months later.
A further four-hour surgery in 2019 left her symptom-free for almost 10 months and she was able to come off her regular cocktail of pain medication including naproxen and amitriptyline.
But in summer 2020, the rectal pain came back, and scans the following year showed that adhesions from her last operation had caused her bowel to fuse with her uterus.
Lakshmi said: “My periods were agonising and heavy, and I also had serious bowel problems with alternating constipation and diarrhea.
“When I was 26, I started with debilitating rectal pain, which led me to seek help. But unfortunately I was given the wrong advice and was reassured that if I stopped eating wheat, everything would settle down.
“The pain was so excruciating that it would be hard for me to even breathe, let alone move. Once, at work, a cleaner found me propped up against a wall in the corridor – I’d been trying to get to the bathroom but the pain was so great I couldn’t take another step.”
In the hope of raising awareness of the condition and the impact it has on the lives of over 1.5 million people in the UK, Lakshmi signed up to take part in a project called Endomorphosis this Endometriosis Action Month.
The creative venture, run by Cabasa Carnival Arts, saw ten women from Greater Manchester who are living with endometriosis turn their bodies into canvases. The women, aged between 20 and 39, worked with body painters to translate their feelings about endometriosis into a living artwork.
The pictures were taken by photographer Eveline Ludlow and are on display at Gallery Oldham until 25 March.
Emily Wood, 40, is the organisation’s artistic director and also has endometriosis.
She said: “Your whole body goes through so much and for me it led to negative thoughts and feelings about my body that became detrimental to my mental health and well-being.
“Endometriosis is a whole-body disease, both physically and mentally, so I wanted to create a project which represented that. By delivering this project myself as an artist and painting a group of women who have been on a similar journey and seeing them transform was even more powerful than I could have imagined
“We have brought together a group of incredible women with endometriosis and local artists as part of Endometriosis Action Month. In these collaborative sessions, participants shared their experiences and explored how body painting could best represent them and their stories.
“We finished the project with a day of body painting and captured some amazing and powerful images, which participants can hold onto forever.”
Lakshmi said: “Having suffered from endometriosis for so many years, I wanted to try and do my bit to raise awareness of the condition. I’ve also struggled quite a lot with body confidence for the majority of my life, so doing something like this felt like a real leap of faith and a test of myself.
“My relationship with my body has, I suppose, been troubled. I often feel betrayed by it, sometimes angry and often ashamed – I don’t like to admit I’m suffering in front of others so I hide it by making jokes or minimising my pain. The things I have to do constantly every day – do I have painkillers? Can I leave the house? – is exhausting and draining, and trying to explain this to people who aren’t chronically ill can be very difficult. I’m working through all of this with therapy, and I’ve made significant progress in that regard. But I think I will always mistrust my body.
“Looking at these photos now, I am so proud of myself, and the other wonderful participants, for being so courageous and so open. I can look at my body and feel validated and confident, and the fact that I could still smile and have a good time when I was so unwell allowed me to acknowledge the strength and resilience I possess. I feel beautiful, for perhaps the first time in my life.”
This March, Cabasa Carnival Arts will be working with a second group of people living with endometriosis to create a further series of images. The body art will be captured by former Manchester City photographer Sharon Latham. You can find out how to get involved on Cabasa’s website.
Endometriosis causes cells similar to the ones in the lining of the womb to be found elsewhere in the body. Each month these cells react in the same way to those in the womb, building up and then breaking down and bleeding. Unlike the cells in the womb that leave the body as a period, this blood has no way to escape and causes pain, scarring and inflammation. Symptoms can include chronic pain, fatigue, painful intercourse and infertility.
An inquiry published in 2020 found that it takes on average eight years from the onset of symptoms to get a diagnosis.
Endomorphosis is at Gallery Oldham (Gallery 4) until 25 March 2023. Entry is free and opening hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm
