Problematic Menstruation: the long path to diagnosis

Battling painful periods

Painful periods are a common condition that can range from mild to debilitating. For some sufferers, a couple of painkillers will take the edge off. For others, it’s time off work and days of trying anything and everything to get a moment of relief.

Worryingly, for many women and those assigned female at birth (AFAB) who suffer with problematic menstruation, the pain is just one part of the monthly challenge they face.

A UK study from YouGov revealed that 57% of women in employment who suffer from period pain and are employed, say it has affected their ability to work. Add this to the ongoing anxiety about what pain and heavy menstrual bleeding might signify and it’s not hard to see how that for many women, their monthly period becomes all-consuming.

As well as dealing with the physical and mental impact, many women suffer decade-long waits for diagnosis and frustrating interactions with a healthcare system that is set up to think pharmacologically about menstruation issues.

We spoke to Laura*, who as a teenager had very heavy periods plus intense pain each month – including vomiting and back pain – that left her barely able to stand. “GP’s were always more focused on giving me painkillers.” says Laura. “They didn’t seem that concerned. I went for blood tests and nothing unusual seemed to show up.” When another doctor discovered cysts on her ovaries, treatment wasn’t recommended, instead it was suggested Laura go on the pill.

Laura is not alone.

When Jane* sought help from her doctor, she was also recommended the pill to help with her heavy menstrual bleeding. A blood test showed that Jane had severe anaemia and an MRI scan revealed she had fibroids. Frustratingly the guidance didn’t change, and she was once again recommended the pill or coil. It took a long time and a lot of appointments with different doctors before she received the correct treatment.

The issues Jane and Laura faced are symptomatic of a healthcare system that isn’t set up to properly serve women. Doctors across Ireland and the UK are guided by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which suggests that GP’s “Consider starting pharmacological treatment for menorrhagia (heavy bleeding) without investigating the cause, if the woman’s history and/or examination suggests a “low risk of fibroids, uterine cavity abnormality, histological abnormality or adenomyosis.” 

"I couldn’t get anywhere on time without leaking and was constantly worried about staining everything. I had to wake up a few times at night to change tampon and pads."

Jane

These guidelines result in numerous women and AFAB being prescribed the pill for their chronic pain and heavy bleeding, which rather than fixing the issue, can just relieve the symptoms, delaying diagnosis of more serious conditions such as endometriosis; a chronic, inflammatory disease affecting more than 190 million people worldwide and up to 10% of women and AFAB of reproductive age. The ubiquity of the pill as the answer to these health issues, can therefore lead to more complications down the line and adds to women generally feeling unsupported and unheard by the medical system.

Whilst there is still a long way to go, there are increasing numbers of people, organisations and doctors advocating for change. Irish Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, published a report of a ‘radical listening’ exercise via research, commissioned by the Women’s Health Taskforce in 2021. The purpose was to hear women’s views on their health and, according to Donnelly “… help us critically assess where we can deliver more and better for women… What we need, and what we are working towards, is a revolution in women’s healthcare.”

Joii is passionate about being part of this revolution, helping to empower women with the knowledge to advocate for themselves and support them on a smoother pathway to diagnosis.

Equipping women with the information and confidence to communicate their symptoms and expectations to their GP is key, especially in the current climate where appointments are shorter and face-to-face interactions harder to secure. 

Dr Monica Peres Oikeh, GP, working closely with Joii, feels passionately about making sure women receive the right care. And she offers these tips to help women get the most out of their GP appointments.

• Bring along a diary or a period tracking app (watch this space, the Joii app is coming soon) with as much information as possible about your menstrual cycle including; dates, length of cycle, when pain is worse, sanitary products used, any dietary or lifestyle things that affect it e.g., tiredness, stress or diet. The diary should cover a minimum of three months. Six months is ideal, but the longer you can track the better.

• Write down how this affects your life. This will be different for everyone and if it affects you negatively seek help, whether that impact is physical e.g., time off work, exercise, daily activities, or mental, e.g. feeling down, sad, lonely, lacking confidence.

• Make sure you inform your GP of any medication or supplements you are taking – make a note or bring them with you.

• Wear something comfortable, so it is easy for the doctor to examine you if needed.

• Consider bringing your partner / friend / mum / sister / aunt – someone who can help advocate for you and your experience.

• Write down everything you want to discuss so you don’t feel overwhelmed or forget any important bits of information when you are face-to-face or on the phone with your GP.

• Try to be concise, appointment times are only 15 minutes long and you want to make sure you get the most out of them that you can.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy 

Written by: Joii Team

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Joii Limited Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes what Personal Data we collect, how we handle it, why we need it and who we share it with. We may also supplement this Privacy Policy with Data Protection Notices where appropriate.

Who are we?

We are Joii Limited (referred to as ‘Joii’), a limited company incorporated in Ireland and registered under company number 650096. Our registered office is Apartment 15, Thomastown House, Spencer Dock, Dublin, Ireland.

Data Protection Definitions

We use certain expressions throughout this document such as Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data.

Personal Data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

Special Categories of Personal Data includes information revealing a person's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.

Data Controller means the entity which, by itself or jointly with others, determines the purpose and means of processing Personal Data. Joii the Data Controller in respect of Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data covered by this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy sets out the basis on which any Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data we collect from you, or that you (or others) provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our practices regarding your Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data and how we will treat it.

When you become our customer, the processing of your Personal Data and, in accordance with legal requirements, Special Categories of Personal Data, will become a condition of the contract between us as we require certain information in order to be able to provide you with our products. In those circumstances, if you do not wish us to process your Personal Data and, in accordance with legal requirements, Special Categories of Personal Data, we may be unable to provide our services to you.

If you have any queries on data protection, Justyna Strzeszynska, may be contacted at: justyna@joiicare.com or you can contact on 01 458 6597.

What personal data do we collect from you?

Advertising

Personal Data: Cookies; Usage Data; various types of Data

Google Analytics

Personal Data: Tracker; Usage Data

Contacting the User

  • Contact form - Personal Data: email address; first name; last name
  • Mailing list or newsletter - Personal Data: first name; last name; email address

Data transfer outside the EU

Data transfer abroad based on consent

Personal Data: various types of Data

Hosting and backend infrastructure

Google Cloud Storage and Google App Engine

Personal Data: various types of Data as specified in the privacy policy of the service

Google Tag Manager

Personal Data: Usage Data

User database management

Personal Data: city; email address; various types of Data

How long do we keep hold of your personal data and special categories of personal data?

The time periods for which we retain your Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data depends on the type of information and the purposes for which we use it. We will keep your information for no longer than is required or permitted.

All Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data will be retained for the duration of the periods set out in our Data Retention Policy. These periods of time are subject to legal, tax and regulatory requirements or to enable us to manage our business.

If you would like further information, please contact us at the details provided below.

In some circumstances we may anonymise your Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you. This anonymised data may be used for research or analytical purposes.

What are your rights with respect to your personal data and special categories of personal data?

You have the following rights:

  • To access the Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data we hold about you.
  • To require us to rectify any inaccurate Personal Data or Special Categories of Personal Data relating to you without undue delay.
  • To have us erase any Personal Data or Special Categories of Personal Data we hold about you in specific circumstances, e.g. where it is no longer necessary for us to hold the Personal Data or Special Categories of Personal Data for the administration of your contract or if you have withdrawn your consent to the processing.
  • To object to us processing your Personal Data or Special Categories of Personal Data in specific circumstances, e.g. processing for profiling or direct marketing.
  • To ask us to provide your Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data to you in a portable format or, where technically feasible, for us to port that information to another provider provided it does not result in a disclosure of information relating to other people.
  • To request a restriction of the processing of your Personal Data or Special Categories of Personal Data.
  • In the limited circumstances where you may have provided your consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your Personal Data or Special Categories of Personal Data for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law. In that instance, any processing that we have carried out before you withdrew your consent remains lawful.

You may exercise any of the above rights by writing to us at our registered office : Justyna Strzeszynska Joii Limited T\A Joii, Apartment 15, Thomastown House, Spencer Dock, Dublin D01 P7N2 or by emailing us at justyna@joiicare.com.

In the above circumstances, we may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the Personal Data or Special Categories of Personal Data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that Personal Data or Special Categories of Personal Data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

You may lodge a complaint with respect to our processing of your information directly with the Supervisory Authority, the Office of the Data Protection Commission with an address at Canal House, Station Road, Portarlington, Co. Laois.

Data Security

We have put in place measures to protect the security of your Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data.

Details of these measures are available upon request.

Third parties will only process your Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data on our instructions and where they have agreed to treat the information confidentially and to keep it secure.

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your Personal Data and Special Categories of Personal Data on our instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality. We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

What will happen if we change our privacy policy?

This Privacy Policy may change from time to time, and any changes will be posted on our Website and will be effective when posted. Please review this Privacy Policy each time you use our Website or our services. The date this Privacy Policy was last updated is shown below.

How can you contact us about data protection?

You can contact us:

By post addressed to: Justyna Strzeszynska Joii Limited T\A Joii, Apartment 15, Thomastown House, Spencer Dock, Dublin D01 P7N2.

By phone: Customer Services team on 01 458 6597

By email: justyna@joiicare.com

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