It took Hann Dougie eight years to get diagnosed, despite her mum having the same condition
A young woman claims she was told by doctors to get pregnant at 17 as a solution to her periods and endometriosis symptoms. Hann Dougie, 31, a dental nurse, started having debilitating periods aged 10.
Yet she claims she was repeatedly told by doctors that the pain was in her head. And she says she went on to suffer “medical misogyny” for years afterwards.
The condition affects around 1.5 million women across the UK. They are battling endometriosis, a devastating condition where cells similar to those lining the womb grow elsewhere throughout the body.
These rogue cells continue to react during the monthly cycle, triggering inflammation, agony and internal scarring from puberty right through to the menopause. It typically takes eight years to receive a proper diagnosis – which is exactly what happened to Hann.
Despite her mum battling the same condition, it wasn’t until Hann reached 18 that she finally got answers. She said that after years of being repeatedly told the agony was “in (her) head”, the diagnosis brought little comfort as she claimed one doctor suggested the simple solution to her symptoms was to get pregnant.
Now the Neath resident says she has at last found something that provides relief. She is speaking out to help others “be aware that medical cannabis exists”.
When Hann’s periods began during primary school, the symptoms were utterly crippling. She explained to PA Real Life: “I remember it just being awful. Lots of nerve pain, stabbing pains, sharp, burning pains, and that would be in my lower back, hips and down my thighs.
“But doctors put it down to being psychological, saying the pain was just in my head. You know; ‘Periods are just bad, it’s one of those things’.”
The Welsh student, who says she was always active in sports and assisted students at school with their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, had to be picked up by her mum “from the middle of nowhere” during a training expedition when she got her period. The pain was so severe that she couldn’t walk.
‘Contraceptive pill at 14 destroyed my mental health’
At 14, Hann was given the contraceptive pill, which only served to regulate her cycle and “destroy my mental health”. She was later prescribed antidepressants, but her mental health continued to worsen. She said: “It was just a case of, ‘Just try these things and see if it helps’.”
Her depression became so intense that she was prescribed antipsychotics, which then began to affect her physical health. She remembered: “I literally couldn’t walk up the stairs, I couldn’t walk down the street. I just couldn’t walk.
“I spoke to my psychiatrist, and I said, ‘Look, I’ve been on this course… I want to come off it’. A week-and-a-half later, I could very slowly walk down the road.”
At 17, while still dealing with debilitating symptoms and periods, Hann claims a doctor suggested one solution was to get pregnant. She said: “They were just saying: ‘A lot of women find that once they’ve had a baby, everything’s better, there’s glitter and rainbows everywhere’.
“I just said to them, ‘I’m 17’, and they said; ‘Oh, yeah, but people have babies at all ages, you can start thinking about it now’. It just made me feel like there’s no hope, nobody’s going to help me.”
Finally, at the age of 18, Hann was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition that left her feeling “a mixture of every emotion”. Despite there being no known cure for the condition, Hann continued on the pill until she got an IUD – an intrauterine device – which eased the side effects of the contraceptive pill.
Over the years, Hann underwent three laparoscopic surgeries to help treat her endometriosis, but each operation only provided temporary relief. Then in 2021, nearly a decade after her diagnosis, Hann stumbled upon a potential solution after spotting a social media post about medical cannabis.
She said: “It just absolutely blew my mind because no GP had ever mentioned it to me. Nobody, no specialist, no endo-specialist, literally nobody had said to me, ‘Have you thought about medical cannabis?'”
Hann now gets her prescription cannabis through the clinic Alternaleaf and has been able to stop taking the pill, codeine and antidepressants. She’s also managed to increase her work hours and even hit the gym thanks to the “life-changing” treatment.
She said: “I’m aware that the pain is there, but it just dulls it down so much that I can crack on with my day-to-day life. Just being able to sleep, it’s such an amazing feeling. Just even having a good night’s sleep is an absolute game-changer. It’s phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal.”
‘Medical cannabis can help with a variety of things’
Now at 31, Hann is sharing her story to help educate others about endometriosis and try to dispel the stigma surrounding medical cannabis. She said: “We really need to be looking into how medical cannabis can help a variety of things, especially women’s health, and the massive issue that we’ve got with medical misogyny.
“We’re well aware of if something’s not right with our bodies, it’s not just in our heads. The only thing that I’m being prescribed is the medical cannabis, and that’s all I’m willing to have. I refuse to even consider trying anything else.
“I work with a lot of doctors and surgeons, and the majority of them weren’t aware that it is legal. People need to be aware that medical cannabis exists and that it is legal.”