Endometriosis: I had to stop modelling because I kept passing out

Carla Cressy worked as a model from the age of five to 17, but continued to fail at shoots.

“It was really embarrassing and I couldn’t do this anymore,” she says.

She had been suffering from excruciating pain since the age of 13, when she started menstruating, but was finally diagnosed with endometriosis when she was 25.

By then, doctors had removed his appendix, mistakenly thinking it was acute appendicitis.

“I was hospitalized several times for chronic constipation. I couldn’t eat, I was vomiting and was in severe pain, but I was constantly told it was a stomach bug.”

Carla began retraining as a beauty therapist because he was “unemployable and unreliable” due to his health.

“I had a client and I would soak in a boiling hot bath to ease my stomach ache. It was horrible but it was the only way I could make a living,” says the 35-year-old from Essex.

It’s estimated that one in six women with endometriosis leaves the workplace because of the condition, which causes tissue similar to the lining of the uterus to grow outside.

Carla recently gave evidence to a person ongoing investigation, external on how the situation affects women in the workplace, external.

There is currently no legislation in the UK to ensure that workers with menstrual health problems are treated fairly if they take time off work.