{"id":317545,"date":"2026-03-06T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T14:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlslife.com\/?p=317545"},"modified":"2026-03-05T17:21:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:21:35","slug":"the-pain-that-wasnt-just-period-cramps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wellness\/317545\/the-pain-that-wasnt-just-period-cramps\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pain That Wasn\u2019t \u201cJust Period Cramps\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. Here, 19-year-old actress Lily Brooks O’Briant shares her journey of <\/strong>battling chronic pain that no doctor could diagnose\u2014until reading a random Instagram post led her to the truth.<\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It was just another day shooting on location. I was filming an emotional scene where the car broke down when the debilitating pain hit. My cramps were so intense that I had to curl up in the fetal position between takes on the dirt road. <\/span><\/p>\n

The crew called the medics, but I reassured them I was going to be OK\u2014this happened a lot. I waited for the director to call \u201crolling,\u201d then forced myself to stand up and deliver my lines. As my concerned castmates looked on, I thought to myself, <\/span>if they only knew this is how I live my life almost every day<\/i><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is this normal?<\/span><\/h2>\n

I got my period when I was 13. And even from those first few menstrual cycles, I had a hunch that something wasn\u2019t right. Not only did my periods last for 10 days, but the flow was really heavy. I had awful cramps\u2014so bad they made me feel like throwing up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, my symptoms started happening even when I <\/span>wasn\u2019t<\/i><\/span> on my period. All month long, I had cramps, nausea and migraines. I lost weight because I was often in too much pain to eat. <\/span><\/p>\n

The symptoms were so severe that I frequently had to cancel plans with friends, skip classes at school and suffer through long days on set. And then there was the anxiety\u2014worrying about when the next wave would come and wondering if something was horribly wrong with me. <\/span><\/p>\n

When more months went by with no signs of things improving, I went to various doctors seeking help. But each appointment was as disappointing as the next: My gynecologist told me it was just period cramps and handed me a pack of pills to make them better (didn\u2019t work). My pediatrician said I had an eating disorder (not true) and referred me to a therapist. My therapist thought I might have digestive issues and suggested an allergist. You get the idea.<\/span><\/p>\n

Frustrated (and wondering if the pain wasn\u2019t *actually* as bad as I thought), I gave up trying to figure it out. I convinced myself that my symptoms were just part of being a girl. The doctors didn\u2019t seem too concerned, so why should I be?<\/span><\/p>\n

The search for answers<\/span><\/h2>\n

A few weeks later, I woke up with the worst abdominal pain of my life. My mom took me to the hospital, where they told me I had \u201can angry appendix\u201d and did surgery to remove it. A part of me was relieved\u2014maybe that was the cause of my issues this whole time.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I didn\u2019t have to wait long to find out that my appendix wasn\u2019t the culprit. After the procedure, my cramps came back with a vengeance. I was so scared that whatever was happening in my body was going to keep me from doing what I loved: acting.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is, until I saw Bindi Irwin\u2019s Instagram post<\/a> about her journey with endometriosis, a disease in which tissue from your uterus starts growing on other organs in your abdomen. I\u2019d never heard of it before, but reading about her symptoms, it sounded exactly like what I was going through. It was the first sense of validation that maybe, just maybe, I had an answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

My mom called every specialist in Los Angeles until someone could see me. But the first doctor, without even doing any scans or testing, told me that the pain was all in my head\u2014and that I just needed to try harder to overcome it. <\/span><\/p>\n

I felt like I was right back where I started, but my mom refused to give up. She got me in with another surgeon, Dr. Tamer Seckin. And that consultation changed my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Within minutes of meeting me, Dr. Seckin was so reassuring. He believed that I was in pain\u2014and he believed that something was wrong. I burst into tears. To have someone finally listen to me and acknowledge what I was going through was surreal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tricky thing about endometriosis is that you can\u2019t officially diagnose it without exploratory surgery. But my symptoms were so severe that Dr. Seckin recommended the procedure. It was a huge leap of faith. Part of me wanted to have answers, but I also had to risk feeling like I was crazy if they didn\u2019t see anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the surgery, Dr. Seckin found and removed 21 endometrial adhesions (a pretty significant amount) from my ovaries, bowel and intestines. And that appendix issue from earlier? Turns out it was endometriosis all along. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019d never felt so relieved. After everything I had been through, after every doctor who dismissed me, I finally had an answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

My pain and my power<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Since my surgery, I\u2019ve been feeling amazing. I still get cramps occasionally, but they\u2019re manageable\u2014and I take medication to keep my periods at bay. I\u2019m back to acting and recording new music. I\u2019m traveling and hanging with friends again, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through sharing my diagnosis story on social media, I\u2019ve found an incredible community of girls who\u2019ve gone through the same thing. I recently collaborated with my sister Hannah (who also has endo\u2014because yep, it can run in families) on a YouTube documentary called <\/span>Silent Suffering: How Endometriosis Affects Teens<\/i><\/span> to help educate people about the disease.<\/span><\/p>\n