A twenty-five-year-old Tadworth woman said she was left “feeling I was going insane” after years of misdiagnosis and battling crippling pelvic pain.

Finally diagnosed with endometriosis in 2016, Gabriella Allen has now helped launch the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Endometriosis this month.

Gabriella Allen said: “Before my diagnosis, being a 23-year-old with a partner my main concern was having fertility issues and how severe the damage would be.

“It kept me awake night after night sick with dread.”

Endometriosis is when the lining of the womb grows outside the uterus, then bleeds, gets inflamed, and causes scar tissue that sticks organs together like glue and causes chronic pain.

It can only be formally diagnosed through laparoscopy (a type of key-hole surgery where a camera is inserted into the pelvis) although the severest cases are sometimes visible on ultrasound and MRI scans.

Your Local Guardian:

Gabriella Allen is an "endo-warrior" campaigning for greater awareness of the disease

Although endometriosis is very common, affecting around one in 10 women, it takes an average of seven to 10 years for diagnosis in which time it gets progressively worse.

Gabriella said: “Being diagnosed was bittersweet for me. I had my first laparoscopy in March 2016.

“My consultant confirmed they had found a large amount of endometriosis on my left ovary and in my bowel.

“I felt a sense of clarification that I finally knew what was wrong. I also knew that this wouldn't be the end of my journey.”

Whilst struggling with pain, depression, and stress, Gabriella found the Instagram of Carla Cressy, founder of charity Women With Endometriosis, whose career as a glamour model ended due to life-threatening endometriosis.

Gabriella said: “Becoming part of Women With Endometriosis has really saved me.

“It is so therapeutic for me to channel my feelings into something so positive and to help other ladies all over the world.

“I found Carla’s page on Instagram and messaged to see if I could help in any way.

“Her story was so inspiring and moving I just felt so amazed by what she had created despite what she had been through.”

The two women hit-off straight away and now Gabriella has been working on the nutrition pages of the website to help women alleviate some of their pain symptoms.

The new APPG, led by Carla’s MP Sir David Amess, will raise awareness of the disorder and educate teenage girls in education, as the early symptoms often begin when a girl first starts her periods.

On one Instagram post Carla, whose next operation will remove her fallopian tubes and fit a stoma bag (to allow her bowel to heal post-surgery) wrote that her “one wish” is to have been diagnosed earlier.

Gabriella feels the same. “I still suffer with a severe amount of pain and sometimes when you have exhausted everything to try and subdue the pain and it hasn't worked it can be difficult,” she said.

“I am beyond lucky to have a great network of support with my family, partner, friends who have supported me through it all.

“It is so important to not suffer in silence if you are struggling or in pain and confide in someone.”