Naga Munchetty criticises medical misogyny after suffering ‘extreme pain’

Watch: Naga Munchetty criticises medical misogyny after suffering ‘extreme pain’

Naga Munchetty has spoken of the “extreme pain” she’s endured for decades due to a health condition, saying her pain was dismissed for years.

The BBC Breakfast presenter revealed in 2023 that she suffers from adenomyosis, a condition in which the lining of the uterus grows into the muscle wall of the womb. The condition can cause extremely heavy menstrual bleeding, severe period pain and chronic pelvic discomfort.

It took 32 years for Munchetty, now 50, to receive a diagnosis.

Appearing on Lorraine today, Munchetty explained that her new book, It’s Probably Nothing, explores medical misogyny and the systemic failure of doctors to take women’s symptoms seriously. Something that she has firsthand experience of.

“The book is almost like a handbook,” she told host Christine Lampard, who was filling in for Lorraine Kelly. “I mean, it’s born out of the fact that I’ve experienced medical misogyny and being ignored – my symptoms have been ignored.

“But it’s not about me, you’ll be pleased to know. It’s just as someone who understands what it feels like to be told, ‘No, it’s nothing, it’s probably nothing. Oh, you’ll grow out of it. Have a baby that’ll fix it. It’ll get better when you get older.’

“And just speaking to dozens of men and women about their experiences of being ignored and thinking, ‘There’s something here, there’s something that the medical world is not listening to.’ Be it not enough research, be it not enough education and not enough time to listen and not hearing, not hearing when someone says, ‘I’m not coping.’ So that’s what this is for.”

Munchetty reflected on the trauma of her period starting and the realisation that something wasn’t right.

“[I was] doubled over in pain, throwing up, passing out, cramps, fainting over and over again, and really, really heavy periods, to the point where I was setting an alarm at night to change my period product,” she says.

“[I was] sleeping on a towel, lying on the floor, because if I was uncomfortable on the floor, then perhaps it could detract from the pain.”

Despite the severity of her symptoms, Munchetty says doctors repeatedly dismissed her concerns, often telling her she would “grow out of it.” It wasn’t until a scan revealed a cyst on her ovaries that doctors investigated further.

Eventually, she was diagnosed with adenomyosis, which she describes as the “evil twin” of endometriosis.

Munchetty says she’s far from alone in her experience. “I think we all know women who have been told, ‘It’s probably nothing,’ and who have been told ‘Other women are dealing with it, it’s normal, you should too,'” she continues.

“And you spend a long time thinking, ‘Is it me? Am I really weak? Am I just not coping as a woman? Am I not like the other women who are all just getting on with life?’ Because we don’t talk about it enough, we don’t speak up about these symptoms enough and not enough research is put into them.”

According to The Guardian, health experts are now calling for more UK clinical trials to focus on women’s health. Alarming data reveals that women remain significantly under-represented, with a staggering 67% more male-only studies than female-only ones.

Munchetty adds: “I think when you spend years and years being told it’s nothing, you find very different coping mechanisms. And now, when I look back and I think, ‘Okay, that diagnosis came, we’re all trying to be the best we can,’ I was prevented from being the best I could.

“I’ve spoken to so many women who are like, ‘I’m no longer working because I have such bad endometriosis and pain and it can’t be cured, and no one’s listening to me,’ or ‘I have such bad UTIs that I cannot sit for more than 20 minutes, and it’s been recurrent for nine years.'”

Munchetty encourages women to push for a diagnosis and treatment if they suspect something is wrong.

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