Veteran BBC presenter Naga Manchetty has revealed she has a painful womb condition, recounting a moment when she recently felt like she was going to pass out from the pain BBC Breakfast.
Speaking of The Independent in an exclusive interview, the 48-year-old journalist said she was diagnosed with a condition called adenomyosis, which she had never heard of until the disease was identified about eight months ago.
Munchetty explained that she is in constant pain and lives “every day on painkillers,” noting that she doesn’t wear “light pants” while performing because she is “so afraid” of leaking while on her period.
Discussing the time she almost passed out BBC Breakfast, Manchetti recalled: “I just said, ‘I have to go.’ And I went to the bathroom and I thought I was going to pass out, but I threw up and then I just came back.
She said she was so overcome by debilitating pain this weekend that her husband called an ambulance in the middle of the night – noting she had “never dialed 999” in her life.
The BBC Breakfast The presenter added: “I was writhing and moaning and screaming in pain. I ended up falling asleep after about 45 minutes. And then it happened again in the middle of the night and we had to call an ambulance because I couldn’t move. And I was just screaming.
“All I remember saying was, ‘If the ambulance comes (which it didn’t), don’t let them do a full hysterectomy on me.’ Because this is the only cure to get rid of it.
It is estimated that one in 10 women has adenomyosis, but the misunderstood condition often goes undetected by doctors for years, sometimes even decades.
Symptoms of the condition, which has been dubbed the “evil twin” of the much more well-known endometriosis, include heavy periods, bloating and pelvic pain. The NHS does not have a page on its site describing adenomyosis, although it does have a dedicated section on endometriosis.
While endometriosis and adenomyosis occur when the lining of the uterus grows out of place, there are key differences between the two conditions. In endometriosis, the unfavorable tissue extends beyond the uterus, but in adenomyosis, the unfavorable tissue develops inside the muscular wall of the uterus.
“It was like something kept exploding inside of me,” the host said of the pain she faced over the weekend. “It was all around my pelvic area, down my thigh and lower back – to the point where I couldn’t turn over.”
Munchetty, also a presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live, noted that her heavy periods were “life-changing” as she explained that she used to have periods that lasted ten days every two and a half weeks.
The presenter, who previously worked at Bloomberg and Channel 4 News, said she was currently in constant pain.
She added: “I live in pain. I’m living in pain right now. I’d say I’m on level three or four. I live on pain meds every day. I did last year. I’m angry and really upset. I’m really upset that I have to do this.
Manchetti revealed that the crippling pain she has struggled with for decades began when she began her period at the age of 16 in a shopping mall with her mother.
“I was literally bent over,” the host added. “I went to the toilet – I was very sick. I threw up. I had started my period. It was very heavy. I was in great pain, I was crying, I folded myself in half, I felt weak. And this became my routine every time I had my period.
Leave a Reply