Endometriosis: When menstruation is a monthly cycle of intense torment

For women living with endometriosis, severe period pain can disrupt everyday life. [Courtesy]

For Esther Wambui, periods have never been simply about a few uncomfortable days each month.

The pain could become so severe that she would vomit, feel dizzy and struggle to remain standing. At school, she sometimes used an entire packet of sanitary towels in a day and still worried about leaking and staining her clothes. The symptoms began when she was about 12, but it took nearly six years before she understood that the pain was not normal.