Naga Munchetty's debilitating 32-year health battle as 'sterilisation the only option'

presenter has opened up on the debilitating health condition which plagued her for 32 years. The 50-year-old star first began suffering symptoms, which included fainting, severe aching, exhaustion, vomiting and heavy bleeding, at the age of 15 with her period coming every two and a half weeks. Despite seeking help throughout her 20s and 30s she says she was repeatedly told her ordeal was normal and was never referred to a specialist.

She finally received a diagnosis in 2022 at the age of 47 when she went to a private doctor after ten days of painful bleeding. It was confirmed she suffers with adenomyosis, a condition where the lining of the womb grows into the muscle in the wall of the womb which is believed to affect one in ten women in the UK. "It's extraordinary, but it's not unusual," she told the of her three decade fight for answers to her health issues.

She also revealed that sterilisation felt like the "only option" after other birth control methods caused her serious issues.

She and her her television director husband, James Haggar, 52, made the choice not to have children but trying to implement the decision further affected her health.

Having been refused the contraceptive injection Depo-Provera she had the contraceptive coil fitted in 2017.

She said the procedure was so painful that she was screaming in agony and fainted on the surgery table and she had it removed a year later.

She explained she didn't want a hysterectomy as she believed it wouldn't eradicate her pain as adenomyosis can also affect areas outside the uterus. Instead she opted to get sterilised in 2019, which is a procedure which requires keyhole surgery to block or cut the fallopian tubes.

"I knew I didn't want children and I didn't want to be reliant on hormones or the regimen of the pill because it didn't fit with my lifestyle. It felt like it was my only option." she told the publication.

She further opened up on her experience in her new book It's Probably Nothing, which explores how women of all ages and backgrounds have sought help from doctors and been dismissed, undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

"I still live with adenomyosis. Two ultrasounds and an MRI later, there is still no solution. Thankfully there are encouraging signs that more funding is being made available for research into women's health," she wrote.