"I was told there was no cure": Lili Reinhart opens up about endometriosis diagnosis

Singer Halsey says she spent “years” suffering with the condition before her diagnosis in 2016. She recalls being in so much pain that she would "vomit or faint," often finding herself doubled up with cramps backstage at shows.

However, she told fans in a tweet that her diagnosis felt like a "bittersweet" moment because even though it was "terrifying" to find out, she felt like doctors were finally listening.

Halsey – now a mum of one - said in the post: "Emotional moment; but if any of you suffer from endometriosis please know you aren't alone. I know how excruciatingly painful it can be and how discouraging the disease can be.

"To feel like it's going to limit you because of how debilitating it is. To miss school and work, or even worse to GO and suffer through it anyway feeling like a prisoner in your own body. To maybe be worried about 'never having kids' or dealing with crazy treatment suggestions."

After dealing with endo symptoms for 23 years, author, model and TV presenter Padma finally got her diagnosis in 2006 – after the pain and bleeding forced her to cut a photoshoot short in order to visit a doctor.

She has candidly spoken out about how endo has impacted on her relationship with her body ever since her teenage years, telling the Endometriosis Foundation of America: "Endometriosis develops part and parcel with your womanhood, and so you can't help but have it skew your relationship with your physical self. We're always talking about, "Oh, she's blossoming into a woman." I didn't feel like I was blossoming.

"I felt like there were these explosions in my abdomen. Puberty, my period, it didn't feel like this wonderful new time in my life — it wasn't like all those tampon commercials make it out to be, like, "Oh, your period can be fun! Ride a horse and go to ballet, take that extreme Pilates or yoga class!" I was lucky if I could even walk down the street on my own two feet. So, from the start, it mangled my relationship with my body."

Now, she says she's thankful to be living a full life with the help of her doctors and through managing her symptoms with diet to reduce inflammation.

Girls creator Lena Dunham has been open about her experience with the condition, revealing in 2017 that she was finally free of endometriosis after five surgeries.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan UK as part of her March 2020 cover interview, Lena said: "Having endometriosis has had a really interesting effect on my relationship with my body. Pain does not inherently make you feel sexy; pain doesn't make you feel beautiful, but in another way, it's forced me to really take ownership of my body and express my needs."

Lena has undergone a total hysterectomy as a result of complications from endometriosis. It was a difficult outcome to accept because she "never had any doubt that I wanted to be a mother". But after riding the waves of this loss, Lena told us that she's now arrived at a place of acceptance – and even positivity.

Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley previously said that treating her endometriosis left her body in “a bit of a mess”. Writing about the effect it's had on her life in a since-deleted Instagram post a few years back, Daisy said: "8 years [after being diagnosed], pain was back (more mild this time!) and my skin was THE WORST. I've tried everything: products, antibiotics, more products, more antibiotics) and all that did was left my body in a bit of a mess.”

She went on to say that she also has PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and advised fans to trust their bodies when it came to getting the proper help.

Daisy wrote: "To any of you who are suffering with anything, go to a doctor; pay for a specialist; get your hormones tested, get allergy testing; keep on top of how your body is feeling and don't worry about sounding like a hypochondriac. From your head to the tips of your toes we only have one body, let us all make sure ours is working in tip top condition, and take help if it's needed."

On-screen legend, Whoopi Goldberg, has discussed her endometriosis and frustrations around how long it typically takes for women with endo to get the proper healthcare they need.

"We pay taxes. Women pay taxes. I don't understand why when doctors go to school forever, they're not taught about a woman's body," she said during an appearance on US panel show, The View. "And then you have all of these people making these comments and you know [they] have no idea how this works."

At the age of 25, when Spice Girl Emma Bunton was diagnosed with endometriosis, she was told she had a 50:50 chance of becoming a mum.

“That nearly broke me,” she told Stella magazine in 2019. “I knew I had the right partner; I knew I wanted to be a mum.”

Emma now has two children, 17-year-old Beau and 13-year-old Tate, with husband Jade Jones and said she was “broody” for a third in an interview with YOU magazine in 2021.

For Emma Roberts it was the decision to switch doctors in her late twenties that lead to her endometriosis diagnosis. Despite suffering with debilitating pain since her teens, the actress didn’t feel like her concerns were being taken seriously.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan US, she said: “I always had debilitating cramps and periods, so bad that I would miss school and, later, have to cancel meetings. I mentioned this to my doctor, who didn’t look into it and sent me on my way because maybe I was being dramatic? In my late twenties, I just had a feeling I needed to switch to a female doctor. It was the best decision. She ran tests, sent me to a specialist.

“Finally, there was validation that I wasn’t being dramatic.”

Her best discovery, she says, was realising that she wasn’t alone and that there were many more women she could talk to. She continued: “I started opening up to other women, and all of a sudden, there was a new world of conversation about endometriosis, infertility, miscarriages, fear of having kids. I was so grateful to find out I was not alone in this. I hadn’t done anything ‘wrong’ after all.”

Though she hasn’t spoken extensively about living with endometriosis, Chrissy once told her Twitter followers that she was recovering from surgery to get rid of endometriosis tissue. And even though the procedure was painful, it had been “better than the contractions and the pain of endo.”

“Usually I'm really good after [surgery]," she said. "This one's a toughie. My whole belly got numbed. It's gonna be numb for like, a couple of days."

At the age of 20, actress Julianne Hough was rushed to hospital to have surgery to remove endometrial tissue that had been found outside her uterus. Going public about her painful endometriosis journey in a 2008 interview with People, Julianne revealed that scar tissue, which had spread to her bladder and fallopian tubes was lasered off in a two-hour surgery that also removed her appendix.

She told Glamour in 2017: “Being educated and understanding what I have makes me feel powerful. Not understanding it, ignoring it, and saying I was fine put me in a weaker position."

Modern Family actress Sarah Hyland has said having endometriosis can make it hard to be on set because she's often curled up in pain.

In 2018, Sarah had laparoscopic surgery for her endometriosis but still suffered with the symptoms shortly afterward.

She revealed to Self: “[This week] I've had a flare-up with my endo. It has been hard to stand up straight, let alone work. But the fetal position helps a lot.”

Actor Jaime King has openly shared her PCOS, endometriosis and adenomyosis diagnoses and in Galore magazine discussed how fertility (which can be impacted by all three conditions) can wrongly be tangled up with a woman's 'worth'.

"A big shift in me happened when I was diagnosed with endometriosis and poly-cystic ovary syndrome, which are very painful reproductive illnesses," she said. "I also had countless miscarriages and almost lost my children. I thought that because my womb didn’t work the way I was taught it should work, I was broken.

"We are told as women that our great value is to be able to carry life, to carry a child. If we’re fertile and abundant, we’re a worthy goddess. But for some reason, those parts don’t function for some of us."

Amy Schumer is active in raising awareness of endometriosis, as well as calling out the lack of funding for research.

The mum-of-one has undergone “life-changing” surgery to have her uterus and appendix removed. She revealed that doctors had found and removed 30 spots of endometriosis in total.

“I’m really hopeful and I’m glad that I did it,” she told her Instagram followers. “I think it’s going to change my life.”

She added: “I’m going to try to share this story at some point to raise awareness because so many people don’t even know the word endometriosis and it’s like one in 10 women has it.

“It’s really painful and debilitating and you don’t have to live with it.”