A woman who spent five years being told she just had "period pain" discovered she had endometriosis, two uteruses and cervixes and 40 cysts on her ovaries."

Ashley Garrett, 24, has always struggled with heavy and painful periods but was told it was "normal" despite bleeding through her pants."

She took herself to the doctors aged 16 and was put on the contraceptive pill which helped regulate her blood flow but didn't help with her pain.

At aged 20 she was told she was possibly infertile and had PCOS - a common condition that affects how a woman's ovaries work.

Ashley continued to go to the doctors and was eventually given an ultrasound which revealed she had two uteruses - which were heart-shaped - and two cervixes.

A second ultrasound two years later revealed she had endometriosis but doctors refused to perform laparoscopy to remove it because of her two uteruses.

She finally found a doctor who was willing to do the surgery and underwent the operation in September 2024 to remove 40 cysts on her ovaries, a tennis ball sized mass and the endometriosis.

Ashley has now been told she may need a hysterectomy to stop the endometriosis coming back.

Ashley, a bartender, from Savannah, Georgia, US, said: "I felt crazy."

"Everyday I'm exhausted."

"I get so bloated I looked six months pregnant. "

"It was an ongoing pain and torture."

"It feels like it was never ending."

Ashley was in excruciating pain from the moment she started her period aged 14 - but her pain was dismissed by doctors and her family.

She would bleed through ultra-tampons and a pad in an hour and couldn't leave the house.

Ashley said: "For years I came home in pain and they just thought I was lying."

"It led me to believe it was normal. "

"I was bleeding through my pants."

"I was having periods for 10 to 14 days."

Ashley went to see a doctor for the first time aged 16 and was put on birth control. It helped regulate her blood flow but didn't ease her pain.

She decided to come off the pill aged 18 and went to see another doctor for her pain.

She said: "I went to see another doctor and they asked about my sexual history. I said 'what does that have to do with being anything? I'm in for pain.'"

"She told me I was possibly infertile and said 'maybe you have PCOS'."

After going back and forth, Ashley was finally given an ultrasound in early 2021 - aged 20 - which revealed she had two uteruses and cervixes and 40 cysts on her ovaries.

It also revealed she had bicornuate uteruses - where they are abnormally shaped like a heart.

Ashely said: "I asked what can I do about the pain?"

"And they said it's because I had two uteruses."

"It was frustrating they were focusing on the wrong thing."

Ashley moved to Florida and got a second opinion which confirmed she did have two uteruses but offered no further help with her daily pain - apart from being offered ibuprofen and muscle relaxers.

She would also struggle with bloating so bad she looked pregnant and was exhausted.

She said: "I'm paralysed every time I get my period. I'm crying."

Ashley was then sent to pain management but after medication didn't work further ultrasounds revealed she had endometriosis in 2023.

She was originally told they would be able to operate to remove the endometriosis but was then told they wouldn't perform it because she had two uteruses.

Ashley said: "I lost a lot of hope at this point."

She moved to Georgia with her husband, Levi Garrett, 34, a coastguard, this year and met with another doctor.

Ashley said: "He said he had seen so many people with endometriosis getting misdiagnosed and said he now studied women with endometriosis."

"Two months later he got me into surgery."

Ashley had another ultrasound which revealed a tennis ball sized mass on one ovary and had her operation on September 10, 2024.

It was successful in removing the cysts, mass and endometriosis - which had spread to her lung, liver, and pelvis.

She said: "They told my husband I was the worst he'd seen in 30 years."

"It had spread to virtually every organ."

The doctor had hoped to insert an IUD into Ashley's uteruses to stop the production and therefore the regrowth of endometriosis but this was not successful.

She has now been recommended a hysterectomy.

She said: "I hope I don't have to get a hysterectomy. I don't know if I want to have kids yet or not."

Ashley has yet to have a period since her operation but has already noticed she has stopped getting bloated.

She said: "I could be able to have a normal life."

"I had to be my own advocate. "

"It's so crazy to see how many women struggle being heard."

"I don't think any women should have to go through pain like that."