The Traitors: Elen Wyn says GPs laughed at her endometriosis fear
The Traitors contestant Elen Wyn has said she was laughed at by a GP and told she had a low pain threshold during her 10-year wait for an endometriosis diagnosis. Elen, from Anglesey, said she suffered with pain that felt like "barbed wire around her stomach" before her diagnosis, which she was told were "just period pains".She added GPs needed to treat women's health with greater sensitivity and called for better funding from the Welsh government. The Welsh government said it was spending £3m on a women's health hub in each health board by March 2026.
The Traitors star, originally from Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy in Anglesey - who was eliminated on episode two - said she was diagnosed just before appearing on the reality show in 2024 - 10 years after her symptoms started.Elen, now 24, said when her periods began at 14, she frequently missed school and sat out of sport, but a GP insisted she just had a low pain tolerance. She said she was offered a contraceptive pill if she was really struggling, but she did not feel comfortable with this option while not sexually active.She said she continued to suffer so badly she was unable to walk or leave the house. "Sometimes it's like you're being repeatedly stabbed," she said. "I knew it wasn't normal regardless of what I was told.".
She began to piece together that her symptoms closely aligned with endometriosis after seeing other sufferers on TikTok and, while studying in Cardiff when she was about 21, tried again to push for answers from medical professionals."I saw another GP but he said the same, that my pain tolerance was too low. "I remember him laughing at me, it was awful," she said.Elen then requested to see a female GP, who she said "completely validated" her and agreed she could have endometriosis. But when both an ultrasound and an MRI scan came back clear of the condition, Elen pushed for a laparoscopy keyhole surgery, and it was only then that her stage four endometriosis was detected.The disease has spread across Elen's bowel, bladder, fallobian tubes and kidney and, while she is currently on a four-year waiting list for surgery, she has been using her TikTok account to raise awareness about the condition.
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis is an incurable chronic condition which affects 10% of people assigned female at birth who are of reproductive age in the UK. It sees cells similar to those found in the lining of the womb growing elsewhere in the body, such as the bladder and bowel. Symptoms include extremely painful periods, deep fatigue, bladder issues, trouble conceiving and pain during sex.
Research by charity Endometriosis UK found the average diagnosis time for endometriosis in Wales was nine years and 11 months in 2024. This was the longest diagnosis time across the UK and had increased from nine years in 2020.Elen said she was given no support from her GP while she awaited her diagnosis, adding: "I have been offered the coil or the pill, [but] other than that I was given nothing which is so frustrating."She said through her own research she has made changes to her lifestyle to manage her condition, including cutting down her alcohol and caffeine intake as well as engaging in low-impact exercise and prioritising sleep. "I don't suffer nearly as much as I used to... [but] I have done that all on my own," she said.
She added: "I think a narrative needs to be erased here. Because it's a condition associated with female hormones, people tend to link the symptoms with being dramatic and it's really frustrating to me."There is so much stigma around it and I think that stigma needs to be deleted." Elen has called on the Welsh government to offer more funding, better information and greater sensitivity to women's health. "I think GPs need to spend more time exploring their symptoms and offering other solutions rather than just the pill or the coil, it's ridiculous," she said. The Welsh government said endometriosis was one of the eight priorities outlined in its Women's Health Plan for Wales."We have already funded endometriosis nurses in every health board, developed the Endometriosis Cymru website and provided £50 million of additional funding to help cut the longest waiting times, which includes gynaecological conditions," it said.It added £3m would be used to establish a Women's Health Hub in every health board by March 2026, "to support timely diagnosis and management of menstrual conditions including endometriosis".
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Wales Online
10 hours ago
- Wales Online
Tonight's rugby news as Welsh region hit by sudden tragedy and King honours legend
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The Guardian
10 hours ago
- The Guardian
Swing time: experts weigh in on TikTok's kettlebell challenge
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Kettlebell training has been shown to increase muscle mass, which makes your bones stronger, and has been shown in some cases to help reduce fat mass as well as improve back and neck pain, Dr Kim Way, an exercise physiologist and lecturer at Deakin University, says. However, those studies have not assessed doing 100 kettlebell swings a day – typically they have examined some form of kettlebell exercises two to three times a week, Way said. 'There's certainly a lot of difference in … the amount of stress that's being placed on the body, in terms of exercising every day versus having some recovery to allow for the body to essentially adapt,' Way said. A/Prof Justin Keogh, an exercise scientist at Bond University, said the health benefits also depended on the weight of kettlebell used. A heavier weight will help increase strength, muscle power and mass, while doing more repetitions with fewer rest periods will improve strength and endurance, may reduce body fat, and can have cardiovascular health benefits, he said. Kettlebell swings can be advantageous because you have to coordinate different upper and lower body segments and it mirrors the movement patterns that are 'more similar to what life throws at us,' Keogh said. Doing 100 kettlebell swings a day carries the risk of 'going a little bit too hard, too early', Keogh says. 'The chance that your hamstrings, lower back, forearms, etc, are going to feel really tight the next three or four days … is pretty high, and then you might not want to do any exercise over those next couple of days.' 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'But again, we do know that regardless of the age that you start resistance training, you will get benefits compared to those people who [aren't].' Way says that types of exercise like yoga and pilates, which require us to use our body weight as a form of resistance, are 'a great way' to get into resistance training. However, people should keep in mind that if they use body weight exercises for their main form of resistance training there probably is a 'ceiling effect' once you are strong with your own body weight. Then using external weights – whether at the gym or finding weights at home through using cans of food or filling backpacks – can be helpful to get some resistance. Way emphasises 'it doesn't need to be a lot' – sometimes the big fear people have is that to do weight training they have to emulate bodybuilders online who are training for two or three hours each time. 'It actually can be pretty simple,' Way said. You can just strip it down, allocating five to eight exercises targeting your main muscle groups (your chest muscles, back muscles and leg muscles), and doing two to three sets, anywhere between eight and 15 repetitions. 'When you're trying to get into exercise, the best form of movement is always going to be the one that you enjoy. Resistance training or weight training is definitely a great one, because it gives you a really big host of benefits,' Way says. Natasha May is Guardian Australia's health reporter Antiviral is a fortnightly column that interrogates the evidence behind the health headlines and factchecks popular wellness claims What health trend do you want examined? Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian.
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Common pill is putting millions at risk of life-threatening breathing problems, doctor warns
They are pills prescribed to millions in the UK to treat heart conditions and anxiety. But beta blockers may pose a hidden risk to the 7.2 million people living with asthma, an NHS GP has warned. According to the British Heart Foundation, UK doctors issue more than 50 million prescriptions for beta blockers every year. However, Dr Sooj, a family doctor with over 250,000 TikTok followers, cautioned that the drugs can interfere with the way asthma medications work—potentially putting some patients at risk during an attack. Asthma causes symptoms such as wheezing, coughing and chest tightness. While generally manageable, it can become life-threatening, when severely inflamed airways make it extremely difficult to breathe. Asthma UK reports that around 1,200 people die from asthma attacks each year in the UK, while in the US the figure is over 3,500. In a TikTok, Dr Sooj explained: 'If you have asthma you need to be cautious and we need to make sure you're aware of any of the risks and potential complications of taking a beta blocker.' He continued: 'The medications we use in an acute asthma attack are called beta agonists—these help to dilate the pipes in your lungs.' Dr Sooj explained that these beta agonists, found in many common inhalers, work by relaxing the muscles in the airways, making it easier to breathe. But beta blockers—used to slow the heart rate and lower blood pressure—can blunt this effect. 'By doing that, they can worsen the symptoms of asthma,' he said. And it's not just people with asthma who may be affected. Inhalers are also routinely prescribed to those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an umbrella term covering long-term lung conditions such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. These incurable conditions can also cause severe breathing difficulties, and for this group too, beta blockers may pose a risk. The NHS advises patients with asthma or lung disease to inform their doctor before starting beta blockers, to ensure the medication is safe. That said, Dr Sooj added: 'I've seen lots of patients with COPD or asthma who are on beta blockers and they're completely fine with them.' 'But this is a discussion that you should be having with your own doctor.' Dr Sooj added that he still believed beta blockers to be 'excellent medications', and explained developments in the drugs that has improved them. 'We now have cardio selective beta blockers, which... affect the body a bit less.' The new warning follows concerns that a type of beta blocker called propranolol can put patients at risk of 'toxic overdose'—triggering seizures, depression and even cardiac arrest in high doses. Recent research showed the number of prescriptions for propranolol to treat anxiety in the UK doubled between 2003 and 2018. In theory, by keeping blood pressure low, feelings of panic and anxiety are reduced. However some experts have claimed there 'no evidence' that drugs are effective for mental health, and that patients often aren't adequately warned about risk of an overdose. In a recent letter to The Guardian, pharmacist Christopher Sullivan warned that the drug 'is associated with significant adverse outcomes' and urged GPs to exercise 'extreme caution when prescribing these medicines for anxiety'. 'Prescribing these medicines for anxiety is not recommended in national evidence-based guidelines,' he added. It followed comments from GP Dr Amir Khan, who told the newspaper that propananol had been linked to 'higher rates of depression' and warned GPs not to prescribe it to anxious patients who also suffer low mood. 'If you are taking them long term, you can't suddenly stop them,' he added. 'You need to be weaned off them.' The risks are not thought to pertain to those taking the medicine for heart problems and other physical issues like migraine—but experts say patients with mental health troubles are vulnerable to either accidentally or purposefully taking an overdose.
