Lucy Mecklenburgh has shared an update on her battle with endometriosis.
The former The Only Way is Essex star announced that she was diagnosed with the condition, which causes tissue similar to the lining of the uterus to grow outside the uterus, in February of this year.
While opening up about her journey with endometriosis, Lucy has shared an insight into her fertility, symptoms she’s been experiencing recently and whether or not she’s going to go through with surgery to possibly alleviate her pain.
Lucy answered a Q&A from some of her 1.7M Instagram followers on her Stories, where one fan asked, “How are you dealing with endometriosis? Are you planning to have a laparoscopy soon?”.
The 32-year-old replied by admitting, “Honestly I am in 2 minds about the surgery. It’s such a hard decision to make when there’s no guarantee it will help my symptoms, this is what I have been told anyway”.
“I’m doing ok, I find the severe bloating one of the hardest symptoms if I’m completely honest but none of my symptoms are that pleasant”.
Lucy went on to ask her fans for tips about managing the condition by stating, “As always I love your advice/ tips for managing endo & thoughts on the surgery?”.
Mecklenburgh then spoke out about her fertility, which can be affected by the condition, revealing she ‘didn’t struggle to conceive’.
“There’s quite a lot of people asking about my fertility having endo & honestly I didn’t have any struggle conceiving but I also didn’t get the symptoms of endo until after having Lilah so I don’t know if pregnancy made it worse for me or that’s when it started”.
“What I will say is when I eat homemade, balanced meals, drink lots of water, exercise regularly and sleep well my symptoms are sooo much better".
"The problem is that’s not always possible! I’m now trying to work out food triggers for me”.
The former reality star is a mum to four-year-old Roman and nearly-two-year-old Lilah, whom she shares with her husband and Coronation Street actor Ryan Thomas.