A Bristol woman with 'razor blade' pain in her uterus is 'petrified' about how she will pay her bills after the mysterious illness has left her bedridden.
Fiona Riches woke up in agony two weeks ago. Doctors suspect it could be endometriosis, a condition where tissues in the uterus grows in the wrong place. But it can take years for a proper diagnosis and surgery to take place.
To help her get through the day, the 24-year-old now relies on a series of prescribed and over-the-counter painkillers. But the cost of these treatments are escalating, so Fiona has been forced to cut her pain relief patches in half to make them last longer.
The Old Market resident has not been able to work in her role as a live sound engineer and tour manager during the pandemic because no gigs have been taking place. She now fears when bookings start again, she'll be unable to return.
Most days, she can barely walk and struggles to sleep because the pain is so intense.
To tackle the agony, Fiona has bought heat pads, prescriptions, CBD, painkillers and supplements.
But all of these treatments are costing a lot of money, which she currently does not have.
"I can't even begin to describe how much pain I'm in," said Fiona. "I've got such a long journey ahead of me, the average amount of time it takes for diagnostic surgery is seven years and at the moment I can't even walk, let alone work.
"It's crippling, it feels like razor blades inside me.
"I'm working myself up into a frenzy about not being able to pay my rent and bills at the end of this month.
"I don't like to think about what could happen if I couldn't pay my bills - it petrifies me."
Fiona has launched a Gofundme to help raise crucial funds.
"The added extra costs that come with being sick are rarely talked about but believe me, they're there. Heat pads, prescriptions, CBD, painkillers, supplements.. they don't grow on trees," she said. "I'm cutting my pain relief patches in half to make them go further.
"Anyone who's lived with chronic pain can relate."
During the coronavirus lockdown, she received no help from the government in self-employed grants and was denied furlough by her employer.
"I just about made it through the first lockdown," she said. "Now I feel like I'm entering my own second one.
"It's been a ridiculously hard few months financially, and now that I'm ill and not being believed by doctors, it just feels even more like everything is against me."
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