Strictly’s Montell Douglas reveals ‘traumatic incident’ which left her unconscious

Whether it’s hitting the dance floor for Strictly Come Dancing live, destroying the competition in the Gladiators’ arena or lining up against the world’s best 100m sprinters at the Olympics, Montell Douglas is very accustomed to formidable enemies. But the 38-year-old former Team GB Olympian, also known as Fire on BBC One’s Gladiators, says the hardest of all her challenges has been coping with period pain so bad it has put her in hospital.

“When I was 16, my monthly periods were a week long, very heavy and involved three days of pretty intense pain. But all the girls talked about period pain, so I didn’t understand that it wasn’t normal to have it as bad as I did.

“I just thought that’s what they were like – there was this air of ‘oh, you have period pain,’ but the spectrum is so wide. On a scale of one to 10, I felt like I was like 11 out of 10 all the time .I missed days of school very early on because I couldn’t get out of bed and I remember constantly having to take pain medication.

“Other people used to use theirs as an excuse to get out of PE lessons, but I would try to carry on because I loved sport so much.”

His struggle continued well into his career as a professional athlete. “My monthly cycle really influenced my training,” says Montell, who became the first British woman to compete in different sports at both a summer and winter Olympics, after the star from the track to join Team GB’s bobsleigh team.

“It was a problem that happened every three weeks, so I was trying to fight to keep going. One time, I was literally bent over on the floor, holding my stomach, waiting for the wave of pain to end, and my trainer was asking me, ” What’s going on?”

“I would try to fight, waiting for these contractions to end that would last 30 seconds or a minute so I could start my reps again.”

But despite taking the pill for a decade, her problems didn’t improve. “I had a really traumatic incident just a couple of years ago where I had to be hospitalized because my period pain was crazy,” Montell recalls of a particularly shocking incident in April 2021.

“I don’t know why that particular day was worse than others, but it was horrible. I was home alone in excruciating pain. I took a painkiller and it didn’t go in, so I took another one and it didn’t go in again .

“I ended up sweating profusely, feeling dizzy, passing out; I passed out several times. I called my partner at the time, I called my mom because I was so scared. “I called an ambulance to come get me -me and I was admitted to the hospital. The nurse just looked at me and said, “You must be in absolute agony.”

“It was almost like the trauma of the pain had sent my body into shock. It was a very scary time for me. I was literally texting my mom at one point saying, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to make it, it’s so bad.” I had convulsions and passed out several times.

“I didn’t know if I was going to wake up again, just because of the pain,” says the sports star, who has teamed up with Bupa Health Clinic for the launch of its Period Plan service.

“My body couldn’t regulate its temperature and I became dehydrated, which probably made things worse. It sounds so unbelievable when you tell people you were unconscious just because you had period pains.”

Bupa research has revealed that 75% of women say they experience painful, heavy or irregular periods, with 49% being told this is ‘normal’ that the severe impact of their periods has left them suicidal.

Montell’s hospital run led to her getting a Nexplanon birth control implant in her arm. “The doctors couldn’t say why the pain had been worse that day, but they thought I’d probably waited too long to take my usual painkillers, which meant they hadn’t been able to work properly.

“They didn’t think it was advisable for me to continue without an implant because they didn’t know if or when the same thing could happen to me a second time, and they didn’t want me to be in the same state again. .

“The implant is about an inch and a half long; they put a small slit under my bicep to insert it. I don’t really notice it at all, and I’m not sure how long I’ll have it, but I “it helps manage the flow and control the pain. Now I feel in control, rather than my period controlling me.”

■ The Bupa Menstrual Plan is a personalized care plan for those who suffer from painful, heavy or irregular periods. Includes a 45-minute GP appointment, access to a 24-hour nurse-led helpline and more.