Bindi Irwin Recalls 10 Years of 'Agonizing Pain' Before Endometriosis Diagnosis: 'I Was Incredibly Unwell'

• Bindi Irwin has opened up about dealing with over a decade of "agonizing pain" before being diagnosed with endometriosis

• "The only people that knew that I was incredibly unwell ... my husband, my mom and my brother, and behind closed doors I was struggling to do anything and everything," the TV personality said on the A Life of Greatness podcast

• Bindi first revealed her diagnosis on Instagram in March 2023

Bindi Irwin is giving an update on her health after over 10 years of "being really, really sick" before she was diagnosed with endometriosis.

While speaking on the Monday, Feb. 3 episode of the A Life of Greatness podcast with host Sarah Grynberg, the TV personality, 26, recalled dealing with hidden health issues for over a decade.

"The only people that knew that I was incredibly unwell ... my husband, my mom and my brother, and behind closed doors I was struggling to do anything and everything," Bindi said, referencing her mom Terri Irwin, 60, her brother Robert Irwin, 21, and her husband Chandler Powell, 28, with whom she shares their daughter Grace, 3.

"It resulted in a lot of canceled plans, people must have thought I was just incredibly flaky because I was getting so sick from this disease that I would try to get up and I would just throw up, I was in so much pain all the time. Every day the fatigue and the battle," Bindi shared.

Related: Bindi Irwin Celebrates Going on First 'Big Hike in Years Since Endometriosis Took Away So Much': 'I Cried Happy Tears'

She said endometriosis "is an enormous problem for so many people and it's not being talked about a lot," adding on the podcast, "I went for 10 years undiagnosed because doctors really didn't know enough, they diagnosed me with a million other things, like IBS, or hormones or 'It's just part of being a woman.' The symptoms continued to snowball and it took me such a long time to find help and it’s a story that so many women and girls know all too well."

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), endometriosis "is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. It can cause severe pain in the pelvis."

Before her diagnosis, Bindi insisted she "had every scan you could imagine" — CT scans, MRI scans, ultrasounds, blood tests, as well as being "tested for every tropical disease" — and was told "there's nothing wrong with you" by doctors despite "getting more and more unwell."

Eventually, the conservationist had a friend whose symptoms matched her journey, and she ended up going to "a lovely surgeon in the U.S." who operated on her and "found over 30 lesions," she told the podcast.

"Basically it attacks anywhere and everywhere ... it affects everybody differently. It can affect women in many different ways from fertility issues to extreme pain and fatigue, heavy bleeding," Bindi shared. "For me, if I hadn't gotten surgery, the next five years of my life would have been very make or break because I was having real problems internally."

"I had an enormous chocolate cyst that had adhered my ovary to my side so I was just in agonizing pain and it just doesn't show up on scans for whatever reason," she said, adding that once her daughter was born, she realized she had to do something.

Bindi told the podcast, "I’m so grateful to be on the other side of surgery. There’s no cure for endometriosis but if you’re able to get surgery you have a better shot at life. Maybe in five of 10 years, I’ll have to get another surgery but for now, it's all gone, which I'm very grateful for."

"I was so scared to share my story, I had never talked about being unwell, because I thought it was all in my head. After a dozen doctors tell you you’re crazy, you start to believe them," she admitted.

Related: Bindi Irwin’s Daughter Grace Has the Cutest Reaction to a Statue of Her Grandma Terri Irwin in Adorable New Video

Giving another shoutout to her family, Bindi said they "dealt with it for 10-plus years just as much as I did, trying to find answers and helping me along the way and saying, 'Hey, you're collapsed on the floor. You probably should get some help and you shouldn't listen to the doctors saying this is normal.' "

"You turn to the medical industry looking for assistance and it can cause anxiety and depression ... this disease and other women’s health issues can be extremely isolating for people," she shared, claiming that her surgeon's words really helped after the operation.

"My surgeon after I had surgery he said, ‘How did you live and function in this much pain?’ and those words just wiped me out because somebody finally validated 10-plus years of feeling so awful in one sentence. That meant so much to me. Never give up on yourself because you will find answers," Bindi insisted.

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The Crikey! It’s the Irwins star first shared her diagnosis on Instagram in March 2023, before opening up about her health journey in a PEOPLE cover story in August 2023. The following May, Bindi became the first international figure to receive the 2024 EndoFound Blossom Award at EndoFound’s 12th Annual Blossom Ball in New York City.

The fundraising night celebrates “all those who have worked so hard for the endometriosis cause,” according to the Endometriosis Foundation of America’s website.

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