Kate Lawler says she is having a 'hard time mentally' after long battle with pelvic pain

Kate Lawler said she has been "having a bit of a hard time" mentally and thanked her husband for "putting up with" her on the latest episode of her podcast, Boj & Kate Have A Lot On Their Plate.

The 45-year-old television personality told listeners she has been a "nightmare" to live with, attributing mood swings and irritability to hormonal changes. "I just want to say thank you for putting up with me because I am having a bit of a hard time at the minute, mentally," she said. "And I know that I am a nightmare to live with and my hormones are all over the place. I am irritable." Her husband, Martin Bojtos, replied: "I know, it's okay. You find me irritating, well you find anyone irritating."

Lawler has linked her recent mental-health difficulties to a prolonged physical health struggle she disclosed publicly earlier this year. In June she revealed she had been living with pelvic congestion syndrome, a little-known condition caused by varicose veins around the ovaries and womb that can produce severe pelvic pain.

Lawler described episodes of sharp, stabbing pain that could last from 10 seconds to several hours, and said she was once rushed to a hospital in Greece after experiencing intense pain while on holiday. She told The Sun on Sunday that initial rounds of tests and several misdiagnoses in the U.K. failed to identify the cause, and that some clinicians told her she was "fine" and attributed symptoms to hormones or ovulation.

She said she visited her GP twice and was told the pain might be a hernia or endometriosis. A consultation with a private gynaecologist also did not provide answers. Lawler said the condition was finally identified after a chance conversation during a routine appointment for varicose veins in August 2022. She credited The Whiteley Clinic with arranging testing that confirmed pelvic congestion syndrome.

Pelvic congestion syndrome is thought to result from problems with pelvic veins that allow blood to pool and veins to enlarge, similar to varicose veins in the legs. Pregnancy and childbirth are known triggers for the condition, and it most commonly affects women aged 20 to 45 who have given birth more than once, people with varicose veins, a family history of varicose veins, or polycystic ovary syndrome. Symptoms can include chronic pelvic pain that worsens after standing, during or after sex, or around menstruation, and may be accompanied by an urgent need to urinate or visibly enlarged veins on the buttocks, genitals or thighs. Estimates suggest the condition affects around 1.5 million people in the U.K.

Treatment options include pain-relieving medication and hormonal approaches to reduce ovarian function. A common interventional procedure is pelvic vein embolisation, in which tiny coils are placed in damaged veins under X-ray guidance to block problematic circulation. Surgery to remove damaged veins and, in some cases, hysterectomy have also been used. Lawler told reporters the embolisation she underwent was "uncomfortable but not painful" and said the procedure had changed her life.

Lawler, who shares a four-year-old daughter, Noa, with Bojtos, has called for greater awareness of pelvic congestion syndrome among doctors and patients after a lengthy period of misdiagnoses. On the podcast she alternated moments of affection and frustration when describing daily life with her family, saying she could be overly warm with one child in the morning and then unexpectedly annoyed by her husband despite his not doing anything wrong.

Her public discussion of both the physical and mental effects of her condition adds to growing calls from patients and some clinicians for increased recognition of pelvic vein disorders as a cause of chronic pelvic pain. Lawler’s account underscores the diagnostic challenges patients can face and the importance of clinicians considering vascular causes when pelvic pain is unexplained by more commonly suspected conditions.