What it is like to live with endometriosis for 30 years

“My name is Arti Shah, an aesthetician and certified counsellor. I am an advocate for endometriosis and adenomyosis. I have battled endometriosis for over 30 years. I sit here being strong about it, but the emotional toll that has come with it has been very debilitating.  I have attended counseling sessions.
 
I got diagnosed with the disease12 years after I started my menses. The period pain was so excruciating I used to faint. I became depressed and couldn’t understand why my periods were so heavy, why they would last longer than my friends. To top it up, I was told I was being too sensitive and emotional.

At the time I was diagnosed, I had a cyst in my ovary that was about to burst. I was taken in for surgery, and that’s when they realised that it was endometriosis.
 
Prior to that, I had been put on contraceptive pills to manage the pain and everything. After the diagnosis, I was put on hormonal tablets, and would go to Thailand for seven years to do hormonal treatment.
 
Ten years ago, in 2015, I had multiple surgeries for endometriosis because I kept having ablated surgeries. An ablation surgery is a surgical technique that destroys or removes endometriosis growths, to reduce how much you bleed during periods. After my ablation surgeries, I was doing so much better. I also took the non-conventional route of acupuncture, and the symptoms got better.
 
And then Covid-19 hit in 2020, and I took the vaccines. They exacerbated the nerve pain in the pelvic area. There were days where I couldn’t even walk or hold things. I was breathless, constantly nauseated and vomiting all the time. My asthma also got worse, so I managed it with acupuncture.
 
In 2022, I traveled abroad for my first excision surgery - removal of endometrial tissue that has grown outside the uterus. Unfortunately, six months later, the painful periods were back. They would last nine days, and I was now getting them every two weeks.

I underwent a transvaginal scan at 3rd Park hospital during an endometriosis marathon and was diagnosed with adenomyosis. Last year, it got to a point where I just couldn’t deal with it. The pain was so excruciating I couldn’t focus or function. Migraines started, and all the other ailments resurfaced.
 
On December 12, 2024, I underwent surgery for adenomyosis. They found recurrence of endometriosis, which had completely covered my ureter, underneath my left ovary and underneath the intestines. They were all fused together. Three months’ post-surgery, I felt better and the pain subsided.
 
Before, there were very few good days, but 2025 is redemption time. I am looking forward to reclaiming whatever I can in terms of my work, and continuing advocacy so that the current and the coming generations don’t have to go through what we’ve gone through.”