Hello, lovelies. My name is Arti Shah, and welcome to the first episode of A Ray of Sunshine, a journey of an endo warrior and everything in between.

In this episode, I speak about my journey with endometriosis. It takes up to 6-10 years to properly diagnose endometriosis, and in some cases even longer. I delve into how I finally got diagnosed and the numerous life challenges I had to overcome along the way, truly earning my stripes as an endo warrior.

This podcast is not only about endometriosis. Anyone with a chronic illness or chronic pain can relate to these experiences. This is a place where I hope you feel validated and heard. It's about providing you with valuable content and debunking falsified information.

Disclaimer: The information on this podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

The transcript of the first few minutes of this podcast is presented below:

Hello, lovelies. My name is Arti Shah, and welcome to the first episode of A Ray of Sunshine, a journey of an endo warrior and everything in between.

Life has a very funny way of teaching us the most beautiful lessons through the most challenging situations. In this podcast, I aim to discuss life as we know it, keeping it as real as possible so that you, my lovely audience, have a place to relate to and understand that you are not alone. We all have battles we face every day, be it big or small.

This is a place where you feel validated and heard. It's about providing you with valuable content and debunking falsified information, especially relating to endometriosis. However, this podcast is not only about endometriosis, but for anyone with a chronic illness and anyone who feels that you can relate to this in any way possible.

It's a place where you can find a community to share, find hope, and encouragement. We will laugh a lot, but sometimes we may cry. Welcome home.

Just to give you a background of who I am, I am 42 years of age, and I was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 25. I had been battling chronic depression from the age of three, and this led to a lot of mixed emotions, which I never understood at that age. I then started experiencing a lot of pain.

I started my periods at the age of 13, and this came with even more mixed emotions of mood swings, crying, feeling lost, dizziness, nausea, sleep deprivation, and a lot more pain. I just couldn't figure out what was going on, and I blamed everything on depression, not knowing that there was a demon or a condition culminating inside of me called endometriosis.

Endometriosis, sometimes called endo is a common health problem that affects anybody in their reproductive age. It gets its name from the word endometrium, which is a tissue that lines the uterus. Endometriosis is when tissues similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside your uterus and onto other organs and other areas in your body where it doesn't belong, causing unbearable pain and other illnesses.

It has no cure and affects one in 10 women. It takes up to six to 10 years to properly diagnose endometriosis and in some cases even longer, up to 20 plus years. This happens due to a few reasons, including the biggest reason of symptoms being dismissed as just a bad period, and also as some of the symptoms of endometriosis may be similar to some symptoms of other diseases.

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