Shamita Shetty opens up about horrific pain of undiagnosed endometriosis: Realised something was seriously wrong when...

Actor Shamita Shetty gets candid about her battle with endometriosis and why she ignored the signs for months. Read her full story.

In a candid revelation on the July 10 episode of All About Her, hosted by actor and author Soha Ali Khan, Bollywood actor Shamita Shetty opened up about her intense battle with endometriosis.

The episode, which also featured endometriosis and women’s health specialist Dr Neeta Warty, shed light on why the debilitating condition is so frequently misdiagnosed and how millions of women might be suffering in silence.

The danger of normalising pain

For Shamita, the journey to a correct diagnosis was a grueling process of self-doubt and medical oversight. When asked by Soha, “How long had you been in pain before you actually got the answer?” Shamita admitted that standard medical screenings failed to catch the underlying issue.

"I think, in my case, I kind of dragged it on because I wasn't given the right diagnosis initially," Shamita revealed. “Every time I experienced certain symptoms, I'd tell myself, 'Maybe this is normal.' When I first went to my gynaecologist with these concerns, before I was introduced to Dr Warty, she did all the routine tests, a pap smear and everything else to make sure everything was okay. When those reports came back normal, no one thought to check for anything more. It was just left at that,” she added.

This lack of initial detection led Shamita to internalise her discomfort, a reality she notes is all too common for women: "So every time the symptoms returned, I'd think, 'Nothing showed up last time, so maybe this is normal. Maybe it's just part and parcel of being a woman.' Like you rightly said, we don't really express the pain we feel. So many things, whether it's period pain or anything related to our hormones, are normalised for women. We're just expected to live with them."

When the body demands answers

Shamita, who described herself as having a ‘very high pain tolerance’ due to managing numerous physical injuries over the years, explained that the condition eventually escalated to a point she could no longer ignore.

"For me, the intensity of the pain really increased about six to eight months before I eventually had surgery. Before that, it wasn't as severe," Shamita said. “I'm someone who has a very high pain tolerance. I've dealt with a lot of injuries over the years, so I tend to push through pain. But when the pain started waking me up from my sleep, that's when I realised something was seriously wrong. My body was trying to tell me that I needed answers,” she added.

Adding to the diagnostic confusion was the fact that the onset of her severe symptoms coincided with another major hormonal milestone.

"I was also very confused because all of this happened around the same time I was learning about perimenopause," Shamita confessed. “There was already so much happening with my hormones that I couldn't tell whether what I was experiencing was just part of perimenopause or whether something else was wrong,” she added.

Medical expert weighs in: what is endometriosis?

Shamita’s experience highlights a pervasive global issue in women's healthcare: the systemic delay in diagnosing pelvic pain. In a June 2026 interviewwith HT Lifestyle, Dr Shobha Gupta, medical director and gynaecologist at Mother's Lap IVF Centre, New Delhi, echoed Shamita’s concerns regarding how women view menstrual discomfort.

“Many women live with endometriosis symptoms for years before receiving a diagnosis because they assume their pain is just part of their menstrual cycle," Dr Gupta stated, adding, "Persistent or unusual symptoms should never be ignored because early diagnosis can make a significant difference in managing the condition and protecting fertility.”

Dr Gupta broke down the clinical realities of the condition, explaining how it behaves inside the body: “Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, commonly affecting the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and pelvic tissues. During the menstrual cycle, this tissue responds to hormonal changes, leading to inflammation, pain, and sometimes scar tissue formation.”

Crucially, the disease is highly unpredictable and does not present the same way in every patient. Dr Gupta noted that ‘some women may have severe symptoms with minimal disease, while others may have significant disease with mild symptoms’, making targeted medical histories, imaging, and specialized evaluations vital.

Advocating for proactive health management, Dr Gupta urged women to look for subtle, recurring warning signs. “Women should pay attention to patterns in their symptoms. Tracking menstrual pain, cycle changes, and other discomforts can help doctors identify problems earlier," Dr Gupta advised, adding, "Endometriosis is manageable, but awareness is the first step toward timely treatment.”

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.