Long story short: suffer with health anxiety, have done for a few years after extremely traumatic event, but it's been well managed for years now. I'm on sertraline, exercise and generally know what I need to do to help myself.
Recently I've been having some period and stomach issues. I'm 41, periods have become heavier and incredibly painful and also make me feel unwell each month. I get an upset stomach - sorry for detail but movements turn a bit yellowy as well.
I'm also got ongoing upper left pain, aches like indigestion which can radiate to the shoulder a bit but that's more unusual and not as frequent. Bowel movements are irregular and erratic, but they have been for a while. I've had the yellowy issue on and off for about four years now - GP didn't do a stool sample and as it largely coincided with period, ovulation or high periods of anxiety put it down to that.
I've had some stuff going on recently - very unwell family member, another family member with mental health problems, son starting a new school, had some unexpected and pricey issues with our house. Anxiety has crept in and my diet has become worse, I've not been exercising.
I now don't know if the anxiety is causing these issues or if they are issues that should be checked out regardless. GP sent me for a full blood count, all came back fine, aside from prediabetes and very slightly low iron but literally only just. I've just had an abdominal scan but they didn't give me any indicator as to whether they found anything, GP said it was to look for fibroids.
I need a bit of objective input as I'm becoming more and more anxious so the cycle is beginning - I don't know if it's hypervigilence or actual real symptoms, I mean I'm feeling the discomfort, the pain, the bloating, the gas etc. Help!