I am a 26-year-old woman who has experienced chronic constipation on and off for the past 2 years. Senna and suppositories make me "go" but my stools are very hard and painful to pass. Fybrogel is a bit hit or miss. I've also had a slight irregularity in my periods (every 3rd or 4th period comes slightly early- like a few days- then my next few periods are on schedule).
My father has aggressive prostate cancer and has found out that he has BRCA2. I am awaiting testing to see if I have it. I'm a little worried, however silly it may sound, that my symptoms could point to a gynae issue. My biggest worry is something like ovarian cancer. I'm seeing the GP tomorrow and I want to raise this without completely freaking myself out. I am also currently sedentary due to another health issue (PoTS syndrome) and am on a tonne of meds associated with constipation, so it's hard to know. I don't have any symptoms that scream OC but I also know that it tends to be subtle until it's advanced, hence the worry. I don't really have any bloating or urge to urinate. Have gained a little weight but slowly and gradually - and I have been eating too much. Good appetite - actually a little too good tbh.
I have bought two bowel health tests over the past year and both of them came back negative, so I'm not really concerned about my bowels. I think having the BRCA2 gene hanging over my head is making me really scared and leading me to assume the worst.
I am very prone to hypochondria. Very, very prone. But it's hard not to worry when it seems like the news is filled with younger people getting cancer and I might have terrible genes.