Scared I've got cancer

[Sweetsundays]

Hi everyone. I have had heavy periods and have been anemic on and off. I did a home HPV kit 8 months ago. It went to the same lab as the NHS ones go too. It came back negative for hpv. Which apparently means you are extremely unlikely to have cervical cancer risks.

I had a scan of my uterus in Feb which don't know if that would pick anything up?

I tried the mini pill which made me constantly bleed. I came of that after just six weeks. But since then my body is a mess.

I constantly have discharge. It's not smelly or a funny colour. Although mid cycle I spot for up to two days. I also get a full ache mid cycle for a couple of days. The discharge is heavy. It is always there and I hate it. It makes me self conscious about having sex.

I get why ovaries as above. Sometimes they feel achy for a week. But the drs say they look absolutely fine.

I am loosing weight. But I had my thyroid etc all checked this year. The Dr is saying I'm anxious. I have been mildly anxious this year and abit up and down. But who hasnt?

Ive had tailbone pain for months. It flares up and comes and goes.

Often feel weak. But not sure if that's down to the activity levels we now have due to Coronavirus.

I get headaches and muscle pain in my upper back and neck.

Does this sound alarming?

Thanks.

Worrying about cancer is probably stopping you from figuring out the real problem. There's a long list of other things that can lead to heavy periods you need to consider.

You sound very much like you have health anxiety.

That sounds like your primary problem.

The physical symptoms either separately or combined could be 100 different things, not cancer.
Sounds like you have had loads of tests & investigations and nothing has been found.

What does your GP suggest going forward?

Yes try not to worry. I was diagnosed with cervical cancer in March and had none of those symptoms.

Are you up to date with your smear tests?

I'd go back to the doctor and see where he says to go from there

Hey OP. I have health anxiety. The really stupid thing about health anxiety is that you can look at someone else who suffers from it and think 'wow, all those symptoms aren't connected, this person is mostly very anxiousand trying to see a sinister pattern' - while at the same time being convinced that your OWN set of symptoms (or 'symptoms') are deeply worrying!

So I do wonder if your GP may be right about you having anxiety. I find my own health anxiety has peaked and fallen across CoronaTimes, but undeniably these are stressful times to live in, particularly if you already suffer from stress or anxiety!

As other posters have said, there are lots of reasons for having a disrupted cycle like yours. It's possible the mini pill knocked your hormones sideways a bit - when did you stop taking it? Some women do have regular mid-cycle spotting, connected to the follicle that the ripened egg has popped from - if that's normal for you, it's ok.

How old are you? Do you think you might be approaching perimenopause? I'm definitely in that zone myself and could have written your post (apart from fact I've never taken the mini pill). I too have had some non-invasive investigations because my ovaries (well, I thought that's what it was) were aching mid-cycle and sometimes all the way through to my period. I also get pre-period spotting these last few years, and just a whole lot of pelvic pain and aches. Over the last 3 years I've had two lots of bloods done which showed nothing untoward (they were looking at the ca-125 marker that can indicate risk of ovarian cancer, as well as general inflammation markers), and had a pelvic and urinary tract scan earlier this year which also showed nothing unusual..

But I still worry about it! The pelvic, lower back and abdominal pains and aches don't help, but if I can manage to distract myself or stop obsessing, they are definitely a lot better/less prevalent. Can I recommend you ask for blood tests just in case, because it's non-invasive, and then try to find a means of reaching some acceptance of the way you feel? Some types of relaxation techniques are really useful, I found. Light exercise and walking are great too - funnily enough I have never found my pelvic aches and pains bother me while I'm exercising...

I'm terrible at practicing what I preach and will try to dust my own relaxation practice off too!