Upper Right Stomach/Flank Pain

Hi all,

The past 2 weeks I've been having stomach pains in a rather specific area - just below my ribs and along my right flank. This is a symptom I've had before. I'm also no stranger to stomach aches and IBS like symptoms in the past due to anxiety. I've been burping a lot, but this isn't a stranger to me either. I burp and get wind a lot and I know that it can happen for people with anxiety.

I also know that me focusing on it (which I have the past 2 weeks) can make symptoms last longer. For myself one set of symptoms replaces another. Before this it was eye ache/strain and before that it was a week or more of neck tension and before that it'll have been something else.

My stomach feels acidic and the pain below the ribs comes and goes. Now for all my pondering and worrying about "what if's" I did a process of elimination to rule out anything serious. Going to the toilet hasn't changed in consistency, frequency or causing me any pain. To press around any of the stomach area I don't feel tenderness or pain. The pain doesn't get worse after a big meal. My appetite has remained unaffected.

I just ran through all this on a speak to a GP app. She ran through all possibilities with me, asked me to push and prod here and there and asked about my previous and family medical history. She said it didn't sound like it warranted further investigation and recommended I try Buscopan (an IBS medication). This is something I've tried before. In fact when I had a 3 month long stomach ache the Dr's recommended all sorts of IBS meds to me and none of them worked. What did work was finally accepting it was anxiety and within a few days it'd passed.

So what could be causing the issues? Well I moved house a few months back. Things were up in the air for a long time. We had rennovation work going on, and we still haven't unpacked everything fully. Next up we have my job - we were told 3 days ago our jobs are at risk of redundancy. Sure this news came in the midst of the stomach pains, but it didn't help defusing my stress any. Also diet - I haven't been eating great recently, which I know can aggrevate the stomach and lead to pains and gas. Also my partner is on holiday in Morocco. She left on the day I found out about the possible redundancies and isn't back until the 9th. Yesterday she was out for over 10 hours and I hadn't heard from her and so I worried.

Now I tried to do my usual Google search of "anxiety" + "symptom". But a lot of anxiety forums had people saying to watch out for gallbladder stones or appendicitis. Now that's ammunition for someone with health anxiety. Even if you say to yourself "this is due to anxiety" if you hear scary medical conditions, that can sow the seeds of doubt. Every day I've said to myself multiple times - "What if it's my gallbladder or my appendix?"

Well that's why I ruled them out by speaking to a GP and also looking at the symptoms they cause (of which I have none except a stomach ache).

So what am I left with? Well I spoke to a Dr and it did little to quell my underlying fears. I'm running on about 4 hours sleep. Is it any wonder I hurt a bit more today? With the recent work news, my partner abroad and our house only starting to feel like a home for the past week or so.

I had to drive to work today to pick up some bits for my night shift I'm working tonight. I also worked last night too (yeah shift work can be a killer for stress too). I couldn't sleep after my night shift. I tried and I got maybe 40 minutes. Woke up with my stomach aches and worried. I drove to work and talked myself through everything. Basically everything I wrote above I was going through (talking outloud; weird I know) and I reduced the stomach pains to nothing. When I was busy at work I didn't notice the pains at all.

Not noticing pains when I'm busy - I've had that with stress related symptoms time and time again. But you know the real reason I think this has me a bit worried? Cos I've had the pain in this area only a handful of times. Something like chest pain I'm nooo stranger to. In the 9 years with anxiety I've had thousands of days where I've had chest pain. You get to accepting it's "just anxiety" a lot quicker when youve experienced something that many times.

But a symptom you've felt a handful of times? There's not enough evidence for my mind to rule out all the possibilities y'know?

Anyway, I just wanted to get everything written out I guess. Thoughts would be appreciated.

Ed