I have been off this forum for many years because I thought I was over this rubbish health anxiety, but lockdown has a lot to answer for and worries are creeping back. I have had breat pain intermittently for roughly 48 years, ever since I finished breast-feeding my middle child (a huge, hungre baby who could empty a breast in 3 minutes flat). I went on to have twins and managed to feed them for a few weeks, which did little to improve the intermittent breast pain. But all those years ago we didn't have the internet so there was no Dr Google, and the general idea was that breast pain did not mean you had cancer. So for all those years it didn't particularly worry me, though lots of other things did.

I'm now 78, so there's no excuse of hormones, but over a year ago I had a long episode of breast pain (pain's too strong a word really, discomfort perhaps) but realised it correlated exactly with a period when i was a bit tense for several weeks - we were having an amazing cruise holiday in the USA and Canada, but I was slightly worried about how I would cope with some of the places we were going, such as New York. Also, it was our eldest granddaughter's wedding the day after we disembarked back in the UK, a very special occasion and opportunity to see all my scattered children and grandchildren, and I had visions of the ship breaking down mid-Atlantic and us not making it back in time. We did, of course, but it added to the tension, and I've realised that it's when I'm tense for any reason that the pain comes back - I realise I have been just a bit tense, sometimes a lot tense, all the way through lockdown. I haven't seen my eldest son and his family, or my eldest granddaughter since last Christmas, which doesn't help, and though a lot of the things that challenge me normally have faded away at the moment (I'm involved with lots of things and have lots of responsibilities - no good at saying no!) there is the constant worry that they will creep back and I'll be swamped again.

So now I'm struggling with the same left-sided breast pain again. I know it's just the same old one I've had many times over the years, but I've let it get to me and it's driving me bonkers. My breast looks and feels totally normal and just like the other one - I don't have dense breast tissue, it's soft and easy to check. It's not always in the same place and doesn't always feel the same. I'm very good at creating imaginary pain too, I have a history of that and even surgery! I think this is largely in my head, but that's the worst place it can be because I can't get rid of it.

Sorry for the long history, but this feels a very safe place to rant. Just wondered if other people have a similar experience of such pain triggered by anxiety and tension.

Chrissie