That Girl's Stomach

I've had a minor but ever-present stomach ache for the last 4 days. I'm not quite sure of the cause, but I am thinking I might just start eliminating certain foods from my diet until I figure it out.

I have always had somewhat of a sensitive stomach with major pain brought on by an ulcer, stress, or artificial sweetener, and the occasional glass of milk or scoop of ice cream. In college anytime that I didn't want to do something social (which was often since I am an inherent introvert) I would claim I had a stomach ache. That claim often became real as I started to get anxious about whatever social situation I was about to put myself in.

Since then I've conquered my anxiety about social situations -- ten years in admissions will help -- but I am still an introvert and I still don't care for large social gatherings in which I will be forced to mingle and make insipid small talk.

Fortunately, I seem to have finally entered a world in which many people feel the same way. Caught up in our research, reading, or even a fascinating story on NPR, I am not doomed to talk about the weather or something equally vapid (unless there is a major weather event such as Hurricane Katrina or the floods in the midwest because that leads to other interesting social welfare type of conversations). Since I am mostly around people that share my nerdiness, I am also around people that are socially awkward, many times much more than I, and that puts my anxiety to rest. Subsequently the social stomach aches have all but disappeared.

But to my current stomach pain -- is it stress? Is it anxiety? I can't be sure. One thing I do know is that it is affecting my everyday activities in an unacceptable way.