Something I'd hoped I'd never need to do. Sigh.

I started a new job a few months ago and the stress has been *insane*. I know it'll calm down eventually, but I'm a perfectionist who is always trying to please everybody and it's a fast-paced hearth care job so I'll regularly forget to drink any water for hours on end. I think I can "make up for it" by drinking extra in the evening whwn I get home, but if course we all know that means most of it just gets peed out. I need to be drinking continously throughout the day. Blah. So combine that fact with the fact that I'm extremely tense at work (I suffer from anxiety and always think I'm not good enough at what I do)...... hello old fissure.

I'm 99% sure it's the same one returned. Feels like it's in the same place. I'm worried this time around because I can't seem to get my stools soft enough for it to stop bleeding. The pain is minimal but the amount of blood is making me a little nervous.

The biggest difference between my current visit to this forum and my previous, is that my job is a lot more demanding now. I dread going to work tomorrow. And I technically don't have access to my sick days until I've been there 6 months.

Going to work might be really nice cuz it might help me get my mind off things, but at the same time, it might continue to just stress me out terribly. Two days of relaxation are not enough to heal the fissure when they're always after 5 days of stress and anxiety.

Hi Mae...this is the cycle I deal with as well. I had a reoccurance of a "old" fissure back in the summer. I was going through massive stress at the time. I'm sure the stress was the primary reason the fissure returned. I had LIS last November which was obviously not successful... Usually by Sunday (like today) I'm somewhat better. But then the work week rolls around and by Tuesday afternoon I'm in agony again.

I'm sorry to hear that. Stress is terrible. I have finally decided to get help for my anxiety. I made am appointment to see my PCP in a few weeks here and I'm gonna see if I can get a referral for a psychiatrist or therapist. : /

I did discover part of what might be keeping me from getting softer stools. I recently switched from taking benadryl to taking claritin, and I just noticed one of the side effects is constipation. So I guess it's back to benadryl for now.