I have been completely symptom free for the last 7 days which has been amazing. My doctor is happy that it's looking good. I carried on with the same regime and supplements, and truly thought 'this is it'. I felt so good I even went atving (4 wheeling) on Sunday and felt just as good afterwards as I did before.
Then yesterday (Monday) after my morning BM I felt sore again. Not sore as I was a few weeks ago, but still sore. Today I still feel sore and can't think why it's suddenly painful again.
This may be a strange question but can stress be a factor? Monday was a pretty stressful day and the start of a pretty stressful week. Stress causes muscles to contract, which got me thinking - could this be what's happening?
How can I be completely symptom free one week and sore again the next, with no change in BMs or diet?

Stress makes any problem worse!
I had one very long stressful day at work that involved a lot of sitting and I've never been the same since.

I think that was the catalyst for me. A 10 hour day at work which was no picnic. My son was sick and I wasn't there to look after him and I had family problems back home in England. Then the pain was back.
It does make you wonder.

Mine was 13 hours! The worst day of my life. I keep thinking I should've just done my standard 8 hours!

I agree with Reckless, stress makes everything worse!
I know when I am stressed, my muscles tighten up. People tend to hold their stress in different parts of their bodies and then start to show health issues with those areas.
Like my aunt, she holds her stress in her mouth and always has issues with her teeth.
My mother holds stress in her shoulders and neck and gets migraines from it and a sore back.
WHen my daughter is driving me crazy, my AF starts to feel worse.
Try to stop and assess when you are stressed, where you feel the tightest. Then tell that area to relax. It will relax (for a while). Or take a 5 minute break and do yoga breathing.
Hope you feel less sore in the morning! Hope your boy feels better too!
-woi

Hi, Anemone -
I hope you feel better, too. It's hard to figure why these AFs act up. Today hasn't been bad, but yesterday and last night nearly did me in, the pain was so strong.
I agree with all of the stress (as a contributor) theories.
That's why, lately, I've had to take a sedative to sleep - and I've noticed that my body seems better in the a.m., after I've had a solid, relaxed sleep -- but if I haven't had the sedative, the pain seems a bit stronger in the a.m.
Yesterday in the car, while driving to my dr's appt., we nearly got in a car accident, and I could feel my bottom spasming hard. I was in solid pain all afternoon and evening.

Thanks guys. My son is a lot better but I am still so sore. It seems to get worse every day - Mon was not great, Tuesday more sore and today I feel back to square one.
I don't feel tight down there but I do feel it has to be the reason.
Work is very stressful. Something has to give, and I'm afraid it may be my sanity :-(
The worst part was for a whole week I was completely pain and symptom free and felt like a normal person again. AFs are cruel.

Stress is definately a contributing factor!!! When you are stressed your whole body is tense. When you are having spasms, the stress makes them 10x worse!!! It is easy to say relaxbut we all know how hard that is when you are very stressed. I did the deep breathing exercise, and just tried to relax.

I feel setback today because of my period. Every month it's the same. I have to be extra careful for a few days.
So sorry you are having a setback Anemone!
It is cruel that AFs don't heal in a straight line. It's always 2 steps forward and one step back.
I think this is why so many people resort to surgery and botox, to get off the hamster wheel.
Hope your work lets up.
Breathing exercises are great!
I have a section of 7 minutes of nature sounds on my ipod and I use it to time myself for meditation breaks. I find a quiet place and for 7 minutes I breath deeply into my belly through my nose and breath out slowly through my mouth. Seven minutes is all you really need and even just a few minutes will take the edge off.
If you don't have a way of timing yourself, try counting your breaths. 50 is a good number and if you count backwards, it is even better!
-woi

Anemone - I know how you feel. Some days we think we might be getting better, and then a day will come along where we think it's started all over again . . . It's just a maddening condition.
woi - I'm just about past that point in my life, so I haven't that to contend with . . . but, my feeling is that my body seemed more supple when I did have my periods. I never had AF problems back then. It's only been since my hormones started changing . . . however, there are some very young women on this forum, who are having AF problems. So, I don't know . . .
Stress, though, is a factor, no matter how old or young we are with an AF. I'm trying very hard to keep my anxiety down - but that's not easy when I'm worried about AF flare-ups.