Stress sucks.  I know, I probably don’t have to tell you that, since you live in the same modern era that I do.  Like anyone else, I do my best to avoid getting stressed.  But of course, I’m not always as successful as I’d like; something about there being exterior factors outside your control or something.  I get stressed often enough that I’ve noticed a common set of symptoms keep cropping up.  Like headaches and lack of sleep.  Or canker sores.

Of course, these reactions aren’t warning signs that I’m getting too stressed.  No, that would make too much sense.  Instead, they’re warning signs that I’ve gotten too stressed.  It’s too late to do anything about it, by that point, so why not pile on the added stressors of chronic pain and discomfort?

Help deal with stress by piling on more stress?  That sounds like a GREAT idea! </sarcasm>

I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve been feeling so down this week.  Work deadlines stressed me out last week (I’m still within my new-hire probationary period, so am especially worried about appearing incompetent), which blossomed into wonderfully annoying symptoms this week.  It’s hard to be in a good mood when every time you go to speak, chew, or swallow it sends a sharp shooting pain through your mouth.

I suppose I should consider myself lucky; canker sores are fairly mild as far as these things go.  I don’t get migraines, for instance.  I don’t have “an ulcer the size of my fist,” as my girlfriend is fond of pointing out.  I just don’t like that my body seems to be saying “You screwed up.  Let’s make sure you remember and feel bad for as long as possible!”

I will say this: my girlfriend introduced me to the wonderful thing that is topical oral painkiller.  For as often as I get canker sores, you’d think I’d have sought out something like this years ago.  But no, I usually suffer in silence and wait for the things to pass.  But no more!  Using the stuff has allowed me to eat relatively pain-free (I was letting my blood sugar get low because eating hurt, further exacerbating the stress issue), and made me a much more pleasant person to be around.

I still hate my body sometimes, though.