You know it's a good story when the doctor thanks the patient.

This is such a small thing. The corners of one's mouth are not large at all. But I have angular cheilitis, cracked nasty itchy burning sores at the corners of my mouth. I've had it in the past, usually when my system is all run down from a cold and stress. A few days of applying tea tree oil clears it right up. It is usually a fungal infection, sometimes co-morbid with bacterial wackiness. It flared up again in the weeks after I took this job. Makes sense, right? I was wayyyyyy stressed out, and I got a cold. I hit it with tea tree oil again, this time that made it worse. Coconut oil and sea salt? Made it worse. Hydrogen peroxide? Worse. Store bought antifungal cream? Heaven help me, one application turned it bright red, by the third, it was triple the size. Dr. Google suggested that was an allergic reaction and to try benedryl cream or hydrocortisone cream. No improvement. Dr. Google suggests taking iron, Vitamin B, and calcium supplements. I do, and it calms down a bit. So I make a batch of colloidal silver, dab that on the corners of my mouth then cover with plain petroleum jelly.

Finally some relief. It gets better, disappears, and about a week after that I discontinue treatment. In January it flares up again, so I go back to the silver and Vasoline. It goes away then I can't find the same chewable B-complex that I had been using. But I figured it was not that big a deal. Nope. It comes back. Find a different brand of B, it eases. Then I run out of Calcium. It comes back with a vengeance. I lay in stock of calcium, it eases but does not go away. So I try the antifungal again. First application, bright red again. By the third application, it started bleeding. I don't react to that stuff anywhere else on my body, how can it be an allergic reaction? Back to home remedies. The silver is no longer doing the job, so this time I try olive oil with a few drops of every essential oil I have that has anti-fungal properties. This helps, but man oh man does that stuff taste nasty. Three weeks of treating it like that... the itch and redness and burning are coming back. I want to do harm to the thing on my face. I am out of patience. I am not going to spend $250 to see a doctor and not be helped.

Oh WindSparrow, that sounds so uncomfortable and distressing. Randomly, I have heard people use A&D ointment (diaper rash stuff) on that with success.

When I get a break from being angry about it, I may try the A&D. I know it's good stuff. Thanks.

That sounds totally miserable, WindSparrow. I hope you find something that helps and doesn't make it worse.

Need to vent: God, I cannot focus for *shit*. Once again all my strategies have failed me: setting a timer, listening to different music, having tv on in the background, taking breaks to do other things, and now even 1/4 Xanax. I keep missing my deadlines to estimate for clients, even when I push it back. My brain is just skittering around and I keep thinking of other things I need to do, even though I have them written down to get them out of my brain.

I just get so tired of the pain and anxiety merry-go-round.

OMG, one of the Crazy Authors from anthology project just tweeted me just now with why I was wrong to tell her she has interpersonal issues and whatever the polite version of "fuck off" is. From two weeks ago. After she told me she wasn't going to waste her time on our project. Who does that?(Except Tep's Crazy Authors, of course.) Tep, Hope your mom's procedure is NBD, but I don't blame you for worrying. ETA: Is my mother right? Should I ignore her? Although I have never faced a confrontation that she didn't think I should back off from. ETA2: Got a new tagline this morning. Simon called the guy that started this argument a "fuckstick". He would not agree with my mother.

Hil, I feel your pain. Getting a new chair is fun like a thing that's not. Much like a car alarm, it sounds good till the screaming starts. This is complicated by the fact that Average America thinks this should be fun, with, like, hot dogs, test drives, and, New Chair Smell or something.

smonster, I wish I had advice for you, but I'm also stuck on pain/anxiety merry-go-round and not getting shit done. So, the best I have is I'm right there with you. If it would help to have someone to text during the day when you're trying to get stuff done, I'm always around and can send you my cell #.

I have stuff that I've let slide because of the surgery, but I need to start picking it back up again tomorrow. I was going to start back at work, but I think I may take another sick day.