kristiambroseinc I have to answer this on your behalf, and for all others who have symptoms. If your doctor found you to have an such a problem, did he/she test you for H pyloria? It's a bacteria that causes ulcers, heartburn, bloating and many other problems, up to and including esophogeal damage. If left untreated it can cause cancer. If you weren't tested for this and have symptoms of an ulcer, including and up to anemia from loss of blood, by an ulcer, then I suggest you spend the 20 minutes it takes with a gastro intestinal doctor to have a test performed to see if you have this bacteria. Many people have it, few realize it might be a bacteria and not stress at all!!!

I'm going to share a little person perspective with you. Might be long. Ill try to make it quick.

For 11 years I was a Chef. I am a girl and kitchens are a MANS domain. Which is kind of funny if you think about it lol. That stressed me out to the point that I had to stop!

Then, I started working online doing domain parking. I was making $6,000 - $12,000 a month - no stress, tons of money. Loved it.

Then Domain Parking and arbitrage hit a roadblock and was no longer allowed so I had to find another way to make money and SURVIVE! I decided to start my own business. I have been doing it for about 4 years now. I was mostly on forums, because that's where the big bucks were. Over the last 9 weeks I have been getting very sick. Couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, vomiting, nausea, you name it. Here it was ALL because of STRESS! Now, I love what I do and I'm pretty good at it, so its not something I wanted to just quit doing. I went to the docs and I have Esophagitis! Scary stuff. However, I decided to get away from the forums, believe in myself and the work I do, and alas I found some really terrific PROFESSIONAL companies to work with. Now I make good money. I don't have people treating me like crap. And I'm not stressed... AT ALL! Of course I still have pressure and deadlines, but its not nearly as bad as it used to be!

So is stress one of those things you HAVE to put up with in order to be successful? Hell no. In fact, there are a lot of ways you can go around this, in order to do the job you want, be successful, and be partially if not fully stress free.:

A mentor of mine told me to separate WORK and PLAY. Pick up a new sport, a pack of cards, volunteer at the local shelter. DO something to separate work from life. This is a MAJOR stress reliever.

Move on to better things, like I did. Here I thought forums were all that. And instead I decided to put a little faith in myself, my abilities, and.. God and I found something SO much better!

Hire Interns - free labor!
Hire help - cheap labor
Hire employees - People that are going to be devoted and dedicated to you and making your life easier
Hire an assistant - Someone to take all the gruff

All in all - your health is your life. If you don't have your health you could possibly lose your life. And where is "success" and "money" going to be then? It wont matter if you are dead!

I still am sick. I probably always will have a case (even a small one) of Esophagitis. But at least now I know - I need to chill on the stress. Eat better. Live better. Love more. Hate less. Be more positive, etc. My stress has gone from a ten to when I first started this business to about a 2.

I'm successful. I'm happy. And I'm almost stress free.

I feel that pressure and stress are actually exclusive when one is realizing a profession that one is passionate about. Pressure tends to produce stress more when it is related to an activity or job that one does not enjoy.

Would I want to be free of pressure? No, I perform better under it. Would I like to be stressed by my job? No, because that would be indicative that I am probably in the wrong field. Would constant stress be a contributing factor to an ulcer? Most probably, but since I am not willing to go through the stress I would not reach the stage of ulceration.

Nope, I wouldn't endanger my health for any job.

Stress however can always be avoided as whether life throw sit at us or not it's our choice to accept it. I'd say the key to relieving stress at work is to enjoy your job.

Full explanation found in source but;

-Staying positive and not letting the small stuff get to you,
-Standing up for yourself when you feel you are being mistreated,
-Trying to expand and challenge yourself rather than letting your work become mundane,
-and not getting "burned out" by working to many hours are the key points to a stress free workplace.

I'd have to be making quite a bit of money for my health to be a fair exchange. Even then, I don't know if it's worth it because in the end you're not going to be able to enjoy any of the success or money if you're health is bad because of it.

The best way to manage stress at work is to keep in mind that it is only a job. To remember the things that are important like being around for our family and enjoying our time with friends. All we can do is our best, without sacrificing ourselves or our health in the process.

No, I won't compromise my health for success at work because I will still end a failure. I am working hard to provide for my family and to feel that I was able to accomplished something. I think we all want that in our work the sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. And being successful is somehow thought of as the peak of your career. But I won't trade it for health. I'd rather slow down and be healthy rather than speed up, become successful but sick.

So as much as possible I try to relax and not get pressured with work. Discipline is very important for me and time management. I also evaluate my capabilities and only do things which I know I can accomplish well. Sometimes our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. Meaning we thought that we can do all the things we plan and accepted as tasks but we fail to listen to our body and if it's too late we all end up in the hospital and we won't accomplish anything at all.