Have I poisoned myself ... how long do I have left?!

[VaguelyInteresting]

This is lighthearted but I am also someone who gets terribly anxious about mad things so coming for a gentle shake.

Cleaned the manky door of my oven last night with mr muscle. Rinsed x3 with soapy water. Wiped down x3. Wiped with water. Ventilated... not for very long maybe 10 mins?

Just bunged a chicken breast in for dinner. Opened door to check meat and got a bit of a whiff of the mr muscle. Could see a small streak on the rubber seal so wiped it off.

Got chicken out of oven. Still slightly caustic smell in the oven, but figured it’d be fine. Ate half of chicken. Realised probably shouldn’t eat chicken cooked in an oven that still smells of mr muscle.

Chucked chicken.

Spent half an hour googling “does the smell of mr muscle kill you” and imagining my insides corroding from the inside out, leaving my child motherless at Christmas.

Currently drinking a glass of milk and hoping for the best/ imagining the doctor in a&e telling me he’s sorry, there’s nothing he can do. I shouldn’t have been such a greedy cow and just slung the chicken before I ate half. (It was delicious though!)

Tell me I’m being an idiot please!

@PussyCatEatingPigsInBlankets

A mere hour! (I’ll relax if I don’t wake up dead tomorrow )

@DaisyNGO

😭😁

This is why I’m too terrified to use mr muscle. I’d be the same.

@DobbyTheHouseElk

This is my problem. I dither about doing daring stuff like... using mr muscle... then I think “fuck you anxiety, I’m just going to do it”

Then I do something stupid like this and think... there’s a reason I have anxiety. It’s probably keeping me alive.

Have you written a will?

Good point.

Anxiety is a bitch. I wish I could be as carefree as other people. But I’m also fairly clumsy so I expect my anxiety keeps me alive too.

What happens if you don't wear gloves....

DH drank a cup of tea made with kettle descaler and he lived to tell the tale. That was 20 years ago!
I'm sure a small whiff of Mr Muscle won't hurt. Shame about the rest of the chicken...

You’ll be fine but I am exactly the same as you. Do you think you might have ocd? That’s what I’m told by my therapist x

I remember someone telling me they weren't sure what made them ill but that it might have been the baked good they'd dropped in bleach and 'rinsed off' before consuming. They were fine after, but yeah, I think you'll be fine if they were - the chicken hasn't gone anywhere near the actual cleaning product in your case.

@Fet2021duejuly2022

I do, yes. Hello, fellow worrier.

I’ve had years of therapy (it’s rooted in PTSD for me, and had horrific PNA when my son was born ). It gets worse in winter and when I’m chronically tired (quite overworked atm and this is 10000% directly linked).

@WrongWayApricot

Oh to be one of THOSE people! What a lovely way to live!

@VaguelyInteresting I’m sorry bless you, ocd is really fucking hard. I have a real issue with contamination. I get myself into such a state. I think mine came along after PNA too! Solidarity ❤️

I’ve had talking therapy which helped, I’m starting cbt next week, hoping it helps further xx

I find magnesium supplements helps me with anxiety a little, and also making sure my vit d is topped up especially in winter x

Oh and I also have ptsd same as you x

Oh and sodium hydroxide is caustic but we also use it to make pretzels and other foods, it's in face creams, soaps and medicines too. It's not poisonous it's just very alkaline. Look up any ingredient that scares you and you'll often find it's not so bad, it just has to have a warning and be used with caution in the right concentrations. The reason sodium hydroxide is in oven cleaner is to turn the grease and fat into a salt that can then be rinsed away with water. If you used plain water to try to clean an oven you'd be there a long time because water and oil don't mix by themselves.

@Fet2021duejuly2022

It’s all “O” for me - I (thankfully) don’t really have any notable compulsions that manifest as actions (all thoughts).

This is at the light end of the spectrum. I’ll forget about it an a couple of hours and am laughing about it already.

I think the hardest part is.. I know it’s ridiculous. I know it’s daft. I just ... don’t think I’ll ever not worry about stuff other people shrug off. It makes me sad sometimes how much of my life goes on needless worry- but I’m really nowhere near as affected as I was 5 years ago, and am very much one of the luckier ones.

Good luck with your CBT- PM me any time if you fancy a bit of company on your journey x

@Fet2021duejuly2022

And thank you for the magnesium rec! I’ll Google! X

I remember when there was that Hadron collider thing staying up til 3am anxiously awaiting the black hole. Reckon you should keep awake all night Vaguely, then if you die you'll know that you were right, but if you don't you'll be so happy to still be alive you won't mind being bloody exhausted after!

That’s good you can see the light, and that you can laugh about it! Very important. But yes it’s sad that we can’t relax.

I’m mostly O but I do have compulsions to check the news a lot atm with covid. I had a long spell this year of not watching the news at all and I need to get back to that. I’m currently looking at the guardian website about every 10 minutes checking for updates. It’s a bit exhausting.

Thankyou, I’ll let you know how I get on ❤️

Done this myself a few times haha still here to tell the tale.

I'm also terrified of using chemicals. I use bicarbonate instead.

I needed a laugh today so thank you vaguelyinteresting

Cleaner here, I've used it without gloves, without open windows, the Poundland version of it and the extra hard core one where you put the trays in a bag of stuff ... I'm still here. Though I have been called an angel by my clients 😇 leave the oven open overnight, wipe it down with lemony water or cook something like an old potato and bin it if you want to feel reassured it's all gone.