If you don't fear (or struggle with) sickness bugs, how do you feel about/deal with them?

[707smile]

Hi,

I have very severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (contamination and other obsessions) and vomit phobia. I'm constantly terrified of contracting stomach bugs to the extent that I'm agoraphobic and unable to do the vast majority normal activities. I particularly struggle with eating as I'm terrified of catching Norovirus (which is often caught from someone handling your food with the infection) or bacterial food poisoning.

If you don't have Emetophobia or any particular anxiety around stomach bugs- how do you feel about and deal with bugs?

Thanks!

Thanks all, it's really helpful to hear that people just don't think they're worthy of worrying about!

I like to travel and often go veggie in countries with a reputation for poor food hygiene. I dislike vomiting but that's not the main reason - it is a calculation that a bout of d&v will knock out at least one day and probably two of my hard-earned holiday.

I've eaten at roadside shacks in poor third-world countries and have always rationalised that something like vegetable soup with noodles is very unlikely to upset me. I avoid hot buffets; I want the food fresh-cooked.

emetaphobic here too OP. It has always been with me - sometimes more than at others.

Other people vomiting is very stressful. I end up white and shaking myself. (As a child I once tried - in utter panic- to get out of a moving car when another child in there vomited.)

Have you noticed how often vomiting is used to signal distress in films/series these days? It has taken the place of other acting. Any strong emotion has to be illustrated with it.

Confidence comes from buying all the food for my house. I check it's fresh, stored properly and eaten within safe times.

I insist everyone washes their hands before meals, and whoever cooks also washes their hands before they start. I keep the kitchen and all the utensils clean. And then I just don't think about it again.

Things are always easier to deal with if you understand what can happen and how to avoid it.

Keep some rehydration salts so you feel better sooner. And rubber gloves and a bottle of dettol under the sink for cleaning.

I have contamination germ OCD.

I take medication for it and it eliminates it and the anxiety.
I've started therapy too.

I don't think about it, although I would prefer not to get Noro again.

I really sympathise, OP. I know how OCD can take over your life because my DS has OCD with contamination fears. He's been successfully treated before with medication (SSRI) and CBT with exposure therapy. Unfortunately Covid has triggered his OCD again.

I hope you can get treatment. You shouldn't have to live with this.

I just get on with it. If there's a particular bug going round, I'd rather not catch it, but if I do, I can't exactly un-catch it and it'll pass soon enough with some time in bed, in the bathroom and with access to some original lucozade and salty gluten free pretzels.

I don't think about it most of the time.

But when I do think about it, I tend to come to the conclusion that if we aren't exposed to germs, we will probably become more vulnerable - our immune system is meant to be challenged, it's an important part of how it works.

So I don't worry about normal day to day germs much, I figure these are the germs I want. What I want to avoid are things that are likely to make me seriously ill, like dysentery, or tb, or salmonella. Luckily living in a modern western country, most of those things aren't worries, and I can take steps that are pretty straightforward against things like salmonella.

Indifference really. It's very rare that I get sick.

I think I've had a stomach bug once in my life and I'm in my late 30s.

Is there any way that you can try rationalise it on the basis of how rare it is? It is estimated that a person will get a max 5 stomach bugs in their life time. 90% last between 1-3 days and require no medical intervention or antibiotics. There are generally no long terms effects either. All of this is supported by medical studies.

It may help to keep reminding yourself of that.

@IJoinedJustForThisThread

OP, I haven’t admitted to anyone that one of the main reasons I turned veggie 15 years ago is my theory that meat is a major source of food poisoning, so if I didn’t eat meat I would be less likely to get food poisoning and thus less likely to vomit.

I've been veggie my whole life. I've never had food poisoning.

I've travelled all over the world, and watched my meat eating friends get food poisoning but never had it.

They're not that common and don't last long- I can't remember the last time I had a stomach bug. I don't really think about it much. If I get one it is unpleasant for a few days but that's it and then it's over and you forget all about it.

I guess if they were happening every month or something then I would do more do avoid it

I just see it as a grim fact of life.

I'm not sure how much the words of people who aren't emetophobic will help you really OP. You obviously don't want to feel so anxious about it but you can't help how you feel. Fwiw I don't suffer from emetophobia therefore it's not something that frequently crosses my mind. If I do get ill I just resugn myself to feeling rubbish for a few hours and make sure I have a bowl handy/stay close to the toilet. Most vomiting bugs only involve vomiting for a matter of hours, not days, and if you don't try to carry on eating and drinking normally they pass quicker.

If my children are sick I just put myself in their shoes (they are very young) and remind myself how scary it can feel to vomit as you have no control over it. So I stay calm and reassure them it's normal, their tummy is making sure the bad germs are completely out so it can recover and that it will pass, to just snuggle with the TV on and wait for it to pass.

I don't really think about it day to day. We aren't a household that's prone to sick bugs generally but we did get Noro before Xmas courtesy of nursery and it wasn't very nice, but it passed and when you're in the situation you can't really do anything about it anyway other than get on with it, like any illness. They do tend to pass quickly at least unlike some other viruses.

People who don't have a phobia feel the same way that you feel towards things you don't have a phobia about. For example, what would happen if you broke your leg? What if you fell over and got a cut? Well if that ever happened it would suck but you'd deal with it and recover as best you can. But you don't live everyday in fear avoiding driving/walking/running/sport/etc just in case. You probably never think about it.

I do think about it from time to time but practice good standard hygiene, hand washing ,throwing away food that has been hanging around too long, cool food and refrigerate, check hygiene ratings at restaurants casually and usually avoid 3 star and under, clean kitchen and bathroom to an average standard, wouldn't visit someone with a vomiting bug, wash hands etc more if bug is in the house. I hate being sick and assume everyone does but I get on with life with the standard precautions.

Sorry, question was how to deal with the bug. As pp said it is a grim fact of life. Just have to shut your eyes sometimes to clean up, hold your breath. Comfort who ever is ill. If I have it just focus on getting better and knowing i will feel better soon, and try to remember vomiting is my bodies way of getting rid of the bug .

They just don’t enter my head really. If I feel like I’m going to vomit and then subsequently feel ill I’m like ‘oh I have a bug’ and I make sure to look after myself. I was hospitalized with gastroenteritis once and was on a drip because I couldn’t keep water down. Yes it was grim at the time but it passed like all things do. When I was vomiting (like every five to ten mins) I imagined myself on a beach drinking a ice cold drink and like everything, it passed. I have a very ‘weird’ stomach and have had a few investigations for blood in my poop etc but think it’s just a mystery intolerance, so am well used to that feeling of ‘omg gonna poop myself’ too - that doesn’t bother me either as I just think what’s the worse case scenario, you probably won’t and if you did you’d be able to sort yourself out and have it as a mere embarrassing memory. I don’t know how to explain but it just doesn’t really enter my head unless I have a bug, which is rare, and the likely hood of getting one is rare too - fair if there’s an actual outbreak (like reported on the news not just a ‘oh there’s a sick bug going round’ from Sandra in accounts who is most definitely not a public health England worker) then I might be slightly more careful and I wouldn’t eat from a 2 star rated kebab shop but that’s about it ! A sick bug won’t kill you and yes the actual act of vomiting is not pleasant but it’s short lived and you just rest and look after yourself as it’s an excuse to do fuck all isn’t it !

I do what I can to avoid them, I'm pretty miserable when I do have to deal with someone vomiting, but if it happens, it's just one of those unpleasant things you have to get on with.

I used to be terrified of sand (yes really) but have learned to accept that nothing awful happens if I get sand in my shoes, it's just uncomfortable and it passes. I still hate it, but it doesn't change the way I live my life anymore.

So sorry to hear about this phobia is affecting you. Have you tried drug treatment? I believe Prozac can be useful for OCD.
And re vomiting, I don't really ever think about it. Haven't vomited for years. I practice normal food hygiene and wash my hands after using the toilet/before preparing food, but otherwise just crack on. The more you avoid something that makes you anxious, the worse it becomes in my experience.

Hi

Nobody likes vomiting. Seeing, hearing or doing it yourself. When I feel nauseous and I know it will eventually lead to being sick, I actually do what I can to hurry it along as feeling sick is much worse than being sick (for me at least). I want it out so I can start feeling better. I treat it as something to get past, like going to the dentist.

I don't really think about it either. The only time I get a bit concerned is if the kids are sick as then it's usually a wait for us to get it. I mean no one likes it but it's usually just a day or two in bed or on the sofa then feeling better again. I'm sorry you are affected like this though.

I don't tend to catch sickness bugs. Last time I had one was 4 years ago, before that it was when I was a child. It's not something I really think about.

Honestly I've probably vomited more times through being too drunk than I have from sickness bugs!

I'd rather be sick than nauseous too, have stuck my fingers down my throat before, just to be able to get back to sleep, (I brought up a lot of horrible bile type stuff, and felt instantly better, and was actually able to manage some water after that).

I don't really think about it, to be honest. I’m 36 and since I was 16 I’ve had four episodes of vomiting that were unrelated to alcohol (and I’ve only puked through alcohol a handful of times anyway). The second of those four episodes was pretty nasty - I think it was noro: I was sick seven times overnight and felt really weak and wiped out for another three or four days. The others were 24 hours things and I don't even know if they were down to food poisoning or a bug. I’ve travelled a lot in in less economically developed countries but never been ill because of anything I’ve eaten there.