Help!

[needhelpgivelove]

I have Emetophobia. Immensely scared of being sick so I restrict my food. I'm trying to get better. I made myself a pasta bake tonight. Pasta, tomato sauce, vegetables and mushrooms with cheese. It was in a glass dish and when I made it i felt a bit nauseous. I have to work myself up to eat so I covered it with a glass lid and left it on the side for about 50/60 mins. Anyway. I ended up eating it but close to the end I sniffed it and it smelt a bit dodgy. Now I'm panicking thinking I've given myself food poisoning. I've been stupidly googling leaving pasta out and my anxiety is through the room. Please if anyone can offer reassurance, I know I probably sound stupid but I am absolutely petrified, crying and feeling so sick. This phobia controls my life so much

I'm so sorry. You must be so scared. I hope that you are seeking psychological support for this? Fundamentally it's a form of anxiety.

I have no doubt that this will not cause you to vomit. Try to use relaxation techniques such as deep breathing techniques

You'll be absolutely fine, I promise you. Pasta takes a long time to go off way longer than an hour, and ends up more unpalatable rather than filled with nasties.

Honestly thank you for taking the time to reply. I know I must sound so pathetic. There's a 14 month waiting list for CBT therapy so I'm honest lay trying to pull myself together but I just hate living right now if I'm honest. Being scared of food is so silly. I'm ashamed of myself

You can safely leave food that's been cooked out for 90 minutes according the the food safety courses I've done.
It won't make you ill

I'm the same as you! I barely eat due to the phobia. But you will be absolutely fine, pasta with no meat that's been left out for a little bit will NOT make you ill.
Also I got a tummy bug last week which caused me to be sick twice (my first time in 13 years!) and strangely enough, I don't feel quite as scared as I used to. I think the fear can be worse than the reality.

That pasta will be absolutely fine. It won't make you sick x

It won't make you sick I promise. I also have some phobias so I know how horrible it can be.

I bought a roast chicken the other day which I dropped by the door when I walked in, started working and forgot to put in the fridge for 2 hours. I usually wouldn't have risked it but I couldn't bear to waste the money so I ate it. I was fine.

Pasta with veg will no doubt be perfectly safe.

You're not silly or stupid. Anxiety and ocd tells you lies. Look what you've done - you know that your brain is lying to you, so you've come here to get reassurance. That's great, because now you can breathe easier. It's not forever either, you can recover from this.

Vegetarian pasta dish made from scratch and eaten within an hour of being cooked really won’t do you any harm.

Its so easy for people to say don’t worry especially when you have health anxiety and phobias but this is one of those occasions when you really can try to relax after this episode x