unhygienic food

[doga1974]

we just had dinner out and since I have been vomiting for weeks, I was very hungry and craved for eating something. but after finishing my meal, I realized that the restaurant is very unhygienic, they have no dishwasher and dishes are being washed by hand. :( I tried to vomit as if I could get rid of the microbes I may have taken but unfortunately I could not, ironically after vomiting endlessly when I did not want to. is my situation dangereous or am I exaggerating? can I contact hep. b or influenza ?

I'm sorry you got panicked by what you saw at the restaurant. But this is a really extreme response. Please don't try to vomit anymore, your body needs food. Do you have OCD? You seem really anxious about contamination. Have you had your flu shot?

You seem really anxious - I never worry about things like that. I hope you can get some reassurance.

Sorry I'm not sure I follow. Is the problem that the place was unhygienic (and also washed dishes by hand)? Or are you actually saying that washing dishes by hand is unhygienic and 'dangerous'?! If the latter, I think you need to chill out.

I don't think I have ocd but pregnancy made me toooo anxious ( perhaps because of my previous miscarriage and my age which makes this pregnancy almost a miracle)and no, I am extremely sensitive to medicine( anaphylactic) so I never use vaccines unless it is vital like rabies shot. the staff seemed so inattentive. because of pregnancy, I am afraid my immmune system is down, of course also because of not being able to get nutrients...

Try to relax, being so anxious is worse for you than dishes washed by hand. I'm not sure handwashing dishes or staff being inattentive are likely to be dangerous to health, or were there more things you noticed that you weren't happy with?

I asked about OCd because that is some really obsessive compulsive thinking. Your obsession is about the food being contaminated and your compulsion is trying to vomit to quell your anxiety. That's how OCD works.

I know anxiety is really miserable, and worrying about pregnancy stuff seems to bring crazy levels of it out in some of us.

But from an outside perspective, your fears are really out of proportion. Of course you can catch colds etc it you're not reasonably careful about handwashing while out or around people who are ill. So incredibly unlikely you could catch hepatitis though! That wouldn't even cross most peoples' minds, I promise you.

For a restaurant to be open, there must be certain standards of cleanliness. What worries me more is your obvious anxiety. Please don't stress over going out for dinner - how often do you usually get ill when eating out? Almost never?

If this makes you feel any better, I had norovirus at 20 weeks with DC1. He was (still is!) incredibly healthy and almost never gets the usual kiddie sniffles, even now he's in childcare when I'm at work. So 1 - the chances of being ill are very small and b - even if you do become poorly for any reason, your body will do an excellent job of protecting baby.

thanks. I saw one of the staff taking the dirty dishes and coming back in 3 minutes with the supposedly clean ones! it is impossible that she could have washed it properly. also she was very tired and unhappy. she was both cooking and washing the dishes... I am trying to relax..I hope nothing bad happens...

How do you know they were the same dishes, why would they have so few that she had to take them away, wash them, then send them straight back out?

perhaps there is something like pregnancy ocd? hubbahubster, your story is really encouraging it looks like your illness contributed to your baby's strength, I just feel better. if only I could get over first trimester anxiety...

magnumicelolly, I just see the pattern, I guess she always does like that.and there were few clients, while we were there there were only two tables occupied including ours. whatever, looking at your response, I can see that I am exaggerating, so thank you all...

I am surprised that there is actually something called pregnancy ocd! I seriously think I may have it..look it says : "For example, in pregnancy a woman may be very concerned that something she eats or touches may cause harm to the unborn baby. This may cause her to avoid and restrict foods, places and situations well beyond the recommended guidelines in order to keep as safe as possible, or at least feel that she has done everything in her power to do so"
www.ocduk.org/prenatal-postnatal-ocd

I completely understand this...although is neurotic!!!

I say it's neurotic as it's exactly what I would do...

I had a late mmc/DIU & I'm now neurotic about everything from stoking the pets to touching the cars tearing wheel, touching money to using other peoples toilets...

Some how you need to try & chill & dare to enjoy being pregnant....

Believe your pregnancy is ment to be Hun x

ImMarmite, I just feel the same . I also had a mmc and after that, I lost my positive point of view. I hope that it gets better in the second trimester...

I'm not sure I'll be any better till about 20 weeks...

I'm glad I'm not the only 1 tho x

I don't even think about all the germs / microbes / bacteria I might be ingesting since having a toddler. They are unavoidable.

Making yourself sick is an extreme reaction and worth talking to your doctor about.

TransatlanticCityGirl , I did not make myself sick, I was scared to be sick and I have a daughter too, there is no such problem with her. these fears are all related to my pregnancy and losing/harming the unborn baby .

in fact, my daughter ate with us too. I did not worry for her, not even a little bit.

Have you been this concerned about hygiene in general or just in this one instance?

If it's the former I suggest you think about chatting to your GP about it. I absolutely understand your anxiety about the pregnancy but the stress of the worry can't be helping either.

hygiene is important for me, but not to the extent to interfere with my daily life, nothing pathological. however pregnancy makes me both sick and anxious. I think one reason is that I am very allergic and I can't take drugs allowed in pregnancy (penicilline), so the thought of being sick freaks me out...