Talk me off a ledge- worried I’ve accidentally ingested rat/mouse urine!!

[ProudPanda]

I’ll preface this by saying I do have health anxiety when pregnant and can acknowledge that I can be a bit irrational about the things I worry about, this is also a pregnancy after loss so I feel that’s amplified my fears. Husband noticed Friday night the back door had been left open for a few hours. My 9yo woke up this morning with V&D that lasted a few hours and has been fine since. I didn’t think too much of it until I was eating an apple tonight and suddenly had the thought, what if a mouse or rat got in when the door was open and left urine on the fruit in the fruit bowl. My son can’t remember if he ate any of the fruit and I know it’s not very likely as none of the apples have any signs of being eaten but I’ve been in such a panic that I may have ingested rat or mouse urine and that it’s going to cause harm to the baby. I did rinse it under cold water before eating but can’t imagine that would be enough to fully remove the risk of any harmful bacteria. Is this something I should worry about or am I completely over reacting? Would love some reassurance as I’ve been so worried.

You'd have tasted it or smelled it long before it even got close to your mouth.

There is 0 chance you unknowingly ate rat piss.

I think you are going to need to see someone about your anxiety.

There is no chance you drank rat or mouse wee

OP, with kindness, that is astonishingly unlikely to have happened.

please speak to your midwife about how you are feeling.

I have health anxiety too, but even this potential scenario would never cross my mind!

The most important thing is to seek support for your anxiety, as reassurance is actually not very helpful long-term. BUT, short term reassurance on the VERY remote chance this even occured...any sort of germ left by urine would a) become inactive very quickly at room temperature, it needs to be really fresh b) only a very small % of rodents carry actual disease and c) it's very likely be washed off with water anyway.

Edited: I made a joke and then thought better of it because OP is genuinely freaked out. I hope you’re ok OP.

@DoAWheelie thanks, I didn’t smell or taste anything unusual so hopefully as you said it’s fine. I assume the smell/unusual taste would still be noticeable two days later?

@Herewegoagain85 thank you so much, hearing the facts makes me feel so much better about it. I know how crazy I sound but when I start to worry about something it just snowballs in my head and even though I know it’s irrational I can’t stop worrying.

@ForLoveNotMoney I mentioned at my booking appointment that I had been struggling with anxiety especially after going through a miscarriage a few weeks prior but it never went any further than the midwife saying maybe I could get medication from the GP. She never asked any questions or went into detail about what it was I felt anxious about and at that point I felt like going straight to medication was a bit of a jump. I was hoping as the pregnancy progressed I would worry less but it’s definitely got worse. I have my next appointment in a few weeks so I might bring it up again.

OP so sorry you’re dealing with this. I would really advise speaking to a midwife or even GP - just to help you.

It is really important that you develop the skills to talk yourself down when irrational thoughts enter your head.

CBT is usually what is suggested to help with this - you need to speak to your GP or midwife to access this.

Constantly seeking out help from others magnify these thoughts and may make them worse as some people will cause more anxiety.

Was this an issue with your older child's pregnancy? Does it persist when not pregnant?

You do need to bring it up again.

You sound so much like me, and I want to give you a big hug (if you want one!), and tell you you have nothing to worry about. You have not seen any signs of a mouse or a rat (the food would have been nibbled). Let me take that worry off of you.

I am currently struggling with contamination OCD (I’ve just started CBT), and your post resonates with me so much. The way you convey your fear and thoughts is just how I sound when I’m struggling.

Please speak to your midwife or GP once again. I know myself how debilitating these worries can be, and it’s unlikely to improve unless you get the help you deserve x

@Ohfuckrucksack thank you so much for your reply. Yes in my last pregnancy I also worried a lot about eating something that would harm the baby. This pregnancy the thoughts have been a lot more intrusive and irrational and I’ve definitely been struggling more. It’s only when I’m pregnant that I feel like this so I wonder if it’s to do with pregnancy hormones. As soon as the baby is born the worry and anxiety goes but it’s so hard feeling like this for 9 months and seeing everything as threat and a danger.

Your thinking is not remotely normal, you definitely need to bring it up with your midwife.

@LoveheartBear thank you so much for your kindness and so sorry you’ve gone through this too. It’s only when I’m pregnant that I have these worries, this pregnancy has been particularly bad. For example I bought a bottle of water a few days ago and after drinking it my brain suddenly started telling me what if somehow something got added to the water that will harm the baby. Completely irrational and while I knew that I still couldn’t stop thinking about it and worrying for days. It’s awful having these worries hanging over me all the time and never feeling safe. My husband tries to be supportive but I do think it might be a good idea to speak to someone. I looked up contamination OCD and can relate so much.

What? What on earth made you think that?

When I used to walk my dd to nursery through the park, we used to play a game where if she stepped off the path I would say ‘be careful, a lion might have escaped from the zoo and it might gobble you up’ or ‘the big bad wolf might be behind a tree and he will eat you up’. Those scenarios might just as well happen as your mouse weeing in your fruit bowl one.

Your son is tell you he can’t remember because he doesn’t want you to spiral into even more of a catastrophising mindset.

@GingerPants I never said anything to my son about my worries. Just asked if he could remember if he’d had any fruit yesterday.

Unfortunately, OCD thoughts/anxiety is often completely irrational. The brain can create wonderful stories in those moments!

Whilst sufferers (like myself) can often see that their thoughts are irrational, it does not remove the fear in the moment.

Wishing you all the best OP. Pregnancy hormones certainly have a lot to answer for! Like you, my husband is very supportive, but I can see how my fears can overwhelm him at times, and I knew I was at the point where I needed to seek help. I hope you are free of your fears soon 🌻

You see I don't think that being irrational is in and of itself a bad thing. Love isn't rational for example. Therefore my question is a valid one - op's mind could have gone anywhere but it didn't, it went to a rat or mouse urine despite not having even seen a rat or a mouse. So the question is - why? There will be some level at which op's thoughts make sense to her even though they don't have a strong connection to the current reality or evidence.

I'd speak to your doctor about how you're feeling or everytime you leave a door or a window open, you'll have this anxiety and end up driving yourself crazy x

Fucking hell I absolutly love health anxiety when pregnant. This is top notch. I’m laughing now because I would have been EXACTLY the same as you in your situation. However now I am not pregnant I can see how bat shit what you have just said is. I assure you there is no way in hell you have accidentally eaten rat pee. That being said when you have health anxiety when being pregnant it is absolute hell and the thought you have had does seem completely plausible so trust me I get you. But for more reassurance I will say again YOU HAVE NOT INGESTED anything from a rat.

I'd speak to your doctor about how you're feeling or everytime you leave a door or a window open, you'll have this anxiety and end up driving yourself crazy x

Mouse pee is very very sticky, you would have noticed it on an apple.

And rats don't pee all over the place.

This is something my son would obsess about when he’s really anxious/his OCD is playing up. He has had a lot of help for it and I’d advise to speak to your GP if you got nowhere with the midwife. If you can afford it try and get some private counselling as the nhs waitlist is long. In the meantime you need to try to help yourself. There are a lot of resources online.
I can catastrophiise a lot too - it’s very hard to stop when there’s a thought there, but I have had therapy too which helps.