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Thread: To those who went through PAM (Brain eating amoeba) fears, help please.

  1. #11
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    May 2018
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    125

    Re: To those who went through PAM (Brain eating amoeba) fears, help please.

    Quote Originally Posted by MyNameIsTerry View Post
    You are doing really well.

    Avoidance only ever builds fear when we avoid out of irrational fear. In therapy we are taught to change avoidance into healthy adaptive behaviours.

    How do you feel before, during and after? Is the anxiety always there or does it come at certain points in the process?

    Exposure therapy is incredibly hard so be proud of yourself for facing your fears and continuing to challenge those irrational beliefs that have been built. It takes time to change or adapt core beliefs as the fear system is meant to build lasting fears so it responds more slowly to "oh, that's a tame bear, I think I'll stroke him" as opposed to "where's my spear, CHARGE!" or "argh, ruuuunnnnn!"
    The anxiety is pretty much nonexistent most of the time. Since I usually play games, watch shows, and all, I’m distracted. I also don’t fear getting PAM anymore because I can’t get it logically, and so I don’t think about it as much anymore. When I’m distracted and get reminded of it, I have a tiny butterfly type feeling in my stomach, but I usually apply logic and get rid of it. Thing is, before my anxiety turned into HA, I had GAD. Soo, when I lose my HA, won’t I have GAD again? Issue is, sometimes when I feel anxiety, idk what it’s about, health worries, or just random anxiety that pops up? It’s weird, but I’m doing crazy good compared to before.

  2. #12
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    Aug 2017
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    251

    Re: To those who went through PAM (Brain eating amoeba) fears, help please.

    Same exact thing right now! I was playing “balance on the 36” inch ball with my husband in the pool yesterday... and I rolled off and water shot in my nose..

    Now I’m worried and feel like somethibrf is tingling up there..

    I know positive thoughts.. trying.. “what if the pool was properly chlorinated” like you said... I smell it on my skin..

  3. #13
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    May 2018
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    Re: To those who went through PAM (Brain eating amoeba) fears, help please.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreamingincolor1390 View Post
    Same exact thing right now! I was playing “balance on the 36” inch ball with my husband in the pool yesterday... and I rolled off and water shot in my nose..

    Now I’m worried and feel like somethibrf is tingling up there..

    I know positive thoughts.. trying.. “what if the pool was properly chlorinated” like you said... I smell it on my skin..
    If you in anyway have jumped in that pool, and have never died of PAM, that means you don't have a brain eating amoeba. Jumping in water still forces water in your nose, and so the risk is the same. Also, if you didn't swim in a wading pool, and your pool is properly treated along with having clear water, you can't have PAM. Oh yes, if you smell chlorine on your skin, that's from he chloramines released onto the water. Chloramines kill amoebas easily, and so imo, you shouldn't worry at all. Btw, I learned a very good technique to make sure if symptoms are being caused by PAM. It kind of has become an obsessive tool for me, but I'm slowly disengaging from it, so no big deal. Okay, so, what this amoeba does is eat your tissues that give you scent. This is its initial step, and after on, it moves onto your brain. Due to this, you can't have a stiff neck, headaches, or any other symptoms without having no sense of smell. So if you feel a headache and freak out, take a scent of something and if you can still smell, your headache isn't being caused by PAM. Obviously, a clogged nose doesn't mean you have PAM, and so don't worry too much about it. If your nose is completely clean, and you're not sick at all, and yet your sense of smell is gone, then please look for other ways to logically get that other than PAM, though I'm not really an expert in that matter. Btw, PAM can be cured. There's a misconception that PAM is always fatal because we have no way to cure it, but that's incorrect. Most of the recent cases have been told to have survivers, and this is because the only reason most victims die is because PAM is hard to identify. If you truly have PAM, once you're at the hospital, inform them on that matter and they'll get to work right away. I think they can check for amoebas through spinal fluids, though I'm not certain. The sooner they work, the more likely you'll live on. All they have to do is put you in an induced coma to ensure the amoebas can't feed of the high temperature your body will be at due to a fever, and after, they use these medications called lexapro (I think) that treats breast cancer). After that, you survive, but based on the damage done, physical therapy maybe necessary. Either way, if you consider PAM as an option of your symptoms and tell those who are treating you about it, you can easily survive (imo). Also, if there is no dirty debri at the bottom of your pool, then you most likely won't get BEA even if your water was poorly treated. Amoebas generally live in mud, and so when people go to freshwater parks, they jump around on the muddy particles in the bottom of the lake. These debris consists of amoebas that come up, and when a person dives in the lake, they accidentally catch some in their nose. If there was no dirt at the bottom of your pool, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Even so, if there was dirt, and your poolbis properly treated, your chances are still at zero. Unless you or your husband kicked up any dirt at the bottom of your pool, your chances would still be very close to zero, even if your pooo was terribly treated. Let me try to make this as simple as I can though, to get this stupid fear off your head. Get a plastic cup, and get a bit of your pool water in it. Then, get some tap water, and put them side by side. If you can't tell a difference through how they look, I'm nearly a hundred percent sure no amoeba is in that pool. Generally, pools that are swamps have amoebas in them, due to a lot of mud growing in. These waters are very green and not treated at all. No untreated pool water can look as clean as tap water. If it makes you feel any better, I haven't seen or read about any cases involving a pool. I read this article saying they may exist in untreated wading pools, but nothing about a normal pool. I think this is because normal pools have motors thst circulate the water system at least 8 hours a day and filter/clean it. Amoebas don't live in waters that have circulation, or a lot of water movement, or at least that's what I read. Deep down, I'm sure you know you're okay. Once your anxiety calms down, your thoughts come in and say, "what if I should worry because there maybe danger," discard those thoughts and remind yourself that amoebas can't live in properly treated pools, oh and if your fears get very bad, you can always check the amount of chemicals in your pool, and if there are any missing by taking a sample to someone who specializes on such matters. To end my post, I'd like to add that barely any cases of this have occureed, and practically all were from lakes or rivers. Only 2-5 were from tap water in Lousiana. The tap water was well water and so it was contaminated easily, but this only has ever affected Lousiana. No other state, as far as I know. Oh and, these were through neti pots, which means the water went completely in their nose. I read about one with a kid getting water up their nose through a slip n slide, but it was in louisiana and it makes sense. Sorry for the long post, just giving you as much reassurance as you need, along with facts, to make you understand your irrationality and move on. Plus, i needed to remind myself why my pool can't give me PAM lol. I've been doing super good these past days, and this fear has been going on for a month now. I'd be dead already if I was right about having PAM. You can ask me anymore questions if you want and I'll try to help you as best as possible. GL.

  4. #14
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    Aug 2017
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    Re: To those who went through PAM (Brain eating amoeba) fears, help please.

    Thanks so much hellopanda!

    I sent you a pm.. trying to hang in there!

  5. #15
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    May 2018
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    Re: To those who went through PAM (Brain eating amoeba) fears, help please.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreamingincolor1390 View Post
    Thanks so much hellopanda!

    I sent you a pm.. trying to hang in there!
    How are you holding up?

  6. #16
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    Jan 2017
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    Re: To those who went through PAM (Brain eating amoeba) fears, help please.

    You're doing an awesome job exposing yourself and being positive about how nothing will happen. I've circled this panic drain before and thankfully for me, I've been able to let the statistics win over anxiety since it's just so rare. 0-8 people per year in the US. Statistically speaking, that's no one in a country of 330 million people. I just say to myself - I'm definitely not that special! Way more people win the Power Ball jackpot each year!

  7. #17
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    Aug 2017
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    Re: To those who went through PAM (Brain eating amoeba) fears, help please.

    :/

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