View Full Version : contamination - salmonella, ecoli....what would you do
hi y'all
well, my 5 year old dog has diarrhea. :(
and my husband is out of town :( :(
he would normally handle this type of thing...but i'm on my own for a few days.
the dog had a diarrhea yesterday(outside), in the day, but then, last night she woke me up at 230am, 445am, and again at 6am to go.
so, my anxiety around her has always been bad. the idea of worms or giardia or something that we could catch really scares me. and it makes me feel like my house is contaminated. so there's that angle.
and then, the idea of taking her to the vet gives me so much anxiety. it's like i have PTSD. I get so anxious.
so, i guess i could use some support. advice. suggestions.
i'm assuming i can see how she does today before running her to the vet, right? also, she usually eats at night. should i feed her then? not sure how to handle this.
I'm better with kids :)
thanks
also, wanted to add that she's a doodle dog, so i've been having to give her tush a wipe when she comes in, cause it drips on her fur a tad. which is why i'm scared of us catching something..my wiping it and then the germs being on her fur and her being on some of the furniture. (she's allowed on a couple of things)
ugh
Try feeding her boiled rice and lean fish or chicken at the usual time today. If she's an adult dog and there's no blood or anything horrendous in the diarrhoea, you should be safe to wait a day or so.
My dog often has diarhoea from time to time, i think it's relatively normal. He usually gets it after having too many human treats. But once he's been eating his dog food again for a couple of days, it's back to normal. Hope that helps a bit.
My dog often has diarhoea from time to time, i think it's relatively normal. He usually gets it after having too many human treats. But once he's been eating his dog food again for a couple of days, it's back to normal. Hope that helps a bit.
like wake you up at night to go out type of diarrhea? ??
Personally, I would take the dog to the vet! Several bouts of diarrhea needs to be checked. As far as you catching something, it can happen but good hand hygiene and proper cleanup/disinfecting of the areas in the house where it happened should prevent you catching anything. Anxiety shouldn’t prevent you from getting your dog help from a vet though!
So it's just yesterday that she started? What I normally do is withhold food for a day. This has the effect of allowing the digestive tract to settle without adding more and more food, prolonging the process. Then give small meals of a easily digested food. Cooked chicken and rice, little and often, don't overload the gut. Or if you have some prescription diet dried food..Gastrointestinal or I/D...this is uk... bound to be similar over there.
If this doesnt work, which it usually does, then take her the the vets, she may need a bit of help to get rid of it. Some metronidazole or similar which is an anti biotic targeted at gut issues.
But please make sure she's drinking, diarrhoea can make them dehydrated quickly and of course if she starts to appear ill get to the vets asap.
ok. i was thinking of giving it a day and seeing what happens tonight. I wondered about food. still trying to figure out if i should feed her some rice or something today...can't decide. she has been playing. barking at the garbage men etc.
she drank water this morning. it's been 3.5 hours since she pooped. hoping it's settling down. please send good vibes...
thanks
AMomentofClarity
31-01-19, 14:42
Another vote for small chicken/rice here.
Good luck. I know how distressing it can be.
thanks everyone. she had little bouts of diarrhea every 2-3 hours today, but hasn't gone in about 4 now. she seems to be acting normal. she's been sleeping, but she usually does that anyway. she barked and played today. i may take her for a walk now.
i don't know what to do about food. i read to withhold for 24 hours, but is that 24 hours from the last time she ate, or 24 hours from the time the diarrhea started? :)
also, i do not have any chicken. could i just give her some rice today, no protein? i may have some chicken broth i could put on it. i am scared to give her anything cause i don't want to make the diarrhea start again, and probably in the middle of the night. she is interested in food, because she came in the kitchen when i fixed my lunch.
i am feeling so alone. i already have anxiety staying without my husband, but this on top of it is making me feel weak.
edited to add: i did take her for a walk. she was acting completely normal. except she did poop once, all liquid. i'm not going to give her food tonight. i'm going to try to make her drink water and if she does ok through the night, i'll feed her something first thing in the morning. i get up very early. if she has to go poop during the night, we'll go to the vet tomorrow.
does that sound ok? that is what my husband told me to do. it's really his dog :)
glassgirlw
01-02-19, 00:59
Is she drinking water normally? Dehydration can become an issue with diarrhea. If her gums are wet and pink, she’s ok. If her gums are white and sticky, you have a dehydrated dog and that should be an ASAP type vet visit.
If she doesn’t appear dehydrated, withhold food for 24 hours. Gives their system a chance to rest. Then introduce small amounts of boiled chicken and rice at mealtimes. If diarrhea continues after that, I would do a vet visit. She may have some type of parasite that requires meds. Giardia is unfortunately pretty common.
Good luck!!
MyNameIsTerry
01-02-19, 01:28
Like others have said, my dog gets overloaded sometimes and has the odd day with the runs. Give her a break off food for a day or lessen it. Foods that are lighter, as recommended or even recovery food, are less heavy on the system. Meats can often have too much fat in them and make them run anyway.
If you see any blood then go to the vets. It could be an infection. We had this once when our dog was young but the runs were an all night thing and really quite bad.
If she has a 2nd night of it then it's worth seeing the vet. It's a good sign she is well in herself though and doing things as normal. Probably feeling a bit sorry for herself but that's what fusses are for :woof Keeping her hydrated is good too.
I hope she feels better soon. If you do need to go to the vets, you will find the strength just like you would with your kids.
she is drinking water. and she is peeing. she is acting normal and is hungry, which is a good sign. i have her two small pieces of cheese.
i feel bad for her, cause diarrhea is no fun! and I really hope she is not sick sick.
i'll take her to the vet tomorrow if necessary.
thank you all for being here for me.
will you be here in the middle of the night ? :)
xo
MyNameIsTerry
01-02-19, 02:57
I'm sure there will be some people around. Your middle of the night is our day so plenty of UK members about. Not sure when I'm on, on now for some hours, but on & off through the day. Plenty of pet and dog lovers on here.
Yeah, she probably just needs a break. She wouldn't be hungry otherwise.
When our dog needed to see the vet, and there was blood in his, he must have gone over 10 times in the space of a matter of hours. That, and the blood, was why we went to an emergency vet in the night as something was clearly wrong. But he's had plenty of days where he's overdone it on treats of human food and the result has been the runs but he's back to normal after that and it doesn't stop him wanting to eat, drink or play anyway.
She had some good breaks in those poo times so it sounds like when my dog has those days as he is the same.
thanks!! she just went out again and is having just liquid stool. small amount. but. geez. then there was a possum in the yard and she went crazy obsessive about it. forgot she had to poop! :) hoping she relaxes during the night and the nighttime seratonin or whatever it is kicks in and calms down her intestines. then i'll feed her some in the morning and go from there.
i got this. right?
---------- Post added 01-02-19 at 02:09 ---------- Previous post was 31-01-19 at 22:40 ----------
And now it’s 130am. And she had to go out. And I just realized that it could be salmonella or ecoli or listeria. And why that didn’t occur to me until just now I don’t know. Those are huge fears of mine!! Huge. And I’m really freaking out now.
---------- Post added at 02:11 ---------- Previous post was at 02:09 ----------
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And now it’s 130am. And she had to go out. And I just realized that it could be salmonella or ecoli or listeria. And why that didn’t occur to me until just now I don’t know. Those are huge fears of mine!! Huge. And I’m really freaking out now.
MyNameIsTerry
01-02-19, 08:26
You're doing well. But these things can be simple to treat infections. When our dog had one he just needed a course of antibiotics and went on recovery food for a few days.
If it's been 2 nights then she might need a little help from the vet.
Funny how she decided the possum was more important but that's dogs for you. It's probably that she feels she needs to go and can't settle but liquid is all there is left to come out. Just like with us...except I'm too busy running for the toilet to notice a possum or anything else!
Please don't worry. These things happen with pets and it can be as simple as meds for a few days. I know it's upsetting seeing her ill but try to remain rational about the reasons. You can deal with it.
thanks for the support. i am trying to remain rational, and actually was ok about it until i realized it could be salmonella, ecoli or listeria. my top 3.
i am now operating on very little sleep, and it's starting to make my anxietey worse. and now, i'm really concerned about her. she really wants to eat. so that's a good sign i guess. I just don't know if i should feed her.
gonna try to get into the vet this morning, sooner rather than later.
i also feel like my house is contaminated. my ocd is kicking in big time.
and i've been having to give her butt a wipe because it's been dripping a little after she goes and gets on her fur. so, in my mind she is spreading it around the house. she also was licking herself this morning, so now, of course, i feel like it has contaminated her face.
down the rabbit hole....... :(
hi.
i have a sick dog and have been posting in the health anxiety forum because i def have HA. :) but i realized, that my ocd is creeping in with contamination fears because of this and i need to know how to handle it. my dog has been having diarrhea(going to vet today)and it just occured to me that maybe she has salmonella, ecoli or listeria. these are one of my HUGE fears. i haven't bought an avocado since the FDA warned us to wash them because they likely have listeria on them. i fear they will contaminate my kitchen. ugh.
so, now, the dog has been going outside to poop. but i've been having to give her butt fur a wipe because it drips on there. of course i'm only using tissue wipes, not clorox! so, the germs are not being killed. so i feel like she is contaminating my house with these germs, and i'm terrified.
not to mention the yard! i can't possibly disinfect my yard. so, i ask, what would you do? what SHOULD you do? what would a non-ocd person do?
As a non-OCD person with one longhaired cat with occasional hygiene issues, I'd flush the wipes, clear up and bleach any stains in the house and not worry about it.
That said, I appreciate it must be rough for you and I'm sorry you're suffering.
MyNameIsTerry
01-02-19, 13:41
The first thing to remember is that you don't know what she has got. She may have nothing, just the runs. She may have an infection that doesn't mean she is transmitting the infection anywhere some it may die outside of the body as many germs do.
As a pet owner there are certain things you accept probably without thinking about. This is important in rationalising your current anxiety. For instance, you're dog doesn't have the same hygiene routine as a human being yet you only clean your house as you feel is appropriate. She has her bum on your floor and furnishings all the time. But you don't run around after her cleaning every spot she has sat on.
You can disinfectant the yard if you need too. We do it with something called black fluid. But it's not an everyday thing. We do spray, with a hose, after ours poos and brush the water down the nearby grid. But the rest of the time he is using that area as a toilet and then coming back into the house. His paws have been through it.
If he has the runs then we have disinfected the yard just in case.
Nothing have ever come of our dog bringing any germs into the house. We clean as you would expect and keep an eye out for anything trodden back into the house.
So outside of the current period of your dog's illness does contamination bother you? If the answer is no, the issue is obviously your anxiety and as such it will reduce as the stress passes. Rationalise until then. Work on the anxiety through relaxation, exercise or any other method that is relevant for anxiety treatment.
If contamination bothers you outside of this then more work will be needed to address it but I'm not sure whether that's the real issue here without more information. If it's more a HA thing, your normal worries, then you may not need to specifically address contamination in it's sense as a theme.
I have OCD and in the last year the contamination fear has been quite bad so I went for treatment. This was exposure response prevention and basically involved doing things that made me anxious in order to provide evidence that my OCD was being overly cautious is telling me there is danger where there isn't any.
Related to your situation it certainly sounds like your OCD is being overly cautious. Even if your dog does have an infection from what I know you'd have to ingest the bacteria so unless you are touching your dog's butt then eating a sandwich (which I'm fairly certain you wouldn't be doing!!) then your risk of getting infected is very small.
Sending best wishes to you and I hope the dog gets better soon it's awful seeing them poorly :(
X
thanks y'all . the vet doesn't know what she has...could be viral, bacterial, parasites, etc. they couldn't get a fecal sample because she was empty. :O
anyway, there is one medication that apparently helps with all that and is antidiarrheal so they gave us that.
i my housekeeper was actually here today, while we were at the vet. so that was good. she used pinsol on the floor and cleaned. all i can do now is just practice good hygiene, right? of course i wash my hands after i fool with her(even if i wear gloves), and i wash my hands before i eat, but ocd....ugh. we know how the hand-washing goes(sterotypical or not).
i should probably get back into CBT, but honestly, i know the drill. i know WHAT to do. i just can't make myself do it.
---------- Post added at 12:22 ---------- Previous post was at 12:20 ----------
I have OCD and in the last year the contamination fear has been quite bad so I went for treatment. This was exposure response prevention and basically involved doing things that made me anxious in order to provide evidence that my OCD was being overly cautious is telling me there is danger where there isn't any.
Related to your situation it certainly sounds like your OCD is being overly cautious. Even if your dog does have an infection from what I know you'd have to ingest the bacteria so unless you are touching your dog's butt then eating a sandwich (which I'm fairly certain you wouldn't be doing!!) then your risk of getting infected is very small.
Sending best wishes to you and I hope the dog gets better soon it's awful seeing them poorly :(
X
how is your therapy going? are you making notable progress?
i'm so sad she's sick. but she handles it well.
she's a great dog.
and honestly, i get exposure therapy EVERY DAY having a dog. :)
hi. update. managed to not have a nervous breakdown and went to the vet and was fairly calm. i put on a pretty good face. and actually feel better knowing she's got meds now. the vet said it could be viral, bacterial, parasites, etc. they couldn't get a fecal sample because she was empty. :O
anyway, there is one medication that apparently helps with all that and is antidiarrheal so they gave us that. she was a tad dehydryated so they did a sub q fluid thing. special food, and probiotics. i fed her the food and she loved it and is sleeping now.
the vet didn't seem concerned about ecoli, or salmonella or listeria.
nomorepanic
01-02-19, 17:32
Hi
This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.
Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.
It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.
MyNameIsTerry
02-02-19, 01:31
That's good news. A day or two and she might be back to normal now. That med will certainly stop the runs though which is good news.
I hope she feels better soon.
thanks. finally got to sleep all night long! yay. she is much better for sure.
my husband gets back in town tonight. so, that's a relief as well.
thank you for seeing me thru...
also, i have been doing a lot of thinking, trying to reflect on my anxiety, and really dig into what goes on with me during these times and what i can do differently to make it better.
trying to learn.
so my dog has been sick, and is now on medication(metronidazole). I have to give her this medicine. my sister is a pharmacist. and she just happen to tell me that when people take this medicine they absolutely cannot drink alcohol. that it would make them deathly ill. well, i drink wine. 2 glasses a night usually.
so, this morning, i gave her the medicine and my brain was like..."oh no! you touched that pill! what if you get so sick tonight if you have a glass of wine! "
and now, the fear is starting to set in. i will be having wine tonight at dinner.
is this a real fear? would i absorb the medicine through my skin?one time someone told me they can't touch some medicine of their husbands or something like that.(can't remember exactly) so anyway is this real or is this just my HA/ocd?
venusbluejeans
02-02-19, 15:24
is this a real fear? would i absorb the medicine through my skin?
No it isn't and no you wouldn't
nomorepanic
02-02-19, 15:28
It is just your HA/OCD talking and nothing more
nomorepanic
02-02-19, 15:31
Hi
This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.
Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.
It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.
is this a real fear?
Rationalise this....it is another of your 'contamination issues' but slightly different to the usual bacterial variety. Let me show you how I would rationlise this if I had your fear -
1. Tablets are usually film coated so that you aren't touching the active medication and to ensure you aren't altering the dosage by handling. The film coating is designed to 'get the medication' to the right part of the digestive system before it is broken down.
2....but even if they weren't coated you'd NOT absorb it through the skin. This is why it is a tablet, it needs ingestion in order to get into the system and treat the infection.
3. You washed your hands after handling it no doubt.
4. Even IF an antibiotic was able to be absorbed through the skin,and it wasn't coated.....you would have had a dosage that was so miniscule, from touching it, that it was literally not even in the realm of a 'dose'. It is literally, for all practical purposes nothing in your blood stream.
5. Even IF it was absorbed, even IF that were possible that a negligible quantity somehow was in your system, you are having a glass of wine this evening and gave the medication this morning ! OUT of your system!
So basically, of course there is no risk at all, absolutely ZERO of any issue and this is an irrational fear. I have to ask though, why not ask your pharmascist family member the same question ?
this anxiety is such a weird thing isn't it? i am listening to what you say here, and i'm trying to rationalize it. the meds are every 12 hours, so my brain is like, well it wouldn't be out of my system til 9pm. :P
i talked to my other sister, who said the same things as you. my pharmacist sister hasn't responded to my text yet(she's at work at the moment) surely she would have said to me, don't even touch it!! if you're going to have wine. right? also, the vet would have said, don't touch this med if you drink alcohol. right? i mean, i know that's right, but i somehow don't believe it entirely. how is that possible. i'm still in doubt. why? why is my brain wired like this? it's such torture.
i've been contemplating my anxiety for the past few days intensely. trying to make sense of it. trying to determine the best way to help myself. i'm doing some internal research, making notes, etc to see my patterns, and also to see what coping skills work for me. i'm too scared to try meds, so if i'm not going to do that, then i have to do something different.
after i wrote this post, i immediately remembered that when i gave her the pill last night, i couldn't get her to take it. she kept spitting it out. i had to pick it up several times off the floor and it was starting to disolve some from her saliva. i am pretty sure i was wearing a glove because i knew i wanted to wear one if i had to stick it in her throat. but i wasn't thinking at all about the idea that maybe touching the pill might make me absorb it. now i'm questioning whether or not i was wearing a glove when i was picking up the pill, and if i was wearing a glove, what if it wasn't completely impermeable. what if it soaked thru the glove? and i did have wine last night. i just started worrying, would i be sick by now? is that why i had a little diarrhea this morning? what if i get sicker? -
It says on the medication info 'don't drink alcohol' otherwise it CAN give you sweats and palps and stuff, there is no mention of death even for those who drink alcohol! The other things you've added here are correct, if it were THAT dangerous (its an antibiotic!) the vet would say 'don't touch' etc etc.
Regarding giving pills to dogs - try using a blob of something they like to eat like soft cheese or something, and squish the tablet into it. I also use cheddar and squidge it round it to make a ball encasing the tablet. This can do NOTHING to you, you can't absorb this in any noticeable amount through your skin.....your skin isn't a mucous membrane and if this was a way antibiotics could be given, we would have a cream to smear on ! :D
---------- Post added at 16:49 ---------- Previous post was at 16:45 ----------
This is what is says on NHS...
Do not drink alcohol while taking a course of metronidazole tablets, liquid, suppositories or vaginal gel, or for 2 days after finishing treatment. Alcohol can cause side effects such as feeling and being sick, stomach pain, hot flushes, a pounding heartbeat (palpitations) and a headache.Don't see instant death listed, even for those who are on a full and proper dose of the medication :winks:
---------- Post added at 16:55 ---------- Previous post was at 16:49 ----------
Its funny though, I had a period in my life when I worried about 'things absorbing'....like the year I was messing around with lead piping for quite some time and thought I'd get poisoning from it. I do get it. :D
MyNameIsTerry
03-02-19, 02:34
Carys is right. Plenty of useful information there to rationalise with.
What you need to think about is you have a subconscious and a conscious mind. You can consciously rationalise this but don't expect it to change what the subconscious does. You have built fears from negative thinking and they have to be reprogrammed with time & repetition because otherwise it would dangerous as it wouldn't be protecting us from real threats.
It's the same system for a big scary bear as the fears that are irrational. The subconscious thinks it's protecting you and can't understand the conscious dismissal. In time, that dismissal will change the core beliefs that underpin those fears and the subconscious will not do this anymore. Until then, expect it to do what has been programming into it. This means accepting the negatives, albeit they are upsetting, but not letting them push you into negativity.
My dog was a little rotter with pills. He would try to hide them under his tongue. We thought we had got it sorted and then starting finding them behind the settee. He was immediately going behind there and spitting them out! They are like kids :biggrin:
We tend to have them in syringes now that either you squirt into the mouth or into their food. But putting it in soft stuff like cheese, as Carys says, works.
My cat was on this medication for weeks before he died (he had an inoperable intestinal tumor and it was keeping his symptoms at bay). My husband and I would have to wrestle him to the ground, hold his mouth open and throw it in. If we didn't he'd suck on it, spit it out, drool all over our house, and we'd have to start over with the wet soggy pill. There was no warning on the bottle about alcohol (or anything else), because it was for the cat, who wouldn't be drinking alcohol. I'm not sure why your sister would mention that about a medication for your dog.
The vet mentioned nothing to us about touching it or any precautions whatsoever.
I get contamination anxiety also, so I totally feel you here. But, I'm certain you're at absolutely no risk from touching this medication.
I'll add, my cat was also pooping all over the house, rubbing is dirty butt on stuff, etc... and no one got sick. You'll be ok. Keep being conscious of this being your anxiety/OCD. In a few days you'll see everything is fine and hopefully it'll be a bit of exposure therapy to help you work things through.
MyNameIsTerry
03-02-19, 04:37
Yeah, my GF has cats and says the same about giving them meds. Dogs seem easier to me. That's perhaps the way of it when it comes to differences between them, dogs are more subservient to the leader whereas a cat just looks at you like you're a fool :biggrin:
dogs are more subservient to the leader whereas a cat just looks at you like you're a fool :biggrin:
Ha, yes. This particular cat was outrageous. If we didn't feed him in time he'd walk across the piano keys, knock his bowl all over the kitchen, climb up on tables and knock over water glasses.
He'd wake us each morning at 5am to eat by slamming his whole body into our bedroom door. He'd poop in the shower every once in a while just for the heck of it.
Then, every night he'd lay on my lap and snuggle. He was 100% in charge!
MyNameIsTerry
03-02-19, 05:00
Ha, yes. This particular cat was outrageous. If we didn't feed him in time he'd walk across the piano keys, knock his bowl all over the kitchen, climb up on tables and knock over water glasses.
He'd wake us each morning at 5am to eat by slamming his whole body into our bedroom door. He'd poop in the shower every once in a while just for the heck of it.
Then, every night he'd lay on my lap and snuggle. He was 100% in charge!
:D Well they are our overlords! :D
My GF finds her cats demand food or to go out. She gets woken up early if they want something.
It's more about coughing up a treat with our dog. You may get barked at, jumped on or just stared at in a very cute manner until you give him a treat. :D
thank you all for holding my hand through all this. yesterday, that mediciation/alcohol thing had me in a funk for half the day. and despite having good resources, which reasonable information that i was not at any risk, i could not shake it. until about 3pm. then i actually had a moment of clarity. i said to myself, even if i absorbed it, it was so miniscule that it could not do anything. I had a brief relief, but after a few hours, when it was getting close to time to have a drink with my friend, it started back. i was fortunate to KNOW that i was having ocd/ha anxiety, and hopefully can learn from it. i'm a little disappointed in myself though, because ideally, i would have given the medication myself and had my wine, but instead, i waited til my husband got home and had him do it. that brings me to my next thought....i'm going to start a new thread because it's a totally different topic, and i want to see if anyone else has this issue. hopefully it won't get merged with this one. LOL -
that brings me to my next thought....i'm going to start a new thread because it's a totally different topic, and i want to see if anyone else has this issue. hopefully it won't get merged with this one. LOL -
IMO, keeping things to one thread helps others see the pattern of irrational thoughts and fears. It's extremely common for one fear to end and another begin while the former is literally hours old. Just my two cents after seeing the same patterns for years and years and seeing that pattern helps others respond accordingly. You definitely have a food contamination theme going.
Positive thoughts
i agree that there is a pattern. however, i want to find people who also have food safety fears, and hopefully they have overcome them. my subject line is about doggie diarrhea so someone may not read it. i know that i don't read every post. also, the dog thing was situational and is resolved. the food thing is ongoing and is consuming my life. i need to do something about it.
The current subject line is Re: contamination - salmonella, ecoli....what would you do
Again, it just shows your pattern of jumping from one contamination fear to the next. As long as you post on the thread, that title will show. If it's merged, the new title will show.
People can suggest things to infinity and beyond but you've had therapy and know what needs to be done. Words on a screen are just that. Actions speak louder than words :shades:
Good luck and as always...
Positive thoughts
oh, weird. i didn't realize the subject line changed when the thread had merged. good to know. yes, i know what to do, but need encouragement and maybe ideas on how best to get the courage to do it.
I had some similar fears to you when I was much younger, and in all honestly the only way I shook them off was by challenging them. For example if something had packaging that looked like it wasn't 100 percent sealed and possibly had a weeny air gap (I'm talking here about fresh ready made food, and not those with security seals)...that could have had somebody inject poison into it! Seriously, such was my thought process. As I've said before I also thought that things I touched could be absorbed. I forced myself by reiterating the rationalising points out loud, and then by making myself NOT avoid things.
So, if something said 'Best Before', and it had gone past that date, in the past it would go in the bin....no reason to do that.....so I started making myself eat things like that.Yes, and even with some things if I think they look ok and smell ok I eat them after their 'useby' date also. After all something can't suddenly make you ill 12 hours after a printed date ? :winks: Infact they put such long safety dates on these things...you'd probably be fine weeks after the 'use by' date. Not that I take it that far lol You get the idea, with contamination, you've got to challenge yourself and avoid avoiding....as the more you cut things out, the more you avoid, the smaller your world and experiences become and the bigger your fears.
I'm more cautious than my wife when it comes to food safety but it's not anxiety related. She had some difficult times growing up when there wasn't enough to eat so she hates to throw away food. I'm cool with using a "best used by" for a couple weeks after the date and there are some foods I know are good longer but I won't use an expired food more than 4-5 days after the expiration depending on what it is. I've had Parmesan cheese with a good expiration grow mold. I just cut it off and problem solved ;) I've had eggs, milk, cheese, meat etc. and it was fine. Same goes for leftovers. There are some basic food safety guidelines (4-5 days but if you freeze them... months) and again common sense. Ohhh, and USE YOUR NOSE! It helps! If it smells funky, it's out of there! :byebye: I think if you just practice some common sense you'll be fine.
Curious question for those that suffer with this fear... What are your feelings about dropping food on the floor? I get that it depends on the situation and place but when does the "five second rule" apply and how do you handle it? I know what mine are not having this fear and I'll share, but I'd like to hear from you.
Positive thoughts
AMomentofClarity
03-02-19, 19:21
IMO, keeping things to one thread helps others see the pattern of irrational thoughts and fears. It's extremely common for one fear to end and another begin while the former is literally hours old. Just my two cents after seeing the same patterns for years and years and seeing that pattern helps others respond accordingly. You definitely have a food contamination theme going.
Positive thoughts
Couldn’t agree more with this. To a sufferer, every fear seems independent of the next and previous. To an observer, the patterns become clear and every post/fear points to the same thing.
=Curious question for those that suffer with this fear... What are your feelings about dropping food on the floor? I get that it depends on the situation and place but when does the "five second rule" apply and how do you handle it? I know what mine are not having this fear and I'll share, but I'd like to hear from you.
It depends on the food and the floor. If it's a food that stuff sticks to I won't eat it because the dust/cat hair gets stuck on it. If it's something with a non-porous surface I'll usually be ok with eating it - like a piece of hard candy or a cracker or something.
It also depends where I am. I won't eat off a restaurant floor but Im ok with eating certain things off my own floor because I know the last time I cleaned it and we don't wear shoes in the house. My parents don't take their shoes off in their house so I'm less likely to eat off their floor.
I don't have a ton of anxiety around this, but just generally think it's kind of gross to eat off the floor.
i go by expiration dates/best buy dates religiously :) surprise! LOL the problem is that now that's starting to not be enough. i buy meat and even if it says Feb 4, i have to use it the day i bought it. and lately, i don't even trust it if it's fresh because i'll find something wrong with it(smell, color, texture). which makes me ask(and i probably have before), do you find that ground beef is brown/gray in the middle every time you buy it? my friends act like they have never seen this. i see it 90% of the time!.
cautious is ok. and i'd love to trust my nose/eyes, but i can't. i also have the BEST nose ever! i can smell things a mile away. it's a curse :) and all meat/chicken smells bad to me even when other people say it smells fine. well it stinks. and i was taught if it stinks it isn't good.
no 5 second rule here. we have the dog inside and outside, pooping and peeing all day long. walking to the park running around chasing balls there, etc. nasty floor even if i have cleaned it the day before. so i don't eat off the floor. plus, i watched a myth busters one time on the 5 second rule. germs on the food right when they touched the floor :)
so, i get the idea of merging threads and seeing patterns. but i'd really like help for this specific fear. sure, if you have the answer to the root of the fear, all my fears, then i'd love to delve into that too. but for this, i need to tackle it. that's why i wanted a separate thread. all fears are related. no doubt, it's ocd. but with therapy, or with ERP, in my experience you kinda tackle them separately. i overcame a previous fear with ERP, and it helped that fear alot. but we worked on it specifically. not just all fears in general. that's kinda how ERP works. it's pretty specific in my experience.
so, i get the idea of merging threads and seeing patterns. but i'd really like help for this specific fear. sure, if you have the answer to the root of the fear, all my fears, then i'd love to delve into that too. but for this, i need to tackle it. that's why i wanted a separate thread. all fears are related. no doubt, it's ocd. but with therapy, or with ERP, in my experience you kinda tackle them separately. i overcame a previous fear with ERP, and it helped that fear alot. but we worked on it specifically. not just all fears in general. that's kinda how ERP works. it's pretty specific in my experience.
I agree. I think merging threads is good for people who are spiraling. But in this case, cofo is recognizing that all of this is a product of her anxiety and OCD and specifically asking for help on how to deal with this vs. asking for reassurance over and over again on a different ailment. I had stopped reading this thread, but picked up the one on food safety because that's a huge issue for me and it was really nice for me to find someone with the same issue to talk with.
It depends on the food and the floor. If it's a food that stuff sticks to I won't eat it because the dust/cat hair gets stuck on it. If it's something with a non-porous surface I'll usually be ok with eating it - like a piece of hard candy or a cracker or something.
It also depends where I am. I won't eat off a restaurant floor but Im ok with eating certain things off my own floor because I know the last time I cleaned it and we don't wear shoes in the house. My parents don't take their shoes off in their house so I'm less likely to eat off their floor.
I don't have a ton of anxiety around this, but just generally think it's kind of gross to eat off the floor.
That's pretty much how I feel too expect shoes or not, it doesn't matter. Also, and whether you admit it or not, you'll eat more off the floor when you're alone as opposed to being people around ;) How often have you said F it when alone and just gone for it? And have you ever gotten sick from it? (NOPE!)
Positive thoughts
How often have you said F it when alone and just gone for it? And have you ever gotten sick from it? (NOPE!)
Definitely! I try to teach my 4 year old to be polite... so I generally discourage eating off the floor as a rule, haha. But if she's not around I'll be a lot more likely to do it. Setting good examples and all. Much like how I tell her she can't have any more cookies and then wait until she goes to bed to eat 5!
---------- Post added at 18:42 ---------- Previous post was at 18:40 ----------
And, speaking of 4 year olds, they are great exposure therapy for contamination worries because they're absolutely disgusting. My kid has eaten things she's chewed up and spit on the floor, licked the bottoms of her shoes more than once, licked her fingers after playing in the dirt, licked the cat, eaten food her friend with strep throat just licked, etc..... And, aside from having 95 colds per year, she's survived!
Definitely! I try to teach my 4 year old to be polite... so I generally discourage eating off the floor as a rule, haha. But if she's not around I'll be a lot more likely to do it. Setting good examples and all. Much like how I tell her she can't have any more cookies and then wait until she goes to bed to eat 5!
And, speaking of 4 year olds, they are great exposure therapy for contamination worries because they're absolutely disgusting. My kid has eaten things she's chewed up and spit on the floor, licked the bottoms of her shoes more than once, licked her fingers after playing in the dirt, licked the cat, eaten food her friend with strep throat just licked, etc..... And, aside from having 95 colds per year, she's survived!
I've SO done that when my kids were little! :roflmao: And kids really do some gross stuff! My son once took off his diaper and used his poo to paint the walls and crib... Yep... really happened.
There are germaphobes that will freak out eating anything off the floor but let their dog lick them all over :lac: :winks:
Positive thoughts
Eating off the floor ? Nooooo wwaaaayyyyyyyy Thats a step too far for me I'm afraid, my floor is filthy (also dogs here and I can't guarantee there isn't bird poo, fox poo or whatever revolting thing on it lol). I also can't understand people that eat, like sandwiches or other hand-held food, and haven't washed their hands. Can't get my head around that AT ALL. The meat being brown/grey in the middle is due to no air/oxygen getting to it - apparently, safe to eat :winks:
MyNameIsTerry
04-02-19, 03:06
Why am I suddenly feeling like a bit of a pig? :roflmao:
The interesting thins is how this highlights how inconsistent we human beings can be. Think about it. We are talking about whether we may eat something dropped on the floor yet (adults) perform acts with each other that mean contact with parts of another person's body that have bacteria on them. Do we insist only after a thorough bleach scrubbing?
For some this will affect their lives so seriously they will struggle with intimacy or human contact but for the most of us we don't think about it. Being a bloke I can say little Terry takes over my thinking so I have an excuse :yesyes::roflmao:
I've found OCD can be very selective and inconsistent. It's a big hypocrite. You can have 10 things in your room that may possess the same potential for contamination but it may be just the one that is making you so upset. It can expand to all, the more severe it can just end up going that way but then you come across people with severe anxiety who focus on specific things too.
I have always come home from work and put thigs in certain places. Only some things, I can happily through plenty in a pile in the corner of my bedroom. But some things were just my daily routine. When the OCD came on I found myself not just doing that because it was what I normally did but having to do that to ward off some unknown fearful nasty thing happening to me. Sometimes it would be that I wouldn't sleep if I didn't. Over & over nudging items on my desk. But only those ones that I would have done without the anxiety. Look across the room and I had a pile of uneven things stacked in a way that should have bothered me.
But that's one indicator of such an irrational disorder.
Just look at all the HA threads where people are scared of some rare disease when they are more likely to be killed driving their car that day. Yet they won't even think about that.
As for food labels, you will find experts saying Use By dates aren't as important as we have been led to believe. Think of it this way, if you got it out of the fridge and it stank but was still in date you know it's going in the bin. But why if it's a few hours past the Use By date do people throw it out in fear? The supermarkets must love us for that. They can't predict it that close. There are certain things they say never take the chance with, I think shellfish was one example, but so many things are fine for days and longer. I eat yoghurt out of date all the time. Last week I ate post that were 3 weeks out of date and they were as fine as they were in date. I've eaten soft potted cheese a week over cut mould of cheese, etc.
Then there are Best Before dates. These are just a measure of quality and when you consider those bags of crisps have a date a year away can we expect it to be in any way accurate? Chocolate lasts years after these dates and some businesses have even started up selling it, legally. The government have even asked them to remove these worthless dates as they are contributing to food poverty.
I think we have grown up being warned about this stuff like it's the Bogeyman. We had the police trying to scare us into double checking our locks in the 80/90's with those bat & hyena ads. We had the AIDS ads, which looking back are a disgrace, which scared everyone.
The interesting thins is how this highlights how inconsistent we human beings can be. Think about it. We are talking about whether we may eat something dropped on the floor yet (adults) perform acts with each other that mean contact with parts of another person's body that have bacteria on them. Do we insist only after a thorough bleach scrubbing?
This is so true. I've absolutely thought about this to relax some of my anxieties. I didn't have anxiety until after my daughter was born so I often think back to some of my youthful indiscretions and the many things I survived in my much less cautious days!
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