Botulism from incorrectly kept cheese?

[Pamplemousse]

I feel a little better with the kind words here - I might even dare to try and sleep tonight.

[AntsyVee]

I’m sure your late wife would have wanted you to be happy and take care of yourself, PM, no matter what that entails.

[Worrywart84]

Hi! I just read through your thread and I’m so sorry you are dealing with both anxiety and depression. I hope you can get the help you need to have a better life. I always find that my mood is highly influenced by my environment so when everything is clean and tidy I am much happier and calmer than when things are in complete disarray. I know it may feel overwhelming but maybe consider doing little small things to start cleaning up and see how you feel. It can be a mood changer and motivate you to keep going.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It's a hard cheese with a high salt content (good for stopping microbial growth) and a low risk cheese for pathogens. Soft cheese is always the biggest risk although I've eaten plenty of Quark up to 2 weeks after the date (refrigerated) and yoghurt weeks past it's date and even a week at room temperature.

My experience is you would know. In a soft cheese it will become more & more acidic to the point of vile. Aside from the mould floating on the top. With hard cheese you can see the mould on the outside and smell/taste will be off.

Isn't there 2 main strains and both can be cooked off over certain temperatures?

The initial making of the cheese also helps dictate how it will be affected. The long date sounds well in your favour (months is good for cheese) and they will have packed it to deliver that date. So if it has been sealed all this time and just because no fridge doesn't mean the temperature is high enough (cool pantry?) so whilst not ideal might not be as bad as you think?

The anxiety ape will go mad over it being 3 seconds out of date. So try to keep perspective and see how you feel later.

[NoraB]

It's not a question of being unable to afford one - the house is so untidy it's probably unfit for habitation and there's no room for one.

But I live alone so only I have to put up with it.

Is this by choice PM? Or is a case of things have just got out of hand? Because you can get help you know? X

[pulisa]

There IS a point, PM..even when you think there isn't. We all support you on here, you as a person and not for the state of your home. Your home is a manifestation of your distress but mess can be fixed.Your mental health is more important than clutter any day x

[Scass]

There IS a point, PM..even when you think there isn't. We all support you on here, you as a person and not for the state of your home. Your home is a manifestation of your distress but mess can be fixed.Your mental health is more important than clutter any day x

That’s such a lovely thing to say.


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[NoraB]

Your mental health is more important than clutter any day x

I've watched load of those house cleaning programmes where the person cried with relief when it was all cleaned up and their mental health improved no end.

Hubs' flat was like that when I first met him. He wasn't depressed or owt - he was just (is) a lazy bugger!

Nora got to work and blitzed the place in one day and the resident mouse, and escaped tarantula food (crickets) were re-housed.

For me, I can't function in clutter and dirt. My brain won't have it. Then again, my cleaning has strayed into the OCD zone historically. Can't do that now, but I still keep on top of things and have the number of a cleaner should things deteriorate.

PM: I'm so sorry you're struggling this much. I had no idea. You need some help mate. I honestly think that your mental health would improve a lot with improvement to your environment, and you can get help with that. Once your gaff is gleaming, and a pleasant place to be, this will provide incentive to keep it that way, and then you will want to get into the bath or shower because it's clean.

First thing I'd do is to speak to your GP. Explain the situation and that you need some help with the depression and with your house. He/she should be able to help you with the mental health issue and at least point you in the right direction to getting help with cleaning the house if you can't afford to pay someone to come in and do it.

As P says, we're all here for you. X

[Pamplemousse]

I really don't feel I deserve the kind things people are saying here.

I've always been an untidy sod, right back to my childhood but it got so much worse about six years ago. Originally it was just hiding the empty spaces where Mrs. PM was, but now it has truly become overwhelming, hence my taking the easy option of not dealing with it. The big problem is that I don't cope well with people around me and especially when it's in my own house - I feel like I'm being invaded. When I work I'm mostly left alone to my own devices and that suits me just fine, my interactions with people are always minimal: "tell me what's wrong with it - not what you think is wrong with it - and I'll take it from there" is a standard response - which on the face of it sounds a bit abrupt but I have wasted too much of my time in the past dealing with people who prove the adage "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing".

[BlueIris]

It sounds as though things have got beyond the point where you can manage yourself, though. Could you get some cleaners in and bugger off to a hotel for a couple of days while they sort it out?