Dropped my retainer on the floor AND weird shower question...

[surfer777]

Hey Guys,

So I dropped my retainer on the floor of my room (by the dresser, where my shoes usually are...its carpet, by the way) but I'm not sure if it landed where my shoes have been. I picked it up super fast and rinsed it in hot tap water, but I've been kind of freaking out about it since I wore it last night (dropped it yesterday). I blame fluoxetine for the excess anxiety, but I was wondering what you guys think. No one has had norovirus in my apartment, I'm just scared that I picked up noro on my shoes and then walked into my room and the retainer landed on the floor where noro was, and that I ingested it last night.

What do you guys think?

Also, my roommates have a tendency to poop and then get in the shower without washing their hands. Again, the meds I'm on are making anxiety worse right now, and I am freaking out a bit from that. If they don't have norovirus, what are the chances that they are spreading the virus from their poop to the shower handle, toilet flusher, and shower curtain by touching these things after they poop?

I realize this post is freakin weird, its about to get weirder...so I shower with a washcloth. I rinse it out after every shower. But my question is, when I was my butt, am I spreading potential norovirus particles from my washcloth to my body and my towel when I dry off? These meds make me feel like I can't escape norovirus at all, even though none of my roommates have had it and no one I've been in contact with has had it (that I know of).

Thanks for your patience with me guys, and I appreciate your responses. A lot!

[Elie]

What medication are you on? and I wouldn't worry about it at all, the chance of it happening is 1 in 1000

[surfer777]

I'm on fluoxetine...generic prozac I believe.

[butterfly91]

If none of the people u live with have had it, and you haven't come into contact with anyone who's had it the chances of u catching noro are very slim

But i do think thats a little disgusting going to the toilet and not washing your hands, you should still wash your hands even if you are getting in the shower, because other people have to touch that shower...I couldn't think of nothing worse if someones been to the toilet and didn't wash their hands and touched something then i touched it after :/

But u should be fine, if the meds are making u anxious i would speak to ur doctor about it

[surfer777]

Yeah I called the doc, the nurse said to half my dosage. I imagine it will take a few days to feel any difference. I hate this anxiety/OCD so bad. I'm hoping I can find some kind of meds that will just make things easier to deal with or even make the problems much less drastic.

But has anyone ever thought about spreading any kind of virus from washing the butt region in the shower? Or am I just a freak?

[Simm]

If you haven't had the virus yourself then then it won't be present in any particles in your faeces, so you won't end up spreading that around. Also it may be gross but most faecal matter isn't harmful to you, if your worried about it though, why not use a separate wash cloth for cleaning those areas?

[emet-ana]

Yeah I called the doc, the nurse said to half my dosage. I imagine it will take a few days to feel any difference. I hate this anxiety/OCD so bad. I'm hoping I can find some kind of meds that will just make things easier to deal with or even make the problems much less drastic.

But has anyone ever thought about spreading any kind of virus from washing the butt region in the shower? Or am I just a freak?

If I ever sat on public toilets then I would worry about this. I do worry about spreading faecal bacteria from my bum to the rest of my body so I wash my hands thoroughly after washing below my waist and before washing the rest of me. However I guess people take baths where they sit in their own germs so it's not that bad!

You should probably change or clean your wash cloth regularly.

I am like you just now- I feel like everything is contaminated. I hope you get some help soon. Are you having therapy? I tried fluoxetine but I felt so anxious that I had to stop taking it but am having CBT now

[surfer777]

Yeah I was on fluoxetine but I feel like its making things worse. I do go to cognitive therapy, only been a few times so we'll see how things go.

I guess one reason I think the cloths are contaminated is because I've read that you can have norovirus without showing symptoms and still shed the virus. So it freaks me out when my roommates don't wash their hands even if they haven't had the virus. I dunno. I just keep freaking out!

[xxsophiaxx]

Pretty much until like halfway through high school, I would always poop right before showers, and it never was the cause of anyone in my house getting sick.

Have you ever heard of Polident? It is an effervescent denture cleaner, but I have been using it for almost 10 years, and I trust it to clean my retainers. I got my braces off in summer 2003, and I have been wearing my retainers every night since then.

[surfer777]

Yeah I've used that before...I typically clean my retainers with vinegar, but I've never dropped them on the floor before and with my meds I reacted differently than I probably would have otherwise.

I guess I just have issues about people pooping and then touching stuff without washing their hands. It's kind of gross. The washcloth thing though...that's gonna bug me for a long time because I don't know if anyone can really answer that question.

[daffodil]

Hmm, the washcloth thing-if you have noro in your feces, then spreading it to the rest of your body via the wash cloth isn't going to do anything to you. You are either symptomatic, or not, you can't to the best of my knowledge, re-infect yourself. If it bothers you, you could just wash those areas last and get a fresh wash cloth for each shower.

[daffodil]

Oh, and about your roommates going poo and using the shower right after, you could give the faucets a quick scrub with some soap/shampoo while you are in the shower, so when you turn off the water at the end of the shower, you are touching a clean faucet.

[surfer777]

Oh, that's true. I've been lysoling the handles and stuff before I get in, but I could also just shampoo them. Good call.

So you guys think I'll be OK if my retainer fell on the floor? I probably won't get norovirus? For whatever reason, it's really getting to me. I don't know why it's bugging me so bad, I know it's not a big deal at all.

[NaiveAndTrue]

Yeah. If I potty and am jumping right into the shower I don't wash my hands in between. The first thing I'm touching is soap! LOL. Plus, the controls in the shower have soapy water poured all over them right after. That doesn't happen with the sink tap, honestly, so it's probably cleaner!

Honestly, unless you're turning on the shower tap with your tongue, I don't see how this can make a difference. You're already washing everything as soon as you get into the shower anyway. I say no worries.