Bit of a weird question...

[choiboy_1120]

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well~
So I am currently 17 years old, Korean, and of blood type O. Why I am telling you this will make sense as you read on. Anyways..I have never had a sv in my entire life...besides once when I was barely a year old, but since then I've never had a sv or even food poisoning once...everything I get sick it has always been due to indigestion. No one in my household has ever had a sv either, including my two parents, and my 11 year old sister. However, this gives me more anxiety if anything because I'm not sure why I've never had it, and I have no idea what to expect if one day I do catch it (touch wood touch wood touch wood omg omg omg hope not). I'm really curious because I've read those of my blood type are most prone to Norovirus...and those of Asian ethnicity are also the most genetically prone. Any idea as to why I've never caught anything? Also could someone give me a little insight on what it's like? Is it really as horrible as everyone makes it out to be...what are the VERY VERY first symptoms...how long does it usually last...? Could the fact that I live in Australia (a country that's hot 365 days a year) have anything to do with it?
Thanks all and happy new year!!!

[rexymeteorite]

Most likely:

Those times you did get s over indigestion may well have been an sv or some sort of fp. There are literally many tens if not hundreds of viruses, bacterium, toxins and fungi that cause nearly identical sets of symptoms at varying degrees of intensity. That is why generally when someone goes to the emergency room or urgent care complaining of symptoms of sv there is no testing and they diagnose under the catchall “viral gastroenteritis”. Testing is far too expensive in most cases that don’t involve an active outbreak, and the treatment is nearly the same for a lot of them. Rest, fluids, BRAT diet, perhaps an anti emetic or IV fluids if the d or v cause dehydration.

You may have had an sv or fp without even knowing it honestly. I know it’s a terrible thought, but it’s true.

Fact of the matter is most of us emetophobes have an uncanny ability to avoid v at all costs. Control is key and loss of control is the enemy. That, I believe, is why many emets have an uncanny ability to not v in the face of extreme n. I have personally known people that did not v during horrible morning sickness, after horrible injuries, and yes even after contracting the dreaded norovirus. So, it follows that most of us would rather not admit when we actually did lose control, when we did finally succumb to whatever was effecting our gastrointestinal tract. We minimize symptoms and explain stuff away because the loss of control was so horrible and unacceptable that we’d rather blame it on something benign like indigestion rather than admit that we may have contracted an sv.

Not saying this is the case with you, but it certainly has been with me. Law of averages says you will contract an sv perhaps multiple in your life time. Chances are low that you’ve never contracted one. Not impossible, but not likely.

I’ll go back to lurking now. My emet is flaring for the first time in half a decade and I talking about it scientifically helps me in some ways. Hopefully this helps you.

[thecheesecake17]

Rexy, you make an interesting array of points as well as answering my constant query of "WHY have I felt horribly sick in the past 16 years but not v*d?" When I DID pretty much lose control in 2011 for hours... (no v* though) .. I do wonder if IT can be stopped.... Hmmm...

Choiboye WOAH, that's quite amazing, have you ever felt as though it was almost definitely gonna happen?

[rexymeteorite]

I have asked myself that same question many times. What I landed on was we access the same ability that some people in martial arts use to brace themselves for a blow, the same ability that street performers use to swallow fire and lay on a bed of nails. The brain is a powerful thing.

We have the ability, learned through some of the most extreme fear that human beings experience, to turn off our body’s control over v and make it a choice. I have heard many emets, and I know many, say that they can control it. I believe in my heart of hearts I have escaped n that would have made a normal person v without ever once coming close.

That kind of primal straight up fear response makes people do incredible things. Taken from that view, it isn’t hard to believe that most of us can control when we v. Actually, it makes sense, at least to me