Members who are v* free for 8+ years

[ginger_saves]

For anyone who hasn't v* in at least8 years, please tell me your methods (if you have any) of how you have maintained this record.


Please tell me what you do outside as far as using public restroom or not, using sleeve of shirt to open doors, etc, etc.


What doyou clean house with ( what is powerful)?


Do you avoid eating out to avoid possible food poisoning?


After reading this board, I have been so surprised to hear about so many sv's going around. I think I only had them 2x my whole life and I hope to not have anymore if possible.

[hippychick]

Hey, I don't want you to think I am picking on you since this is the 2nd thread we may have "disagreed" on. But I don't really think that this thread is all that healthy. It's talking in part about practising avoidance. I know we all want to avoid v*. We wouldn't be here if we were ok with it, maybe a better question to ask would be to those who have V*, how they got through it, how they felt and how they feel now.

xxxxxxx

[HDogg]

To be honest, I think it all boils down to cleanliness and having a stronger immune system. I just naturally don't get sick often.


Rule of thumb for handwashing: rub hands vigorously with soap (doesn't have to be antibacterial) and water for 20 seconds. Wash before eating and after using the restroom. It works for me.

[ginger_saves]

hi hippychick. No, I don't feel you are "picking on me" or anything and I am sure there are lots of folks who disagree with a newbie like me of some of the things I have mentionedbut the fact that there are quite a few people on here that haven't v* in a long time(I have read many posts since newly joining this site of people who haven;t v* in 20 years)intrigues me into knowing their methods on what has worked for them all these years. Luck? Lots of Bleach? I'd sure like to know...I have vomited-got through it -knew what I felt like and life does go on. I do like hearing success stories because it is triumphant in a strange way,but the fact remains that none of us like to do it and most of us still have issues dealing with the fact that it can strike us at anytime-the dreaded phobia of v*that haunts one daily.I just want to avoid it as much as I can in life and that is why I am hoping those people can step up to this topic and give people like me who are curious about thisTHEIR advice.That's all!

[californiagirl]

>>>Please tell me what you do outside as far as using public restroom or not, using sleeve of shirt to open doors, etc, etc.<<< Public restroom--NO, because even if it looks ok, I don't know if there are any v* or d* germs floating around in there. I open doors w/either my sleeves, or my back (PUSH-only doors). I also use sanitizer alot and have a small bottle in my purse, big bottle in my car and use it on shopping carts also.


>>>What doyou clean house with ( what is powerful)?<<< I use, in my kitchen, 409, Lysol and cleanser. In my bathroom I use 409 on the counters and sink and bleach in thetoilet every weekend, and change towels out every weekend.


>>>Do you avoid eating out to avoid possible food poisoning?<<< No. I am just as careful as possible. I either 'feel' that it's right or wrong. If the server looks happy, things are good If I can see into the kitchen, even better. I use sanitizer after touching the menu also.


Oh, and I see NOTHING wrong with this post at all. There's nothing wrong with taking steps to avoid illness.. I even avoid colds, which aren't sv's. Even non-emets take steps to avoid getting sick. Edited by: californiagirl

[ginger_saves]

californiagirl, you're the best.Thank you very much for the tips. I never thought about using sanitizer after touching the menus either. Pretty slick there!It's amazing how many things Islip upon and even more amazing that I haven't gottenmore sick from my occasional carelessness. [img]smileys/smilies_12.gif[/img]

[gumdropper1]

For anyone who hasn't v* in at least8 years, please tell me your methods (if you have any) of how you have maintained this record.

For me it's been 30 years.

Please tell me what you do outside as far as using public restroom or not, using sleeve of shirt to open doors, etc, etc.

I try to avoid touching those door handles. I usuallyuse a paper towel. In any case I use Purell afterward.

What doyou clean house with ( what is powerful)?

Nothing special.

Do you avoid eating out to avoid possible food poisoning?

Not especially, but I probably eat out less this time of year due to the Norwalk virus.

[happyteacher]

I fully agree with you hippychick,


I haven't v* in 20 years and I take no precautions at all.


I eat whatever I want to wherever I want to (to my own detriment at times, I have IBS and no gallbladder [img]smileys/smilies_11.gif[/img]), I'm not good about keeping things extremely clean in my house and I'm not vigilant about hand washing. I'm also a teacher in a school with 500 students. I believe that what I have done not to v* is to expose myself to a myriad of germs and viruses, strengthening my immune system in the process. This makes me less likely to catch the little things.


I think that regardless of what we do to help ourselves, if we are going to catch an sv*, it will happen if it has to. There isn't anything wrong with being health conscious, but we need to challenge avoidance behaviours and the OCD things we do to feel better (I have my own things too!).


That's my 2 cents!


happyteacher

[ginger_saves]

20 years? Ya don't say? Sounds like good luck.

[californiagirl]

californiagirl, you're the best.Thank you very much for the tips. I never thought about using sanitizer after touching the menus either. Pretty slick there!It's amazing how many things Islip upon and even more amazing that I haven't gottenmore sick from my occasional carelessness. [img]smileys/smilies_12.gif[/img]

You're very welcome! Yeh the menu thing is something alot of people don't think about, but what made me think about it was when I was at a restaurant and a guy next to me coughed an icky-sounding cough into his hand, then touched the menu! So, people touch that same menu that day and then grab their bread or sandwich with the same hands that touched the menu-yuck!


Recently, I saw this really young couple with a baby use sanitizer after touching their menu's too, so I felt good about that.

[hippychick]

I just don't think a thread like this is helpful. Because it focuses too much on putting all our energies into fighting V* when our real energy, heart and soul should go straight into fighting the anxiety behind it.

I see this as a thread for swapping emetophobic habits in ways to prevent V* when the bottom line is you can't protect yourself forever (although I'd LOVE to be able to haha) I see it more and more on this forum and I hate for this to be a place where we enable and reinforce the very phobia that is destroying each of our lives.

Edited by: hippychick

[suze]

I've now gone 25 years without v*, and like Happyteacher, I don't do anything special! I clean alot when my kids are ill, but apart from that, I just do the same as "normal" people. I clean the bathroom and kitchen with run of the mill bleach, I don't have a problem opening the doors of public loos, and I'll eat pretty much anything, anywhere. I guess I don't touch my face much or bite my nails etc., so that probably helps.


Please don't get hung up on avoidance, it'll start to screw you up. I teach at a Uni with thousands of students, and I've got two kids who have suffered a number of sv, but I still don't catch anything, despite the likelihood of exposure.


Clean hands and a strong immune system is what works for me I think!

[cloughie]

It's been 35 years for me and i don't do anything much. I live my life, i use public bathrooms. I check the dates on my food. I stay in more in january as the country is swarming with bugs. I don't actually think about it all day. I wash my hands before i eat. Nope i can't say it crosses my mind as i go about my daily life.

[Girlygirl1980s]

I love posts like these. It's nice to pick up other emet tips on how to ease our minds about our phobia.

[missminty]

I have to say I don't think sharing tips like this is such a great idea either. I try to live my life as normally as possible with my emet, if you start to obsess over cleanliness and special tips you have you are just going to become more and more fixated. I don't think there is anything wrong with recommending a cleaning agent or something but with other things you are just going to end up worrying about things that hadn't even crossed your mind. Ok be clean, but try to relax and enjoy life, don't let emet rule you.

[5cats]

I agree that avoidance is a failed strategy. In many ways, if we
lived totally germ free, we'd be MORE likely to catch something, since
our resistance would be compromised. It's kind of like people who
run to get antibiotics rather than just having the dang cold. So
I think that aside from common sense hygiene (hand washing, careful
food preparation and storage), there's not much one can do to avoid
getting s*. In many ways, it is reassuring to watch one of those
science shows that illustrates just how many germs and wierd things we
are all exposed to daily, yet realize that most of us on this posting
board rarely if ever v*. Like some of the other posters, I refuse
to give up eating out or being around friends with kids, etc. I'm
still struggling with issues of trying to simply control my own self
and over-monitoring how my stomach feels and not let that take over my
life. I can't imagine how it would be to drift into full-fledged
agoraphobia. That must be horrible.

[daffodil]

I know it is not the "healthiest" thing to swap avoidance behaviuors, but it is definitely comforting to me.
I try to live reasonably normally, but keep vigilant with my handwashing, and not touch my face or eat with unwashed hands. I take my kids out less this time of year, b/c of all the viruses. Kids are germ magnets, and constantly putting their hands in their mouths, and it is just too much for me to deal with.
That said, I am on medication, and trying to fight this thing as hard as I can, but I am just not at a very strong place right now, and dealing with me or one of my kids having the sv is a terrifying thought. I'm willing to do what I can to avoid that.

[calibmom24]

I like this thread. I like to hearhow everybody tries to not catch a sv*.I have emet. I like to avoid the bug. What is wrong with that? I live a normal life. I work at my childrens school, I go shopping, I eat out. I have a normal life. I wash my hands and use hand gel. My kids do the same. The only thing Ichange at this time of year is we do not go to Chuck E. Cheese. And we never go to the McDonald playland cause that place is just gross!

[sage]

Avoidance is never the answer in dealing with a phobia, or trying to get better. Avoidance is what causes phobias in the first place, and avoidance is what contributes to making them worse.


If people feel calmer when they open a door with their shirt, they need to ask themselves if their anxiety level is in fact zero out of ten (as a baseline). If not, then you are anxious all the time, and opening the door with the shirt is not helping that one bit. It may seem like it is on the surface, but beneath that surface level it is making you worse.


It's absolutely true that the goal should be to end your anxiety, NOT to never vomit again. You could live in a bubble with your stomach removed until you're dead at 100 and never vomit again, but you'd still have an anxiety disorder for the whole time, so what kind of life is that? Better to be cured of the anxiety disorder, and maybe be anxious for 10 seconds before/while you're vomiting once every 20 years.

[valkyriegrl]

I never put my hands near my mouth unless I've washed them, I try to never eat out, I overcook meat, when I feel n* try to think about being hungry and meditate my way out of the danger zone, and when someone in my house has an sv(or suspected sv) I wear gloves around the house until 3 days after they're better. I haven't quite achieved the record of 8 years, 6 is my record, but I thought I had some useful advice to give!

[valkyriegrl]

I forgot to mention to use Lysol to clean. It kills viruses if you leave it on the surface you're cleaning for 10 minutes before you wipe it off.