Girlfriend has stomach flu

[surfer777]

I'm new here and I have a moderate case of emetophobia. I hate both doing it and watching it...just being around it in general freaks me out. (I'm talking about v*ing here, just to be clear) So this morning my girlfriend and I were watching a movie and she fell asleep. She woke up an hour or so later and didn't feel good. This was probably around 9ish in the morning. I left around 11:30 to shower, and while I was gone she v*ed. Between then and now she's v*ed about 7 or 8 times...quite a bit. Now from what I understand about the stomach flu, or norovirus, she was only contagious when symptoms started appearing. So anything we did last night I don't have to worry about. She and I were sharing a glass this morning, so I definitely ingested particles from her mouth, but this was prior to her v*ing the first time. I have also read that only viral, contagious particles are in the V and the fecal matter. So I shouldn't be concerned about sharing the water this morning right? My next question is a little bit more far fetched. I needed to shave in order to take a test and I forgot to do it in my shower. So I asked her if she had a razor I could use. By this time she had v*ed once in the bathroom. I went in to shave, not even thinking that the faucet handle on the sink might have particles on it. I got my face wet and shaved and rinsed off and turned off the sink handle. I have no idea if she washed her hands or not, or if the handle was contaminated. But I don't remember swallowing any water that touched my hand and the handle. Should I be concerned about that? She rubbed my hand before I left for my test and I just used hand sanitizer on my hands which I know doesn't do anything, but could this be bad? I went and took my test and came back and she had v*ed twice and I didn't go in the bathroom but I sat next to her. She didn't v while I was with her on the couch, but could contaminated particles from her breath have infected me? I am really hoping I didn't ingest any particles. She v*ed as I was leaving and I made sure to wash my hands thoroughly. When I got home I changed all my clothes and washed my hands a lot. Should I wash my face just to be safe? I'm kinda freakin out here, I hate v*ing so bad. Thanks for your responses everyone.

[fixxxer2012]

Shes for sure got noro. Just keep washing your hands. If you shared the glass before she fell ill i think you will be ok. But theres always a chance if you live together. Also have her wash her hands. Is she understanding of your phobia?

[surfer777]

We don't live together so I'm sure that will narrow the chance down. After researching noro I'm not as concerned but I'm still freaking out. I think she's understanding of the phobia though.

[fixxxer2012]

Try to drink lots of orange juice and take a probiotic to be safe.

[surfer777]

OK...are there things to do that can eradicate the virus before symptoms appear? I don't know if I could have gotten it but just in case?

[fixxxer2012]

No theres nothing to kill it if you ingested it. But you can clean your home with bleach.

[surfer777]

Hmmm...thanks for the information. I do have another question...in reacting to the events of the day, when I finally got to my own place I kind of just shut down and went into survival mode. And now my back kind of hurts. Are backaches in any way related to noro?

[fixxxer2012]

I dont believe so. Im sure you will be fine.

[gumdropper1]

Shes for sure got noro.

Fixxxer, you don't know that she has noro. It is irresponsible to proclaim that it is so.

Doug

[surfer777]

What else could it be? I have reason to believe its viral gastroenteritis, but could it be something that isn't contagious? Only her stomach bothers her, she said there aren't any other symptoms. I found this to be strange.

[gumdropper1]

Surfer:

If she doesn't have something contagious, you will be fine. If she has noro, you have time to prepare. Noro takes a day and a half to three days to incubate. Therefore, if you were in fact exposed to noro this morning, you shouldn't expect to develop any symptoms until tomorrow evening or Sunday. You can use this time to get ready.

Get the following:

1. Digital thermometer
2. Pepto-Bismol, regular strength
3. Gravol/Dramamine (make sure the active ingredient is dimenhydrinate). Suppository form is best, but if you can't get those where you live, then pill form might be OK
4. Popsicles

If you feel challenged, use the thermometer to monitor your temperature. If you have a genuine reason to believe you're coming down with noro, take two tablespoons of Pepto-Bismol. Repeat again in four hours, if necessary. If you have definite nausea, take a Gravol suppository or take the dimenhydrinate pill. But don't do this if you're not sure you're nauseated.

If you're nauseated, make sure you don't make any sudden breathing movements, including sneezing. A single deep breath could start you vomiting.

Good luck. And one more thing: When they feel severely nauseated, within 20 minutes, most people let themselves vomit and then feel better.

Doug

[runner1998]

Food poisoning by a kind of bacteria is one possibility other than noro for why someone could suddenly begin to v*. FP usually shows up shortly after eating something bad, but some types can take 12 hours or even days to show up. For example salmonella can take up to 72 hours to make you sick. My doctor said the symptoms are so similar in terms of onset / duration / type that it is almost impossible to tell food poisoning from the stomach flu without doing tests on stool or v* to confirm the existence of either a bacteria or the norovirus.

I would take precautions as though she has norovirus. Definitely wash your hands thoroughly before you eat. It's not inevitable that you will get sick. My dad and brother had norovirus last December. No one else in my family (have another brother as well as my mom) got sick other than them and I'm the only one who takes pretty extreme precautions.

[surfer777]

Oh for sure, I'm taking as many precautions as I can. I just wanted some other opinions on whether you guys think I could catch the noro from the events of today. So thanks for the opinions guys, they are all welcomed. Please, keep them coming!

Doug: Thanks for the preparatory information. Hopefully I won't need it but its good to know regardless.

[fixxxer2012]

What else could it be? I have reason to believe its viral gastroenteritis, but could it be something that isn't contagious? Only her stomach bothers her, she said there aren't any other symptoms. I found this to be strange.

it's not always noro, there are many viruses that cause the symptoms she has but they are all contagious. you may not even come down with it.

[CMM811]

Whenever I think I am exposed to anything I bump up my immunity...lots of vitamins c, fruits, veggies, water, and probiotics! Make sure and get adequate rest and take care of yourself! Even if you fall ill if your immune system is strong and healthy you could get a very mild form of it!

[olschesky]

someone posted on here a few weeks ago a website talking about grape juice helping prevent the virus once you've been exposed. sounded very interesting....needless to say i bought grape juice........so try googling grape juice and sv and you will find it.

i'm sure you're fine though

[kristinak]

someone posted on here a few weeks ago a website talking about grape juice helping prevent the virus once you've been exposed. sounded very interesting....needless to say i bought grape juice........so try googling grape juice and sv and you will find it.

i'm sure you're fine though

Oh, yes. I read that one, too. I also have been researching and read that cranberry juice and cranberry pills have the same effect. Just like preventing the binding of bacteria to the bladder, there is some evidence that they prevent the binding of viruses and bacteria in the intestines. I take two 4,200 milligrams softgels of cranberry every day. I'd have to drink 20 gallons of cranberry juice to get that much, and I don't even want to think about the calories I'd be ingesting

[surfer777]

So apparently she is able to keep food and water down today. I wanna go see her but I'm still very concerned about ingesting the virus. Are there any surefire ways to not catch it while I'm over there?

[ren2005]

Avoid her for a few days!! When my bf got sick last year, i lived with him..but didnt kiss the poor guy for a week.

[fixxxer2012]

Id see her but not kiss on the lips until monday. Just explain the situation to her.

[surfer777]

Ugh I'm probably gonna head over there tonight but I'm kinda freaked out. I figure I've already been potentially exposed, so if I take precautions I won't have to worry about anything right?

[Mowilson]

I would be more careful now than you were yesterday. She is still contagious now. Just be very careful, and try not to touch anything.

I'm sure she'll understand if you don't sit too close

You're a very good partner. I don't know if I would be able to do what you're doing!

[surfer777]

OK its been give or take 48 hours since I've been exposed, I know some sites say that the incubation period can be 72 hours. So I'm not in the clear yet but I'm thinking if I got exposed chances are good I would have shown symptoms by now. But I have a whole new set of issues...she hasn't been very understanding of my phobia and is kind of holding it against me. I guess I didn't explain it very well or something. How do you guys explain your emet to people?

[Mowilson]

I told my boyfriend about it right when we started dating, I said that I would take care of him if he had the flu, cold, pnumonia, anything but something stomach related, and that I wish I could but I physically cannot bring myself to do it.

He didn't really understand until he saw me in a situation where I thought I was going to V*. I was a mess.

Most people don't fully understand the mind of an emet. How long have you guys been together? Did you ever tell her about your emet before this?

[surfer777]

Yeah she knew basically from when I first met her because she said she works at a hospital and deals with v* all the time. And I've explained it to her before, but now that she's the object of the phobia, I think its different. She just doesn't get it. We've been together for a couple months, but at this point I'm not sure how much longer it will last.

[Mowilson]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Honestly, I think it would be different for you guy because girls always seem to expect their knight in shining armor taking care of them.

I'm sorry that she's not understanding, I know how frustrating it can be. Is she mad at you? Or hurt or what?

[kristinak]

My boyfriend of almost three years knows of my phobia, but he is the most non-understanding person I've ever met about it. He deals with it like he deals with everything else, he doesn't. He doesn't even acknowledge it at all, which is frustrating, but at the same time, it has helped me a lot because I am basically forced just to "deal with it." I'm actually way better since being with him than I have been in the past because he doesn't coddle me. But he definitely doesn't hold it against me either. If he made me feel like that, I would have been gone a LONG time ago. He doesn't have to get it or even sympathize with it as far as I'm concerned, but he'd better accept that it's there!

[Mowilson]

My boyfriend is kind of like that too, kristinak. We've been together for a little over 3 years and he was always very understanding and would try to help me and was an absolute gem about it. Then when I decided to seek help and start getting therapy, he said he wasn't going to coddle me anymore because I was ready to change, which was exactly what I needed!

[HelenH40]

how about showing her this site? Might give her more of an understanding as it's so hard to explain it people who don't have it.

[surfer777]

Its just frustrating to know that people don't understand where we are coming from. From an outside perspective, emetophobia shouldn't even be weird to them. On paper it doesn't sound odd to dislike v*. The fact that its a phobia and we can't control it makes it harder to explain to other people I guess.