Freaking Out :(

[BabyAsh]

I have no idea what's happening but I am freaking out!
I live in a suite with 5 other girls in the dorms at my school, it's almost like an apartment but with 4 rooms (2 singles, 2 doubles).
I was about to take a shower but then I heard some people talking out in our hallway about cleaning up the bathroom and sink. Someone said they already washed their hands 6 times, they were talking about bleaching a lot of things and sanitizing and disinfecting. Obviously their talking about some kind of bug. I don't know if the person that was s* is one of my roommates or one my roommates friends that left or something, but it's enough. I calmed down from my panic attack but I know it's not even close to the last one. Idk how much I trust other people's cleaning but I have no courage enough to even go near that bathroom myself let alone clean it. I'm now terrified of taking a shower, and spending the entire weekend cooped up in this incubator.
I have way too many thoughts running through my head right now. What about the door handles? Someone could touch them and get it and then I'll be here all weekend with them, or one person gets it and passes it through us all like a viscous cycle or what if my actual roommate gets it, or they use our bathroom? What if I wake up tomorrow feeling s*? Whose going to be next? I can't even handle this. I just took Xanax but I have no one to talk to. I recently broke up with my partner and she was the only person that knew about my phobia and how bad it is. We decided to wait a while to talk cause we both still have weird feelings left but I'm so tempted to message her and just have someone there. I'm going to be a mess for the next 72 hours if not the next 2 weeks if it's someone here or someone gets it. Ughhh, I wish I was home again.

[cdelcourt827]

Hey,
I'm sorry this is happening to you. I know that I would probably be panicked too! Maybe you could ask one of the girls that lives with you if they know what happened? Maybe somebody just got really drunk or something and got sick because of that (still gross, but at least not contagious). If you asked somebody who lives there, they could probably tell you something (and they won't know about your phobia just because you ask, I think that anybody would want to know what is going on).

Since you said you didn't trust anybody else's cleaning, maybe you could go in after they cleaned it to their standards and clean some more. At least then, you will know that it had been "cleaned" once before and therefore, it won't be totally gross, but you could rest assured that you have cleaned it and that it is safe. Also, go through with a spray bottle of bleach and water and spray all door handles and sink handles in the apartment, let it air dry.

If you can, wear gloves when you are cleaning the bathroom. Just keep your hands clean!! And remember, if somebody else does get it, as long as you wash your hands a lot and clean with bleach, it is not a sure thing that you will get it!!

Hope you're feeling better by now, sorry it took so long for somebody to respond!!

[loop-star]

Hey - stop panicking! you don't even know for sure that someone was sick!!

I remember my friend calling me up once as asking me what the best thing was to get hair dye off her bathroom and her hands because she attempted to dye her own hair and stained EVERYTHING in her bathroom including her hands and she actually said to me "I've washed my hands like 10 times and I can't get it off"....

[alesh31]

I was in this exact same situation last semester, it truly is the worst. I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but I managed to not get whatever was going around!! You should confide in someone though, it feels a lot better to tell other people you're freaking out, so it's not all inside your head.

Try to relax though, I'm sure everything will be ok