for those who haven't v* in years...

[Mayu]

Any seasonal secrets you can share (beyond washing hands and bleaching surfaces cause I'm already obsessive about washing) that you think helps you avoid a stomach b*?

Like, some swear by drinking a glass of pure grape juice or red wine a day... Some swear by ginger root tea 3x a day or ginger pills. Some swear by Apple cider vinegar in water 2x a day.

If you haven't v* in years, what's your secret weapon to avoiding stomach b*?

Looking for advice. Been panicking because my nephew gave me my first s.v. In 15yrs this passed January... So now I feel nervous about getting it again. Especially since my immunity is low due to endometriosis and stress from my service dog being ill. (Vet thinks it's liver disease, so I'm freaking out that I may lose her...and stress isn't good for immunity...)

So I can use all the weapons I can get to avoid a s.v. I already have zofran jic, but I want to avoid it all together. Especially now that my nephew is back in school, if my sister's family come to visit, he'll be bringing germs again I'm sure

[jaclynconnors]

I havent thrown up in like 7 years and I definately have some tips and pointers!
- flying: buy a sprite, some plain lays chips, ginger gum from the stomach medicine isle at any CVS or pharmacy, and take the drowsy formula dramamine
- car riding: sit in the front seat or by the window and wear something loose and shorts because you wont throw up when you're cold
- foods: dont eat fast food, dont drink soft drinks (besides sprite and ginger ale), dont eat at foreign places that youve never been before, dont eat a lot of dairy products like cheese or milk, eat slowly, make sure you poo every 2 days and if not take some miralax so you dont get constipated (works best with orange juice), dont eat anything that is tart like candy or lemonaide on an empty stomach, dont drink alcohol on an empty stomach, have two drinks at the bar to feel good but not throw up, exercise so youll be in good shape, wash your hands, use the sanitizing wipes on door knobs, oven/microwave buttons, keyboards, dinner tables, and light switches, keep your house clean

[thecheesecake17]

I thought it was to do with how good of a constitution we have but I think it's all chance!
Sorry you had to go through that...

You did so well for going 15 years!!


I didn't v* since 2002 but have had around 27 close calls in the past thirteen years..and well, what advice could I give...it probably helps that we emets magnify our n* by a billion lol and in the end its not even sickness...but for the real n* and v* times, with me its been avoiding eating. Yep, its dangerous but my logic is - if there's no food in our tummies, nothing can escape... There's been times where I feel a tummy virus coming on and I won't eat until my tummy makes so much noise...even if its a bathroom situation.

Ummm another one is staying well away from someone who even mentions sv.. The minute my bro came down with it a few years back, I had a panic and quite literally locked myself in my room for three days. I washed my hands overtime and tbh I got a mild version of it five days later but that could just been coincidence.

I'm dreading this season too...considering wearing a mask lol... Take peppermint chewing gum with you and remember that mint is a saver..I supposedly got swine flu back in 2009 and I came very close to v*... After the dry heaving I dragged myself to the cabinet and the only mint I could find was toothpaste. Boom. The heaving stopped and I woke up with the worst flu symptoms but my tummy was saying 'I need food now!!'

But in all honesty I went years without washing my hands at all and I was always fine. I think it's chance and not being extra extra careful where we put our fingers!!

You'll be fine

[Syrup]

I haven't v*ed in years and I've done nothing to prevent. I'm not scared of myself being sick, only others. Live a normal life, wash your hands, use normal precautions and statistics say you won't be sick.

[Mayu]

I was going to start a regime of immune boosting things... Drinking grape juice and kale juice... Taking D, B and iron supplements, etc. But wouldn't you know, I'm n* for some weird reason today. Feel crappy. No fever, no d*, just nauseous and stomach crampy... But that could be my endometriosis.

I guess my worry is... I tried to do everything right when my sister insisted on coming for Christmas even though they just got over a stomach thing not even 48hrs earlier.

I washed my hands, bathed every night to wash off germs. Never wore the same thing twice unless it was washed, even if I only wore it for a short time and it was clean. Sprayed my bed with lysol before bed and when I woke up, didn't let my nephew anywhere downstairs where my room was...

And I still caught it. So did my mom who never gets sick. Tho I suppose, you can't follow a 5 year old around with Clorox wipes... And they touch everything. Something is going to slip by.

So I was hoping building my immunity would help. But of course I'm n* today and feel miserable. Well, zofran and no food for me today.

[Mayu]

Great. My mom feels sick too. We didn't eat the same thing, so it seems we're maybe coming down with something. Maybe it's stress over my dog being sick. Either way, thank God for zofran

[Afdpt]

Honestly, while hand washing and sanitizing may help to a degree I think it comes down to a bit of luck. I've caught very few bugs throughout my life even before my emetophobia flared up causing me to do all of the drastic measures. I don't think I really get sick less than I used to because I never got sick a lot. My fiancé also has v* only a few times in his life and he's far from careful.

[gumdropper1]

Please read my Vomiting FAQ: http://emetophobia.byethost15.com/vomiting.html

[crd08]

I wash my hands a lot, but I don't feel like Im super weird about it. I avoid people if I know they are sick though. I'm fairly clean.
My mom says I should be studied because she doesn't know how I do it. Even as a small child I was rarely sick.

[kaiilyn_23]

I really haven't done anything special to prevent it. I'm not all that healthy; I'm okay, but not health conscious. I don't wash my hands as often as I should. I work with the public, and I attend secondary school. I haven't had a bug in 14 years now, and I've v*d twice this year but for unrelated reasons. Some people just naturally don't get sick. I also don't get car or sea sick. It's odd because I have a super sensitive tummy and lots of food intolerance, yet I have an iron stomach.

[NaiveAndTrue]

22 years. And not much. I wash my hands and am a bit more careful during flu season. I keep Bonine with me for whenever I feel woozy. Mostly it stops my dizziness when I have panic attacks.
I take probiotics every day.
I avoid "mixed salad" foods from public places - Tuna, Chicken Salad, Potato salad, etc.
Don't lay down/sleep for at least 30 minutes after eating, but that's more to avoid heartburn now than throwing up.
That's basically it.

[Claire-]

I don't do much to avoid it any more, but I haven't vomited in about 5 years. I'd suggest looking for ways you can help yourself overcome it rather than ways to prevent vomiting (thus increasing the fear and making you live a less full life :c). When you're ready, of course

Good luck!

[Snake]

Wash hands with copper first and then use soap. No hand sanitizers.

[mamacat]

Hand washing is key. And I know some are skeptical of hand sanitizers, but in my opinion they are better than nothing. We go through a lot of Purel in my house.

A few years ago, I swore by red wine/purple grape juice also, but I had to stop drinking the red wine about two years ago due to frequent migraines. We've had four sv's come through our house since. The first one my husband and I caught off my son, but we both had d* only. The second was rota, and only my 3 yo was ill. The 3rd was my son only, nobody else caught it. And we have one in the house right now as well, so far my son and daughter have both caught it. My son drinks purple grape juice every single day and has for years, yet he still caught 3 of the last 4 bugs, so I don't think it helps.

The best things you can do to avoid sv are wash your hands and keep your hands away from your mouth/face. I am sure taking probiotics couldn't hurt anything either, but I don't have any experience with that personally. I give my kids probiotics when they are recovering from sv and it seems to help them feel better faster, but as far as helping avoid illness I couldn't say.

[Miss_Pink24]

I don't know the exact number of years it has been since I last v*, but it has got to be coming up to 20 now. I don't really do anything special to avoid it, apart from wash my hands before eating/putting them in my mouth and avoiding people when they have the dreaded sv*.

I think a lot of it depends on the person/genetics to be honest, I have 3 younger sisters, although we are all quite close in age, and I think during our childhood we must have had 3-4 sv*s in the house and that is between all 4 of us from ages 4-16, which if you think about it is not that much.

[somewhereonlyweknow]

Basic hygiene is fine but avoidance and reassurance is only a quick fix, like an addiction. your best bet is to overcome it which is obviously ALOT easier said than done. have you taken steps towards fighting the fear?

[Snake]

What really bothers me is guys wahing their hands in a public restroom and not using the soap provided then leaving without drying. People who do that are the ones who spread the germs. They are worse than kids when it comes to hand hygeine!

[Afdpt]

Basic hygiene is fine but avoidance and reassurance is only a quick fix, like an addiction. your best bet is to overcome it which is obviously ALOT easier said than done. have you taken steps towards fighting the fear?

This exactly! No matter how careful we are there will always Be a risk of getting sick. It's so much better to work on overcoming the fear rather than trying to hide from anything that causes us to v* because no matter how careful and "good" we've been, we are never fully confident that were safe from v*.

[Sjg333]

I didn't V for 14 years from being 7 to 21 and didn't do anything in particular to avoid it, I wash my hands after the loo and before cooking but thats about it, as well as bleaching surfaces before I prepare food and after. Other than that I just avoided people I knew had been sick recently.

When I did eventually V after them 14 years, I had just started a new job in a small shop working with two other people in a tiny tiny space, both had SV and returned the next day after it had stopped instead of waiting 48hrs (although we weren't working with food I still think people should wait the 48hr period lol), I didn't know it was a SV they'd had until after I had caught it I thought they had been off with just colds so my hand hygiene wasn't as good as it would have been had I known! It was a scary experience as Even though I was terrified of it, I'd pretty much forgotten what it was like since it had been so long BUT I can vividly remember after each time I V'd thinking to myself 'oh, it's not even that bad!!' (And it was a bad SV, it happened lots in one night!) I thought I would be cured after that night but nope, even though I remember that it's not as bad as I anticipated.... Still terrified again now lol.

My mum is 43 and hasn't V'd since she was 6! She has two kids, never caught anything off us, (even when holding the bucket and cleaning up after us!) She has worked full time (at one point in a hospital) and survived it all, she is big on bleaching though so maybe that has something to do with it lol

It's been nearly 2 years since my last experience, now I'm only hoping I will take after my mum and it will be AT LEAST another 37 years 😂

[thecheesecake17]

Ohmygosh!! ^^^^ your mum is supermum lol..

I'm almost a 14 year survivor and I've shared a bed with a sv* victim!! Mental...but as soon as they v*D I evacuated lol avoidance is also a thing we underestimate. I lock myself in my room or go out allllllll day if someone is sick....just hate it !! I just don't see the point tbh, all I can think of is that it would be nice if there was a reason for v* but I read recently that the symptoms of noro are secondary, and it doesn't exactly help when we v*...which confused me.... Also I read that we can control our brains not to v*...I like to think that's how I survived my close calls in all those years but I probs got lucky.

[thecheesecake17]

Haha I forced myself to read the link that gum posted and I shouldnt have....

[Austinperroux]

I'm currently going on 5.5 years since I've last v*. My best tip is to just avoid face touching when you haven't washed your hands and to wash your hands. I haven't used much sanitizers. As for food I honestly prefer to go to places where I feel trustworthy towards them if I didn't make the food myself. Sandwich shops that use gloves are definitely a positive choice for me. Fast food-wise I've gone to places where I have never gotten s* from. The best way I have avoided a sv* is washing my hands. If I've been around someone who was s* then I will likely shower when I get home just for comfort.

[cat1]

Late to the thread but I'm posting just in case someone sees it anyways!

I'm 18 and haven't done it since I was 7.Really all I do is basic hygiene. If I feel really n* I take deep breaths and focus really well on something. I'm sure that I've been "supposed" to be s* a couple times since it last happened but I've somehow controlled it ha! I try to forget everything gross and bad by doing an activity where you have to focus very hard while still being relaxed. There are some videos on youtube dedicated to ease anxiety which can be nice to have in the background, there's one with cat purring sounds and it's my favorite

I'm rarely in the same room with children and when I'm going shopping I don't really touch alot of things. I rarely eat at restaurants/places where other people prepare the food (but if I do, the cleaner ones and those I've trusted for a long time are my first choices!) I carry a hand sanitizer in my bag just so I feel more calm. Basically I just follow my gut feeling always..it never fails except for when my anxiety is strong and I overreact. But I'm working on that one hahaha

When I was my hands I make sure to wash my wrists and under my nails as well but that's just a weird hangup I have because of this fear. To be honest I have no idea if it actually helps much or not..it's just one of those things I do to be EXTRA sure!

[canonguy]

i think i've stayed v* free because when i do get a virus i take zofran and don't really eat

[NaiveAndTrue]

I literally twirl my hair and rub it on my lips all day long . . .

[ChiGal]

Last time I vomited from a bug it was about five years ago, but my kiddo has passed along viruses that I had severe diarrhea and nausea from.

Hand washing is the best. Not 100%. But how about someone starts a thread about the root of this issue...pure anxiety and the feeling of losing control? Trying to help? Just an idea.

[Kittycat319]

Completely agree with ChiGal, I think discussing ways to overcome the anxiety related to v* is much more productive to discussing ways to avoid v*.
I'm not trying to start a debacle or hate on anyone cause trust me I've been there, where I'd rather hide all day than ever v* but trust me sv* in adults is much more rare than we think.
I live in a dorm (have been for 3 years now), eat in dining halls
With non disposable dish and silver ware, get fast food somewhat often and other than when using the toilet or if they are visibly dirty I don't do any excessive hand washing. And with all that I've only had one sv* the entire time I've been in college.
Challenging yourself is hard, trust me I know but it's really really worth it.

[Snake]

I haven't v*** from an illness in 14 years knock on wood. That's was a few years before my daughter was born. Now two years ago I dry heaved but that didn't count. It was from stupidity. 14 years ago I let my guard down and some of that was being pre diabetic.

[EimsieG]

the only thing i do is wash my hands before eating, and avoid chicken in restaurants i'm not sure of. i think if i was obsessive about it i'd only make myself miserable. chances of v-ing on any given day are tiny, so no point avoiding everything enjoyable just in case! reasonable precaution like washing your hands and you should be fine!

[SweetJinki]

I haven't v* since 2009 ( and hopefully from then on) , and I didn't do much at first I just hardly ever got it even with others sick around me ^o^;. But when I found out how contagious it truly is I began to strengthen my chances of not getting it by washing my hands as many chances as I could get throughout my day ( especially when out ). I also make an Apple Cider Vinegar drink to keep healthy! I take supplements that strengthen the mucosal lining of the intestines so the sv* doesn't want to stay in your body very long. I try my best to have a balance of acidity and alkalinity in my diet, not just for sv* and v* prevention but for overall health! That is the key to staying such a way . I'm still working on it but I hope to get even more healthy and learn more to share with everyone!