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  1. #1
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    Jun 2005
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    Hi everyone,

    Well it's been about six months of CBT and Xanax and I am not really a heck of a lot better than when this whole thing started.

    I am having a major panic attack right now and need help badly. Yesterday this woman who sits next to me announced that she was n* but stayed here anyhow (of course) and I was panicking all night over it. This morning she's back in the office and said that she v* 5 times last night but didn't want to miss work. WTF?

    This other guy that also sits next to me (tiny office, no ventilation) was out sick yesterday with SV.

    Of course both of them work with me so feel the need to keep coming over here and touching my stuff and talking over my food while eating it - I am so doomed.

    I can't get out of here for another 9 hours and even if I could, the damage is already done. And I can't even take heart in the countdown, as the clock won't even start until I leave here today since these people are actively infecting me.

    I am so desperate I don't know what to do.


  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    United States
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    Lewis,
    I know it is hard, but just remember... Exposure does not mean you will get sick. Your immune system is there for ya! Drink plenty of water, take vitamins, try to get rest and try very hard not to stress out about this.
    You will be okay. You are not doomed. If it makes you feel better, ask people to give you some space so that you aren't worried so much about them bringing their creepy little germs over to your space.
    Next week when you are fine and never got the bug, remember how you felt now and next time try not to let yourself panic. Use the situation as reinforcement to understand that exposure doesn't always = doom. I promise...

    \"This too shall pass\"

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
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    United States
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    Quote Originally Posted by shiva
    Lewis,
    I know it is hard, but just remember... Exposure does not mean you will get sick. Your immune system is there for ya! Drink plenty of water, take vitamins, try to get rest and try very hard not to stress out about this.
    You will be okay. You are not doomed. If it makes you feel better, ask people to give you some space so that you aren't worried so much about them bringing their creepy little germs over to your space.
    Next week when you are fine and never got the bug, remember how you felt now and next time try not to let yourself panic. Use the situation as reinforcement to understand that exposure doesn't always = doom. I promise...
    Thank you so much shiva for your response. I am so scared. It's only 10:36 and I do not know how I am going to make it until 6. All I can focus on is how you can be contagious for 2 weeks after recovery, especially the first 48 hours. And these people are all up in my business. Even if I left now it would be too late. I feel like all I can do is sit here and wait.

    [GRAPHIC]</span> Do you really need to come into DIRECT contact with someone's V or poo to be exposed? It's not at all airborne, even if someone's breathing all up in you? Is this a medically-verified fact, or just wishful thinking on the part of emets like us?

    Thank you again,
    Lewis

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts
    4,577

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    You need to ingest the particles. So if you either wash your hands before you touch your nose, mouth or eyes OR don't touch your nose, mouth or eyes then you cannot catch it. Unless they vomit right in the room with you and then there would be airborne particles. You CANNOT catch anything, even the Norwalk virus, by just breathing near someone who is sick. So relax, don't touch your mucus membranes, and wash hands before you do.


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  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2005
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    United States
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    Hi lewis, good to hear from you again. I'm sorry the therapy isn't working for you. It didn't work for me either, but I don't think i had the best counselor. Sometimes you have to find someone who works best with you.


    I'm sorry you are having to deal with these sick people. I hate working in an office with no ventialtion..I hate it that I can't open windows..ugh, sometimes I just want to go be a forest ranger or something so I can be outdoors and not have to deal with people and their germs!
    \"Napoleon, you\'re just jealous because I\'ve been talking to babes online all day.\" ~ Kip

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
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    United States
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    Quote Originally Posted by mjewell

    Hi lewis, good to hear from you again. I'm sorry the therapy isn't working for you. It didn't work for me either, but I don't think i had the best counselor. Sometimes you have to find someone who works best with you.


    I'm sorry you are having to deal with these sick people. I hate working in an office with no ventialtion..I hate it that I can't open windows..ugh, sometimes I just want to go be a forest ranger or something so I can be outdoors and not have to deal with people and their germs!
    Aww, now I want to be a forest ranger too! I never thought of it that way. My job is a catch-22 for Emet - I have the freedom of going on sales calls and frequent business trips so I am out of the office but the flip side there is that I am on long plane and train trips, which is sometimes worse.

    I can't understand how my other co-workers are talking to these two V-carriers as if nothing happened. They're sitting and talking to them, eating with them - I am constantly fighting back tears this morning and these other people are all like "la la la, whatever...." I don't understand it.

    The one guy definitely thinks he had a SV. The other woman, who was n* yesterday v* last night and is here today, does not think she had a SV. She believes it started when she got tuna from a convenience store (again with these people and their lunacy) - she did v* a lot but had no dia* or fever or chills or aches, so she does not think it was sv. I don't know.

    Of course, I have to assume the worst and assume it was SV, but even if it was, I am just barely getting through the day by telling myself what sage and shiva said about how you need to put your hands in your mouth and sharing air/close quarters with v*ers isn't going to give you the sv.

    As for the therapy - I am on doc #3 - he specializes in CBT (and does not accept ANY insurance, so this is costing a fortune.) I think he is on the right track but it is a slow process. My psychiatrist has left the practice, which is awful because I really liked him, but I am meeting his replacement in May and might consider asking him or her to raise my Xanax or switch me to a longer-acting benzo because I think I have built up too much of a tolerance.

    I think my wife is going to come meet me for lunch - I can't stay out of the office for too long, but she makes me feel like things are going to be ok. Until i come back in here and panic again though.

    The worst part is no countdown will work. Because I have to be here all day tomorrow too, even if I am not sick tomorrow, I will have been exposed all day tomorrow, so that brings us until like Monday before I can breathe a sigh of relief. So goes the weekend - and it's supposed to be nice out too, with the cherry blossoms at their peak.

    I hate this, and I hate myself.
    Edited by: lewisr

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    United States
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    Hi Lewis,
    Don't hate yourself. You sound very witty and honest, just anxious, like most of us. Some other things to do are try to clean your area of the office, your phone, computer, desk, etc. My hubby works in an office and I give him hand sanitizer and tell him, "Wash." Even when he comes in through the main door----everyone goes through there!!! Being aware and careful is better than being scared, right? You can also try taking echinacea, the herb, to boost your immune system at this time. Take care and hope this helps!!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Canada
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    1,785

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    Lewis
    How are you doing now? I read your post, you were in a real panic! Let us know how you are now. [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

 

 

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