I have this huge fear of cold sores. A fear of having them already and spreading them, or catching them if i might not have them yet. There are all these weird ideas attached. I know the whole world has them, i think 60% or so is infected. But still.
Does anybody have this - either cold sores or a fear of them? Can anybody comfort me?
Im afraid to kiss or share utensils. Even a peck kiss makes me anxious.
Im not fully delusional, i function normally (save for not daring to kiss people ;)), but it is kind of a weird phobia that i would rather get rid of.
That is good! (The not being afraid part). It is a rather weird phobia anyway, like being afraid of the common cold. How do you deal with kissing and sharing drinks and things like that?
I feel stupid. I never even had a clear cold sore, but ofted have chapped lips. Whenever i have a little cut or so, i get stressed. I give someone a peck kiss - stress. My friend gives me a bite of their icecream - stress. Im not sure if it is paranoid, but at the least it is a very inconvenient phobia.
They say you notice a little ātingleā on your lip in the days before a cold sore appears. If you apply the ointment at this early stage I think you can even stop the cold sore from appearing at all
That is interesting! The stupid thing however - i never even had a typical cold sore. Im just frightened of secretly having & spreading it or contracting it. I know it sounds weirdā¦it is a bit ocd-ish, like when you avoid touching things in fear of contamination.
Yeah it is understandable to not want a cold sore but I think your behaviours are effecting how you live life. I understand that - I get obsessional stuff too. Is difficult
Yes, it isā¦it does affect my life. And otherās too. Im more fearful of infecting others btw than being infected.
I only know normally exposure therapy helps phobiaā¦but in this case i cant see howā¦kissing random people to get rid of my fear doesnt seem very ethical.
I get cold sores, too. I have only had one actual outbreak but I worry, sometimes obsessively, about giving it to others. I live with my parents and donāt kiss anybody but I worry about eating utensils not getting clean enough in the dishwasher. Maybe iām worrying about nothing, I donāt know. It really bothers me, though.
I am dating but freak out over having to kiss the guy. I contemplate quitting the dating over it. I also worry about the dishwasher, and about someone accidentally grabbing the wrong glass, and such. And i havent even officially got them, the GP thought i was exaggerating and just had chapped lips.
I know many people are completely unfazed about it. But i worry.
They say the majority of people is infected though, even without symptoms often.
If your utensils arenāt getting sanitized in the dishwasher, then you need a new dishwasher. If youāre worried about bits of food being stuck on the dishes, wipe them down with the abrasive side of a sponge before you put them in the dishwasher. I wash the dishes off with dish soap before putting them in the dishwasher, but Iām not sure the dish soap is entirely necessary.
Thanks for the advice. I donāt think thereās anything wrong with the dishwasher, though. I just think iām overthinking things. I tend to do that a lot. And worry.
Lol, I just have a thing about doing dishes. I think itās just gross, caked on food and the sink clogging up with the food and having to use the garbage disposal (or worse; idiots dumping their food in the side without a garbage disposalā¦ like bi tch, wrong side). Itās just awful. I hate it. It wouldnāt even be a problem if people just rinsed off their dishes before putting them in the sink, or at least let their bowls and sh it soak instead of just throwing it into the sink for me to accidentally stick my goddamn hands in. Ugh I hate dishes.
Yeah I kind of take the dish duty here upon myself. Everybody is pretty cool though. None of the shenanigans that you described. I always rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher or leaving them in the sink. I hate dealing with dried-on crusty nastiness later on. Itās unnecessary and just wrong.
Exactly. Like, say itās morning, youāre running late, you took a few bites of food before putting up your plate and running out the door. Okay, thatās fair, itās a rare thing, no big deal. But then, you have people who eat right before they go to bed, place their nasty pasta sauce bowl in the sink without rinsing it, so when you wake up in the morning, thereās a dried pasta sauce mess in the bowl, and then theyāll expect YOU to stick your hand in there to get that crusty ass sh it out. Ooh, makes my blood boil. Iām so glad your housemates are respectful of you washing the dishes, as I get no such respect.
Ugh I hate dishes.