panic due to emetophobia

[Alexandersmum]

hi,
im new here but not new to emetophobia having suffered all my life (48 years old ) but the reason i have joined tonight is because i am at my wits end for my son who is 17 and for the last week has had almost constant panic attacks and is hyper vigillant of everything in his body, we arent sleeping during the night and his hardly eating, and although im trying not to panic its pretty hard when we have the same phobia, the evening have been dreadful, we are at this moment sitting up again in the living room, he has problems swallowing and his chest feels warm as if he has acid indigestion, this is all i am 99percent sure due to anxiety , but there seems no end as its been going on for five days and five long sleepless nights, i can hear him trying to swallow from the other side of the living room and its distressing ... sorry if im waffling, just feeling despair and dont know how to ease his physical symptoms , as the pattern is that he wont fall asleep until about 5.30 and the next day it all starts again.... am feeling desperate , thanks for reading x

[star2sparkle]

This is so distressing for both of you. Can you get him to see the doctor? It seems to me that CBT would be really beneficial for both of you (though you may have tried it already?) but the doctor in the mean time might be able to give him medication to help him relax on a temporary basis and get him in for therapy. Try distraction in the meantime; put on a good film that he might like and distract him by talking about it, try to immerse him in something other than his thoughts. My heart goes out to you. I do know what this is like. Please PM me for more help if you would like.. It does sound very much like anxiety, that he has got into a habit with the sensations he is experiencing but he can get out of it. But for now a spot of immediate relief would help. Don't give up.