Help emetaphobia taking over!!

[martina27]

Hello i have suffered form emetaphobia ever since i can remember. For the past few years it has got sooooo much worse. Off course having a 3 yr old daughter doesnt help at times. My doc has put me on citalopram which i have been on for 2.5 months. I dont feel these have helped at all with my anxiety and phobia.I am also doing an online cbt course that i dont feel is doing much either Every little twinge i worry i might be sick. I dont think there is a day that goes by without me fearing this. It is starting to affect my daily life now. Any people that suffer from the same phobia, are there any medications anti-sickness meds or therapies that may help me get over this. I was thinking hypnotherapy but this is really expensive. Thanks in advance.

Martina xx

[Just.A.Girl.x]

Hey Martina :)

Sorry to hear your having a rough time :( I dont get this myself but BabyRachel does and I believe her doctor gave her some anti sickness meds! I think CBT is best going to see the therapist...my best advice would be to go back to your doctor and explain the situation...see if they can get you CBT and maybe some different tablets..or higher dosage?

Hope you feel better soon,
Candy xx

[magpie girl]

Hi martina when i have a bout of sickness due to my GERD my gp gives me metroclopramide,there are a few anti sickness drugs.When i started on citalopram i was sick 24-7 and these really helped me.Talk it over with your gp he may beable to help you while your feeling like this xxxxx

[BRB.emet]

hello i have emetaphobia too, and i have to say that it is a really bad phobia. I was prescribed citalopram but started taking floux insted, but i'm 14 so i don't what would help for you. I think what helps the most is time and not being forced to do anything. And being comfortable.

[maeanna]

Hiya ive had Emetophobia for 25years and it gets worse every day. I dont find citralopram or any anti deppressents help as they dont deal with the phobia directly and i have tried virtually all of them and had a year of CBT and psychotherapy! Hypnosis is by far the best and i had one session and felt amazing after but it is so expensive i couldnt afford to have anymore. Anyway I am about to go back to work after losing my job necause of anxiety caused by this awful phobia so fingers xd i can stick it out and save up for hypnosis! Theres 2 good hypnotists in London one who i saw and one who ive spoke to who i have been told have cured people with emetophobia so PM me if u want me to give you their names. I wish you all the best and know how you feel coz it is such an awful phobia to have which controls your whole life :weep:

[lakesgirl1519]

i have suffered the same thing for years, has got worse since i had my two sons and I am a single parent, I worry constantly that they will be sick, any sickness bugs going round I go in panic..!

I have had cognitive behavourial therapy which I do recommend, it has helped me a little, but its still there!

I liken being sick to dying..which sounds totally crazy to anyone else!!

If you every want to chat, im convinced it does help to chat about it with others!

[belle]

I have had emetophobia since i was 4/5 years old, i am now 34, so quite a while. That is what made me agoraphobic to start with, because i was scared i was going to puke when i was out....so i stopped going out - simple!

As time has gone on, having an 11 year old child, they bring home everything to mummy. I am a single parent, so i know how you feel.

In the last couple of years, i've caught THREE bugs from him - each one as pleasant as the one before. YES it was hideous, YES i felt like i wanted to die....but no, i didn't panic...why? Because i felt to bloody rotten, i couldn't even move...so panicking would have been pointless. Thank God i never vomited - BUT i did gag every 20 minutes for 12 hours....i was exhausted and i can honestly sit here right now and say that the day AFTER the gagging was worse because i had the fluey bit that follows...aching limbs, headache...temperature....THAT was horrid.

At the end of the Christmas term 2008, my son brought home another sickness virus, but i managed to dodge that one. He was ill - i stayed OUT of the bathroom until the next day where i sprayed bleach everywhere and made him stay in his room...I later found out that half his class was off the same time with the same bug!

All i can say (AND I CAN SAY THIS BECAUSE I HAVE IT), don't worry. Really, really don't worry. If you caught a bug, no fricking anti-emet drug will stop you from throwing up... What anxiety does, is that it clings onto what you fear the most (ie. puking) and it WILL make you think you feel sick. Mine jumps from scared of throwing up, to having a heart attack...to dying of some general illness. You could bet a £1000, that if i was anxious about heart attacks, i would most definitely get chest pains....it's the way the mind works.. You know you won't be sick...unless you have been next a person as they vomit because there is no reason for you to be ill.

Flipping heck i am rambling :)

x

[SharonDerby]

Hiya
i have this phobia too, have it it 20 odd years, i think all the advice above is great, but i know you want someone to tell you that you will not be sick, sadly no one can tell you that, what Belle said is right, there is no need for you to be sick unless you are right next to someone when they actualy throw up, even then it has to be next to someone throwing up from a virus not just general drinking/eating too much.

This phobia is now about to stop me from having an operation i desperately need, i am so so scared of vomiting after the anesthetic i can not sleep, it's 2 weeks away, i honestly now am concidering canceling this as i can't cope with the fear, but on the other hand i don't want to be suffering for the rest of my life because i was so afraid of being sick :(

I wish it wasn't like this but it is

Sharon xxx

[Angelai]

Hi Martina

I have emetophobia too, and it's AWFUL. I've had it maybe 30 years, and sometimes it is so bad I stop functioning completely. I would never wish this on my worst enemy.

I did 13 sessions of analytical hypnosis, but sadly it didn't help me at all. It does help a lot of people and is worth trying if you can afford it (VERY expensive). There are a lot of success stories with it.

I never go anywhere without Motilium 10 - available over the counter (my gp won't prescribe me anything :weep:)

There IS something that will work for you, we all must have that one thing that will do it. The alternative just doesn't bear thinking about...

:hugs:

[CrazyC]

I have avoided going out for fear of being ill. I cant even stand people talking about it. If someone is sick i am convinced i will be and it sends me mental and i constantly feel rubbish!! I havent been sick since i was 17 and i am now 23 but that makes it worse for me coz i know its going to happen some day.

Its making me mental. I need to go to the dentist but i have a phobia of dentist..on TOP of thinking...what if i need to be sick..what if i am sick!!! Sorry to hijack the thread i just needed someone to talk too. Nobody understands me and it makes me feel so alone.

[AceFrehley]

I've got this horrible phobia and I've also been putting off going outside, (I now work part-time so it's easy for me to stay in, and only go out if I need to go out) its why I'm up at gone 3.30 in the morning, cos my throat feels a little bit weird, I'm too anxious too sleep, tight chest, the lot. I relaxed for a little bit by listening to music, but for some reason it flared up again. Deep down I know I'm not going to be sick, but I'm up and worried about it :weep:

Does anyone elses Emetaphobia flare up at night time? Wish I could get to sleep.

[honeyp1e]

I also have this phobia and have had it since i was around 12 am now 27 i HATE bein this way as every little twinge, pain etc... sets me off thinking "am i going to puke" but one thing is i dont mind bein round people when they vomit or are ill and i can clean it its just me vomiting I DON'T LIKE i do have anti-sickness tablets (prochlorperazine) and they help me if am feeling bad but i mainly put it down to my panic/anxiety attacks as they make you get that sickly feeling but i just PANIC am going to vimit which i haven't for years and really you can go all your life without even vomiting once!! i have tried everything seeing all kinds of people for this but hey its still here i think i need to learn to live with it just like i have to with my panic/anxiety attacks but if any1 has overcome this i would love to know how x x

[unspoken]

I have this phobia. My parents came back from a holiday a few days ago and my dad had caught a sickness bug and passed it onto my mum. My mum was ill from when we came back. Now she is walking around the house coughing EVERYWHERE and telling me, while I try to eat, about how she was being sick for 40 hours. I've tried to explain that I have a phobia and she really isn't helping, but my family are just like "well no one likes being sick" but of course, it's not like that at all. So I've gone all OCD with the hand washing and washing everything I use in the kitchen. Last night I couldn't sleep because I felt a little bit ill and my mind took over and became paranoid that I'd caught this bug. It's not as bad as last year when I had exams and 2 of my housemates got norovirus - then I was having panic attacks, afraid to touch or eat anything at all or leave the house.

I wish I could sort this out. I know it's disproportionate. When I am actually ill, like said above, I feel too weak to panic, I just want it to be over. But it's partly the fear of being sick in a bad place, like in public or in a place other than my bathroom, that scares me. As well as the horribleness of it all :(

[maeanna]

But it's partly the fear of being sick in a bad place, like in public or in a place other than my bathroom, that scares me. As well as the horribleness of it all :(

That is my worst fear too! being sick anywhere other than in my bathroom!! so weird as its gotten worse over the years like i use to stay out round friends etc now i hate being anywhere other than at mine!! urghhh i hate it! :weep:

[AceFrehley]

I'm exactly the same, I've not been sick for years (touch wood) but it'd be hell for me being sick anywhere else but home. :weep:

[BabyRachel]

Martina DO NOT GIVE UP HUN. DO NOT THINK THAT IT WILL KEEP GETTING WORSE OR BE THIS WAY FOREVER.

Please trust me. I have been emetaphobic since I was around 10. I'm 20 now, and have had years of times where I have not even been emetaphobic. I'm talking like an 8 year period.

My emet was really bad when my anxiety was bad, I think one of the keys to helping with emet is to reduce or eliminate the anxiety - so that way we think more rationally and do not overanalyse everything.

When my emet was really bad last year with the peak of my anxiety, I was taking maxalon (metachlopramide) multiple times a day. Just in case. So I didn't have to worry. Now I rarely take it, even if I feel ill I still don't jump ontop of it and get it down as soon as is physically possible. What I'm trying to say is YOU CAN GET BETTER.

xxxxxx

[maeanna]

My emet was really bad when my anxiety was bad, I think one of the keys to helping with emet is to reduce or eliminate the anxiety - so that way we think more rationally and do not overanalyse everything.



Omg u hit the nail on the head!!! i couldnt work out why ive been through years with no emetophobia and now all of a sudden i hate leaving my flat, cant work full time and cant sleep! all beacuse the anxiety is so bad!!! Sso therefore if i can lose the anxiety i can hopefully keep the phobia under control until i get cured!! Thank u!!! :noangel:
xxx

[alisons1043]

I have also been suffering the tourture of the sick fear for years!!! It has ruled my life for sooo long that i cant remember a life without it! I think that is half the problem. who would I be without it. I sometimes wonder if somewhere deep down my crazy mind is using this fear as a buffer, (I cant do that or go there in case I am sick, make a fool of myself etc etc, you know the score), in order to actually protect me from actually having to live life!
Although I do want to live life I dont know how to do that without the constant anxiety which is now so engrained in to me its almost as naural as breathing. Hey presto back to square one!!! So ive decided to take a stand. Im sick (parden the pun) of feeling like this.So Ive given my sick phobia a face and a silly name, hes called picklehead. I can picture his god ugly face, hes green and slimy, a large wort on the end of his putrid nose, with terrible breath!!! Anyway whenever he chooses to rear his ugly head I now front up to him. I dont let him back me in to a corner. why should he, who is he to do that to me. I scream at him do your bloody worse make me puke my guts up, go on!!! And guess what he does, he retreats, because he is a coward that cant live alone he needs to feed of my energy and if i refuse to give it to him, he is not strong!
I may sound mad, a person thats is ruled by a picklehead but its working for me.
So what if im sick!!! Whats the worst thats going to happen. My body will do something it is supposed to do, I will have a bad taste in my mouth that can be sorted with nice minty mouthwash, I will feel crap for a few hours and more than likely develop a few more reasons to feel anxious , a few more scarey thoughts to obsess about but at the end of the day I will still be ok.
I wasnt born with picklehead, he has grown because I have given him life. I feed him on a daily basis, he loves the fact he can make me tremble and lose sleep. He loves the fact that he controls my life and not me. He laughs at me. I wouldnt take this from anyone else so why from him!!! He rubs his little green hands together with glee when he makes me cry, but no more.
Everytime he pops up now I laugh at him, a pathetic excuse for a phobia!! and he is getting smaller everyday. He comes through strong still on occasion, if im tired or at a low eb, but he knows this is the best time to strike and its a 50/50 battle but I will beat this ******* down and win. He will not win and he knows it, thats why he trys to come more often, he has taken up too much of my time already!
:mad: