emetophobia and feeling sick all the time.

[HelenLouise]

just wondering if any other emetophobics feel sick all the time?
I'm starting to get worried about this.
I dread eating because i'm scared of having food on my stomach, because this gives me something to throw up!
When i do eat, I either feel sick after and panic for half an hour till it passes or can't finish my meal.

I'm so tired of it - i'm at my whits end!
I don't know if this is anxiety related because it all seems to correlate with my anxiety and nerves.
Lately though its an everyday thing and i'm so tired from having panic attacks and worrying.
I hate nausea!!!!! I'm never sick from it but i worry that the next time will be "the time!"
I just feel so low right now because the thought of living my life like this every single day is just horrible!
I can't do it anymore :(!
I wish i was afraid of something i could escape!
Sorry for the rant, just feeling really alone at the moment and so close to giving up on everything! xxx

[fairyclairy]

Hey,

We've posted on each others threads before, so i know exactly what you're going through! This is a horrible, horrible phobia because like you say.. we cant escape our own stomachs or bodies!!
I wish i was afraid of planes or something because then id just avoid them and still be able to live my life normally.

I feel sick all the time too - i think its normal with this phobia because we make ourselves feel sick because we fear it so much.
Every little twinge in my body, i think im going to be sick with it!
Like for the last couple of days iv had a bad headache.. proabably tension headache but iv been convinced im going to be sick with it... havnt been in work and just stayed in my room! Iv posted on here about it today because i also feel soooo low about it at the moment - i dread to think this is my life, and this is what il have to go through every single day! Its a depressing thought.... but we have to pick ourselves up or its not going to do us any favours.

Im determined to get in work tomorrow, il just take it an hour at a time...

You are doing so well, please try and relax about the nausea because like u said, uv never been sick with it before... so why should u now?!
Its all in our minds... once you try and relax about it and accept it, it should improve (i need to take note of my advise to you myself lol)

All i can say is try and distract yourself, try not to sit there worrying about it because ul make yourself worse.
Do something which you enjoy?

I know iv not been much help, but i hope iv reassured you alittle that you are not alone in this.... iv felt that the last couple of days, my parents have been angry that iv not been in work, sayin im letting everyone down etc and i felt so low this morning, but i posted on here and realised im not 'crazy' or 'mental'..... i just struggle with something and everyone on here understands xx

[HelenLouise]

Hey, thanks for replying!

I know what you mean; it would be so much easier in some ways to be scared of spiders or something.

I think because its been the summer holidays and i'm not back at University until the 28th - i've not had to force myself to get up and make the effort to go to lessons so I have been reinforcing my phobia in someways!
Its driving me mad!

I'm the same as you though - every little thing i feel i think i'm going to be sick with it. And rationally - i know this is stupid because i've never been a sickly person *touch wood*

You have helped :)! Its always good to know there is someone who understands! Especially with the constant worry that somethings going to make us sick.

I'm going through the food poisoning worry now! I ate out earlier today and now i'm worried i've picked up salmonella or something! Urgh! Here we go again =/!

Going away to London again for the weekend and i'm determined not to let this stupid phobia spoil it!

Did you manage to go in to work? xxx

[fairyclairy]

You'll be fine in london - have a great time and give emetophobia the two fingers! lol

I doubt very much you've got food poisoning... it is very rare due to the restaurants etc have to have sooooo many rules and regulations to serve food to the public, try not to worry.

Yeah i went to work - still had abit of a headache but getting out and getting my mind off it really helped.. was so glad i made myself go in, i was quietly proud of myself lol considering when i got there everyone was telling me of a bad sickness bug going around and people havin the go home the day before - NOT what i wanted to hear when id just about managed to get through the office door lol but i coped... really well actually, i didnt think about being sick much of the day and just got on with things...

Yeah im sure ul be back in control of it more once your back at uni and doing lessons etc and not sitting around thinking about it constantly..

Are u getting any help for your phobia? xx

[tinker.]

when i first realised i had emetaphobia 8 years ago i was exactly the same, i hardly ever ate and i came down with a eating disorder :/ and i was terribly skinny and i never used to get hungry either i always felt sick and crying used to calm me weird enough and i never used to go to sleep till 5:30am every night because i am usually sick early hours of the morning, so i felt safe at this time :/ dont ask why haha xx

[avahsuzi]

things can only get better , chin up :D xx

[Laves]

I think I might be emetophobic too. I have always been scared of throwing up but in the last few years my anxieties have extended to all illness, no matter how slight. Has this happened to anyone else?

[fairyclairy]

Hi Laves,

Yeah this is how mine went - iv been emetophobic for about 11 years now, started when i was 11yrs old and in the last year or so this has gone onto all illnesses - i panic like mad if i get ill, even if its just a cold.. i always think im going to be sick.
I hate the feeling of out of control when it comes to my health because i cant stop myself being ill.. so i freak out at the tinyiest illness x

[Laves]

That's exactly my experience!!

One of the worst parts is that I'm always feeling like I'm coming down with illnesses. I don't know whether this is because anxiety stifles the immune system or because I've become hypersensitive to how my body feels. It's probably a combination of both. It's really hard. For example, I want to go to the gym today but my nose is a little sniffly. I'm frightened that, if I go, I'll get really sick and be stuck at the gym unable to control myself, feeling terrible. I really want to go, I love the gym but I've been scared to go for several days now. Rubbish!! Do you have similar experiences?

[Gemzy]

hey all u emets out there. i have good news (kinda) i learnt today we feel sick all the time because when we're anxious our body goes into the fight or flight stage and the blood drans away from our digestive sytem to go to places where its needed (muscles etc) to help our body fight or run away (flight). we are not going to be sick :yesyes:

[EmilyMary]

Wow! What a relief to find people who have this phobia. It makes me feel so alone.

I would be so interested to hear about any coping strategies you guys have when you are the “panic” mode.

I have had this phobia for as long as I remember. I avoid eating out, I don’t like social situations, I avoid chicken and always check sell by dates , I don’t like eating at peoples houses, I don’t dare drink, and 90% of the time AFTER I have eaten I go into panic mode and start hyperventilating. I feel like such a freak. I hate meetings at work and i regularly have mini panics at my desk. I am just always feeling sick all the time… I just don’t know what to do. I have tried to be hypnotised but that didn’t help… It is completely running my life.

[honeyp1e]

just wondering if any other emetophobics feel sick all the time?
I'm starting to get worried about this.
I dread eating because i'm scared of having food on my stomach, because this gives me something to throw up!
When i do eat, I either feel sick after and panic for half an hour till it passes or can't finish my meal.

I'm so tired of it - i'm at my whits end!
I don't know if this is anxiety related because it all seems to correlate with my anxiety and nerves.
Lately though its an everyday thing and i'm so tired from having panic attacks and worrying.
I hate nausea!!!!! I'm never sick from it but i worry that the next time will be "the time!"
I just feel so low right now because the thought of living my life like this every single day is just horrible!
I can't do it anymore :(!
I wish i was afraid of something i could escape!
Sorry for the rant, just feeling really alone at the moment and so close to giving up on everything! xxx


:weep:hi i no how you feel am emetophobic to and right now i have an eating disorder due to loss of appetite as my anxiety went so high i stopped eating then i started feeling sick 24/7 and then i got scared to eat incase i vomit etc... the past week i have only just started eating again but its really just bread, toast & biscuits all bland foods i am trying my best to add more foods i get good days where i just wanna eat n eat and then days like today were i dont wanna eat at all as i woke this morning with real bad off/nervous stomach type feeling, palpitations trembling and now from not eating for so long i am suffering badly with acid reflux & the burning and nausea from that makes me panic more i hate this life i do find that i feel sick 24/7 and i get so scared to eat or i eat then panic like mad afterwards.. like now cos i have a nervous stomach feeling i havent eaten and really dont feel like eating but i no i should but i just panic & worry that if i eat with having a nervous stomach or whatevert it is i will vomit :/ how do you manage on bad anxiety days etc.... have you ever vomited when eating if you having bad stomach day

[honeyp1e]

hi am to am emetophobic but unlike you mine is only when i think i am about to vomit otherwise i'll eat etc... anything think i like aslong as ts cooked i will look after my kids, clean sick and so on its just me as i no my friend is emetophobic and she dont even like to no a person is sick she goes into panic mode..
the only thing i really have r anti-sickness tabs i hardly ever take anyway but i no they are there
but i no my friend has polo mnts, sip water, travel bands n so on
do you no that food or anything can not make you vomit people can go there whole lives without ever been sick.. its all about negative thinking the thinking 24/7 about feeling sick is gonna basically make you think u are sick when your not the body will only be sick when it needs to rid of any toxins so relax and chill let the nausea feeling pass if you have it..
god i just sounded like i cope great with my phobia but right now am going through the worse time ever with it i hopefully soon will get over it have you ever tried CBT? OR HABIT CHANGING ?

try this it myt help you - http://zenhabits.net/7-little-habits-that-can-change-your-life-and-how-to-form-them/

[cheerlover404]

hi everyone, i am a 13 yr old gril, and i have emetphobia. even though i am at such a young age, it ruins my life. i recently had a sinus infection, which may of turned into mono. i havent been to school in about 3 weeks, and i am terrified right now. i need some advice from eberyone, because i just realized what i have and i dont understand what my body is doing to itself. my mom is really supportive of me and tells me that its just in my head, which im sure it is! but it just scares me. i am going to try to go to counsling, but my appt isnt for awhile, so until then, anyone have any suggestions? im only a little girl and i need help:weep:

[honeyp1e]

hi everyone, i am a 13 yr old gril, and i have emetphobia. even though i am at such a young age, it ruins my life. i recently had a sinus infection, which may of turned into mono. i havent been to school in about 3 weeks, and i am terrified right now. i need some advice from eberyone, because i just realized what i have and i dont understand what my body is doing to itself. my mom is really supportive of me and tells me that its just in my head, which im sure it is! but it just scares me. i am going to try to go to counsling, but my appt isnt for awhile, so until then, anyone have any suggestions? im only a little girl and i need help:weep:

Hi i no how your feeling, i noticed i was scared of vomiting when i was about 11 or 12 am now 28 years old and still have the fear it hasn't always been with me the whole years well it has but i have never noticed it as much as i am now i have been having a bad time with it alot lately.. dont let this put you off as you also can and will learn to live with it or foeget about it and over come it ...
WHY ARE YOU SCARED OF VOMITING ?
i ask myself this everyday and tbh ireally dnt no as i dont think am gonna choke and die i can be near people who are vomiting and i look after my children and clean up there sick when they are unwell... my friend who also is emetophobic cant understand why i can be around people who are ill etc.. as she cant even think about it without going into a panic my problem is it only affects me when i feel or am sick which is hardly ever....
counselling will be good for you and also suggest to them CBT its a way to help you change the way you think.... but if i woule of done all this when i was younger i guess i wouldnt have been so bad now as i got offered counselling and everything when i was younger as i was really bad i just didnt accept it :-( which i totally regret now.. so dont forget you can over come it and you will in time,,,
one thing my counsellor asked me to try which i found real easy to do but my friend could not do was put a toothbrush or something in your throat and make yourself baulk.............. to prove to yourself there is nothing to the baulking :) have a try x

[Cat80]

I am emetophobic and have been since I had stomach bug at the age of 12. I am now 30 and was sick once about 3 years ago and since then I have been terrible with my fear and that is what has triggered my anxiety I think. This week I had a latte in Costa Coffee, I love these and I go in a couple of times a week. I hadn't eaten anything all day when I went in this week and I had my coffee, 5 mins after starting it I felt like I was going to be sick any minute and got bad stomach cramps. I was in such a panic, Mum could see it in my face. She told me to tae my anti nausea tablet and take some deep breaths. I am not good with milk anyway but on an empty stomach I'm terrible. I know I shouldn't drink a medium latte (double shot espresso in) but I'm addicted (only started drinking coffee 18 months ago after discovering Costa lattes).

My anxiety has been bad all week and nearly been sick a couple of times until I took my metoclopramide and did some deep breathing.