Emetophobia and Norovirus

[teresaB]

hi everyone. I've always had this phobia (ever since my cousin threw up on my flip-flop feet in the car) but it has recently started to become worse. I have 2 children, 3months and 18 months. Well, recently my entire household became ill with the norovirus. It started with my mom who lives downstairs. The first time we had her watch the 3 month old while my husband and I took 18 month old to see christmas things and she was violently ill when we returned. My 3 month old is the only one who didn't get it which shocked me b/c my mom pretty much threw up on her the illness came on so suddenly. Well, I disinfected as best I could but me, hubby and 18 month old all got it.

I was just getting over the illness when hubby and son got it. I didn't get it so bad, only vomited once. I felt horrible b/c when my son was sick I had to make my sick husband deal with him. He had never thrown up before and had no idea what was going on. I really had no problem at the time cleaning up but now I lay awake at night listening to the monitor. I make my husband go check on him if he starts crying. He can't tell me when he feels sick yet so now I fear every cry is a tummyache!

My anxiety is so much worse at night. I don't know if it will lessen on it's own gradually or if I should seek help? I'm on maternity leave now but the worse thing is that I'm a nurse and have to deal with vomiting all the time. I'm usually fine at work...it's when family is sick that really brings on the anxiety. Hubby works in retail and getting him to frequently wash his hands has been tough. I have hand sanitizier everywhere. He doesn't see the importance of frequently washing. I have streaks of lysol running down the walls under all the light switches.

I don't want to be afraid of being sick! What are the treatments for it?

[Angelai]

Hi teresaB, I don't know if this will help, but:

When my son was about a year old he was really s*** in the night. I was woken up by him crying and as I walked through his bedroom door the smell hit me. I put the light on and he was sort of on all fours, covered in it, and obviously upset. I could do nothing, not even go over to the cot (let alone pick him up and give him the comfort and love he needed). It was about 3 am and I was on my own with him. I closed his bedroom door, rang my mum in hysterics to come and 'sort him out' then waited on the doorstep OUTSIDE. I couldn't cuddle him for 2 days after that. So, you're not alone!

I've had this phobia for probably 30 years and it seems to get better, then worse depending on what's going on in my life. At the moment it's REALLY bad, worse than ever in fact. Right now I can't drive more than about 5 miles without the panic starting, and hate being away from home. Shopping is getting uncomfortable. The handwashing and bleach use has risen! I just keep telling myself that it won't always be this bad, there will be times when I can still live a relatively normal life, even if it's not completely phobia free.

I tried analytical hypnosis 2 years ago (cost me a fortune!) but no improvement. I'm now waiting for another referral to the mental health nurse to discuss the dreaded cbt... (haven't tried it before, but am terrified of having to confront the fear).

It's so hard for people to understand this phobia when they don't have it themselves. Maybe you could show your husband some of the stuff on here, especially about our odd behaviours and rituals! It might help him to appreciate how important it is to you that he keeps his hands hygenically clean and avoids anyone who is/has been/might be ill I know this is encouraging you to give in instead of fighting the fear, but you really need someone on your side to help you through it.

Sorry for the long reply! Hope you feel a bit better soon x

[HighwayMiles]

Hi, Teresa. I'm sorry! I have one daughter, almost 5, and I won't have another because I'm afraid of s*** kids and it's hard enough with just one. I'm pretty sure Lysol doesn't kill norovirus, not the kind available at stores anyway. Lysol Professional might. Very few things kill it. Maybe if you explain that to your husband he'll be more willing to wash his hands. My husband is a restaurant critic and I just know he doesn't wash his hands before eating every time, or if he does he touches the sink handles or door handle and negates the effort. Drives me NUTS!

I used to work in the infant room of a daycare and didn't have any problem with s*** kids, but then my daughter got rotavirus and it messed me up. It really traumatized me. It reminded me of when I was in a car accident because I kept thinking about when it happened and re-playing that in my mind. The Psychiatrist told me I'd probably get better when she got s*** again, but last December she got it twice, just two weeks apart, and now I feel like we have targets on our backs. Even with all the Purell and wipes and sprays, she managed to get it, and she wasn't even in school! HOW did that happen!?

Anyway, it's hard to fear something invisible because it could be anywhere! I don't know how to handle it. Meds helped me with physical symptoms, but my brain refuses to give up on the obsession. I'm in a really bad way right now. This is a rotten time of year. I see all my friends falling ill and I'm just waiting for our turn. I'm really suffering.

I wish I had advice, but as you can tell, I'm not anywhere near recovered. I just want you to know you're not alone. (hugs)

~Laura

[sezzy5889]

Ours was deffinately norovirus.
We rang food standards as we could have put a complaint to the pub for food poisoning, btu they said it was not food poisoning as everyone ate different things, and besides the symptoms were all that of norovirus, but i can glady report everyone was well and recovered and eating again just 48 hours later, so no one missed xmas!

My theory, someone in the kitchens at pub must have just been getting over it, but not done their 48 hours quarentine time after recovering, and therefore brought the plates and food out to the table and spreading it, either that or someone who had entered the pub and left an infected hand print on the door that we all touched as we entered and exit...

But either way it was confirmed norovirus. I'm glad i dont' have to worry about it for a few months, but when the immunity wears off i'm going to be in a state again later on this year :/

xx

[emmahathaway]

I know how you all feel, my parents have recently had this s***ess illness and as i'm living with them i'm very worried in fact to the point of panicing. I've had to sleep out when each parent was ill but still worried about getting it as i was with them before they were physically ill. i don't know if people are contagous before they are ill or just after so i can't stop worrying.

I'm glad others understand cos my dad just thinks i should control it and get used to it, doesn't he think that if i could i would, it's not my choice that i'm scared!!!!! yes i know i'm 27 and had for over 20 years but it still doesn't get any easier!

[kimmiepie]

I'm glad to have found this thread. I have been soooo worried about this virus for a couple of months now.

We had norovirus last year and the year before and it was horrible. I am emetaphobic so I always freak out about stuff like that....but this year is even worse because I am pregnant and a week overdue. I am so scared that I will catch this bug and then go into labor and be very very ill. Also, I already have 3 kids, one who sucks her thumb, another who can't keep his finger out of his nose, and another who puts everything in his mouth. I am constantly using hand sanatizer but from what I've read that doesn't kill it. I try to wash their hands, but they never do it long enough.

I am just soooo freaking out. If they get it, surely I will get it and that could be devestating to being in labor. I am so scared. I don't think we'll leave the house again until after the baby is born. I'm going to make my dh wash his hands like crazy when he arrives home. If I can make it through the birth I will still be scared of catching it, but at least it won't be terrifying because I won't have to worry about going into labor with it.

Ugh, I hate feeling this way. I keep waiting for someone to throw up. Every cough in the middle of the night or weird noise makes me instantly panic thinking someone is throwing up.

Why does this have to be so hard?

[HighwayMiles]

I'm glad to have found this thread. I have been soooo worried about this virus for a couple of months now.

We had norovirus last year and the year before and it was horrible. I am emetaphobic so I always freak out about stuff like that....but this year is even worse because I am pregnant and a week overdue. I am so scared that I will catch this bug and then go into labor and be very very ill. Also, I already have 3 kids, one who sucks her thumb, another who can't keep his finger out of his nose, and another who puts everything in his mouth. I am constantly using hand sanatizer but from what I've read that doesn't kill it. I try to wash their hands, but they never do it long enough.

I am just soooo freaking out. If they get it, surely I will get it and that could be devestating to being in labor. I am so scared. I don't think we'll leave the house again until after the baby is born. I'm going to make my dh wash his hands like crazy when he arrives home. If I can make it through the birth I will still be scared of catching it, but at least it won't be terrifying because I won't have to worry about going into labor with it.

Ugh, I hate feeling this way. I keep waiting for someone to throw up. Every cough in the middle of the night or weird noise makes me instantly panic thinking someone is throwing up.

Why does this have to be so hard?

I'm sorry. My kid is a thumbsucker, too. She won't stop and it drives me crazy! I'll be thinking of you and hoping you'll stay healthy until your little one gets here. Chances are you'll be fine. I think you're very brave for having more children. I'm too scared to have another. Hang in there.
~Laura

[penny_croft]

I am so glad to have found this thread. I work in an office and about half the people here have come down with the dreaded virus. I hate coming in to work this time of year because I hate using the public washrooms; so many people don't wash their hands! Every time I feel even a little queasy I start to panic that I've caught the virus. I had a really nasty bout of it this time last year and I keep replaying it in my mind. My boyfriend and my parents just think I'm being dramatic, but the thought of being s*** literally makes me cry. It's oddly comforting to know that others feel the same way; I'm so tired of feeling like I'm crazy.

We will all be fine. I have to tell myself this constantly, like several times a day. Is it spring yet???

Penny

[Asteele3]

I'm glad to have found this thread. I have been soooo worried about this virus for a couple of months now.

We had norovirus last year and the year before and it was horrible. I am emetaphobic so I always freak out about stuff like that....but this year is even worse because I am pregnant and a week overdue. I am so scared that I will catch this bug and then go into labor and be very very ill. Also, I already have 3 kids, one who sucks her thumb, another who can't keep his finger out of his nose, and another who puts everything in his mouth. I am constantly using hand sanatizer but from what I've read that doesn't kill it. I try to wash their hands, but they never do it long enough.

I am just soooo freaking out. If they get it, surely I will get it and that could be devestating to being in labor. I am so scared. I don't think we'll leave the house again until after the baby is born. I'm going to make my dh wash his hands like crazy when he arrives home. If I can make it through the birth I will still be scared of catching it, but at least it won't be terrifying because I won't have to worry about going into labor with it.

Ugh, I hate feeling this way. I keep waiting for someone to throw up. Every cough in the middle of the night or weird noise makes me instantly panic thinking someone is throwing up.

Why does this have to be so hard?

Your last paragraph is exactly how I am at night! I think I'm a lot worse and I'll tell you why!

My dad has sleep apnea and maybe once every two years, he wakes up in the night gasping for air! This is a serious matter on its own which is horrible because I keep thinking he won't get air and he will have to be rushed to hospital. It happened a few weeks ago and I was just putting my book down and just shut my eyes when this huge choking type noise arose and my heart was beating fast because for the first few seconds of this happening, you don't actually know if he's going to rush to the toilet to be sick (which I hate) or if he's having sleep apnea!

I go through the night just forcing myself to stay awake waiting for it to happen again! Of course, the next day I feel like crap because I didn't get any sleep the previous night and this makes me get the feeling that I'm going to be sick and feel ill because I might have the stomach bug!

Before two weeks ago, I was absolutely fine, on top of the world, in fact! I'm 18 and I did weigh 9 stone 12 when I thought to myself, I should really put on a little bit of weight for my age and I forgot about being sick and everything else and just got on with my life. A couple of weeks later, I weighed myself and I was 10 stone 8! Now i'm back to my usual ways and I now weigh 10 stone 4!

I would say I'm not a massive emetophobia fearer because I still go out when I have to and do what I want!

Last night, I went out for a meal and I was looking forward to having my lasagne which I normally really like. I had quite a lot of onion rings for starters as well as 3 bits of garlic bread, 1 with cheese on. That was fine until I got to the main course, my lovely lasagne. The first dozen mouthfuls were great until I started to feel very full up and had to leave maybe 1/8th of it because I would be forcing it down if I didn't! This lead me to believe I was going to be sick. I wanted to walk home which is about 15 minutes just so I could try and take my mind off it. I was shivering and can honestly say, that was the coldest that I've ever felt in my entire life! I got in my warm house and felt instantly warmer and started to feel slightly better (e.g. no thoughts). Until I sat down watching coronation street on tv at 9:30pm when I started to feel ill again, but I didn't let anybody know and I just keep myself occupied to take my mind off things! When I went to bed, I took up a plastic bowl just on the slight of chance I might be sick which helps knowing I don't have to wake the whole house up by running to the toilet and being sick!

I know the reason I'm like this is because in 2009 my dad had a stomach bug and was sick at least 14 times during the night! I had to go to school on the next day, feeling like crap again because I didn't get any sleep! I ate fine all day, including dinner which I normally feel nervous but that went down a treat until 20 minutes after when I started feeling really ill and just not with it. So I went to bed praying I wasn't going to be sick and guess what, I wasn't! I woke up on thursday, full of joy knowing I hadn't been sick and started to convince myself that I didn't have this bug and wasn't going to be sick. Ate fine through the day again, just like the day before, and was fine until about 5pm when I didn't feel right, not as ill but something wasn't quite dandy!

I ate my dinner in a positive mood but after starting to feel hungry and feeling like I wanted to eat more, I almost choked my last mouthful up and it freaked me out so much that I then knew I had this stomach bug! For the next two hours I sat on the couch feeling really ill, worse than the day before! I felt better during the late evening, 22:30 onwards and I didn't take a bowl up to bed because I thought I wouldn't be sick! I went to sleep when I woke up from a dream about half an hour later and was on the verge of being sick when I calmed myself down and tried to get back to sleep but it was no good as 1 minute later I was running to the toilet and being sick!

I felt instantly better afterwards and sat up in bed wondering if I was going to be sick like my dad was, around every 20 minutes! 2 hours had passed when I was sick again, this time in a bowl that my mum brought up, so this time it wasn't as bad because once I was sick, the next time it was easy, no panic just thought gotta be sick so no problem there!

I woke up the next day feeling back to my usual self apart from I couldn't eat and wasn't allowed to until a few days later, just enough to let my stomach settle down!

In 2010, I was also sick but this time it wasn't a stomach bug because when I went to see a doctor for a routine blood test, I found out I had raised level of cells in my liver or something and that I had, don't laugh, Gilbert's syndrome! I checked the symptoms up online and found that feeling sick and sometimes being sick was the main symptom which instantly put my mind at ease! 1 year and a half later, I've only had this gilbert's thing twice and both times was when I had just completed some stressful work at college when I could relax afterwards and for the next 4 days I couldn't barely eat anything because I felt so sick!

Anyway, I hope everyone feels better soon and that being sick isn't actually that bad after the first time as you get used to it!

The bit I don't like was feeling ill before hand and everytime I feel ill now, I am convinced I have this stomach bug when I know that I could have anything else from a cold coming to the flu but I think because I feel ill I will always get a stomach bug!

Sorry for my last 3 years worth of life stories, but needed to let it all out! I'm not sure saying this has done me any good because I'm starting to think about it so much that I'm starting to feel weird again, but I know it's all in my head and just have to live my life and forget about it!

Good luck everyone and being sick doesn't mean you're going to die!

Andrew Steele.

[saunders]

Hi. I am new to this but suffer with emetophobia badly. I dread my daughter bringing it home from school. I take drastic action - buy latex gloves, mask, the works. Its comforting to know that other people have the same thing and I am not going mad. Please reply x