Tummy bugs

[Nogodsnomasters]

Anyone else like this with stomach bugs... So last year my husband started with it throwing up all night, 2 days later my ds had it vomited twice one morning no diarreah. Then 6 days later I have uncontrollable diarreah, nausea but no vomiting. Just thought it was a weird bug that time round but its just happening again right now! Ds started with it throwing up all weekend, mil throwing up 2 days and diarrhea for a further 2, me catch it 4 days later and have diarrhea and nausea but no vomiting. Do I react differently to bugs? I must admit that I'm very scrupulous about hygiene so possibly am ingesting (gross) less of the germ particles needed to get you sick?
Anyway, I suffer with health anxiety and emetophobia and so this has been a week of hell for me because of the added anxiety on top. Of course this is my week off work as it was my birthday but oh well, at least I didnt have the added stress of trying to organise childcare and feeling guilty when calling in sick to work.

[Clayplease]

Oh no! Feel awful for you. 😱 Funnily enough Ihave sickness phobia (helped a lot by hypnosis years ago) and I have not been sick (touch wood) in past 17 years despite kids and partner getting numerous bugs over the years. I have wondered the same thing...wish I didn't have it though.

[Clayplease]

(Really hope everyone feels better soon )

[Nogodsnomasters]

Thanks for reply. It's an awful phobia to have as it controls my life the minute I start hearing colleagues saying "oh my child/partner/grandchild" has been throwing up and you know its doing the rounds in your area my life just goes on hold and everything revolves around hand washing, not touching anything, opening doors with elbows etc and if it enters my house then it's out with the bleach and the fear intensifys. I was just pondering because the 2 times my household has had the bug in the past 12 months everyone else has puked and I've only had the other end. The last time I threw up was 2016. Ds is fine now, mil is on the mend and I'm lying on the sofa with stomach cramps. Dh hasn't had it (yet).

[Afternooninthepark]

I can totally sympathise op, I have the same phobia and unfortunately, I am ashamed to say, I’ve passed it onto my 11 year old dd 😞 I come over in a cold sweat when someone says they’ve had a tummy bug. I’ve become so bad that, during the winter, I walk around everywhere (supermarkets etc) with my gloves on. It’s the one thing I’ve have always hated about having kids, especially when they were young they seemed to get a tummy bug every winter. Hope you feel better soon.

[Clayplease]

Oh how horrible 😭. I feel like I have a radar for people mentioning they it their family are ill. It affects my life loads. However when I had a surprise first pregnancy (my daughter is now 8) my NCT teacher happened to be a hypnosis person and so I had a sort of crash course of hypnosis just 10 days before she was born which MASSIVELY helped me- I can't stress how great it was- it pulled into sharp focus just how much it had been limiting my life. I guess I could do with a top up session maybe, as it has crept back a bit. Would really recommend it though. Really feel for you and hope it passes soon. I always hope in the summer we are safe! 🙁

[Nogodsnomasters]

I would love to try hypnosis, I've had cbt and tbh I have got better since I've had my ds as before him I would not even be in the same room as someone else throwing up even if it was caused by too much alcohol etc but now I've reduced it to only being anxious about it when I can catch it and I am able to comfort my son when he throws up which before motherhood I really doubted if I'd have the ability to do that. Even this morning when I woke up with diarreah I was literally sat on the toilet vibrating with shakes because I knew I'd caught the bug and there was a chance I'd throw up, now it's been 6hrs I know I won't throw up now so the anxiety has died down to a dull drone, but my stomach is still in cramps and I'm still running to the loo.

[Nogodsnomasters]

afternooninthepark that is actually a great idea about the gloves, if only I could wear them in work, seriously. I worry too that I will pass this on to my child, I would feel so guilty. He already does get worked up right before throwing up saying "I don't want to let it out, it's hurting my throat" and crying, he's only 4 and my only child so I don't know if that's a normal childhood reaction to it or whether I've already passed it on to him even though I've never once talked about my phobia in front of him.

[bloodywhitecat]

I think a lot of emetophobes manage to prevent themselves from vomiting, both my daughter and I suffer (or in my case, suffered) from emetophobia and we seldom, if ever, vomit.

[Nogodsnomasters]

bloodywhitecat so it must be down to the constant hygiene then that we either don't catch it or just get a milder version of it? I have read somewhere that the more of the germ you ingest the worse the symptoms are.

[AFistfulofDolores1]

As a mild emetophobe, I've done some judicious research into this.

First, if you maintain scrupulous hygiene habits (unless, of course, someone vomits on you - then all bets are off!), your viral load is significantly decreased if you pick it up - hence why your symptoms may be milder.

Second, vomiting is not a significant part of your body's response to norovirus, so if you resist vomiting (like I do), it's not doing any harm. The virus tends to sit in the lower gut, and so what works to eliminate it is diarrhoea. The vomiting is just part of your body's automatic elimination response.

[AFistfulofDolores1]

And I am scrupulous with hygiene, particularly when I'm out: "surgeon hands" when I exit toilets; never use dryers; don't ever touch my face or put my hands to my mouth; avoid hugging anyone I know has been exposed; separate toilets in the house if someone is ill at home.

[Nogodsnomasters]

afistfulofdelores yes that's what I had read! The more germ particles you ingest the worse symptoms you get so it's not about your immune system or anything? My ds threw up all over my bathroom and my bed but I don't touch sick with barehands and everything goes in a boil wash or bleached and if neither of those are possible then it goes in the bin. I also replace all toothbrushes everytime someone pukes in my house (having a constant supply of toothbrushes is expensive and annoying).