I’m desperate. DD Emetophobia, health anxiety and panic attacks

[Mum370]

Hi everyone,
my 11 year old DD hadn’t been to the doctor in years. She had a migraine in November and projectile vomited (lots)
since then she has started to develop a real fear of being sick but she also thinks she is sick and this is now all day every day.
She has become completely withdrawn. She won’t see friends and she has huge panic attacks in places and thinks she is going to be sick. I am absolutely devastated to see her like this and I just don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Every day I wake with dread. She starts CBT on Tuesday. She won’t go to school without a lot of intervention.
I just hope and pray for her to get better. I feel at rock bottom. Please can you all reply to me and give me any of your experiences. Will life ever get better again? I’m so worried about her becoming a recluse. It is devastating me.

The event of the migraine and the projectile vomiting has caused trauma. Is she neurodivergent by any chance? CBT will be good for the health anxiety, but also consider EMDR for her to help process the memory of what happened to the correct part of the brain.

Thank you so much for replying to me. She isn’t neurodivergent. Do you think she can have EMDR and CBT at the same time?

That’s horrible.
I had emetophobia as a kid and still do.

It was never as bad as your daughter, but it has got better as I matured into late teens and now adulthood. Xx

Thanks for the reply. I truly feel at rock bottom. She just wants to lie under a blanket and thinks it is all she can do as she thinks she is unwell. She’s only 11 and it is so devastating to not know how to help.

Poor thing but glad you are getting treatment soon. Definitely go down the EDMR route - they could work together since it'll involve digging deeper into where the phobia comes from and CBT will have her working on taking steps to face the phobia. PM if you need a therapist recommendation specific to emetephobia.

It's a very common phobia and she will get through it with the right support, which it sounds like you are getting.

Came on here to ask if she is autistic?
I've had emetophobia panic attacks social anxiety agoraphobia and been diagnosed with ADHD autistic traits at 60.
I hope CBT works.

@Mum370That’s horrible for you.
I wouldn’t do anything/want to move if I felt sick or nauseous so I can partly understand.

I’ve now come on such a long way that I’m pregnant and coping with the nausea well.
it’s not been as bad as some have it but it’s been there and I’ve been on tablets.

Im SO grateful to have not vomited (although I think in part that’s because I’ve trained myself to suppress vomit).

But when I was younger the idea of being pregnant was horrific to me because of the vomiting, now I’m much better.

even though your daughter has it worse than I did, there is hope xx

Yes she can do both treatments at the same time preferably with the same therapist if you're paying privately. I only asked re the neurodivergence because ND people have a 32-45% higher chance of developing PTSD type reactions to traumatic events than neurotypical people so was curious. My 11yr old son is ND and has medical PTSD, he is recieving talking therapy and EMDR. I must advise that EMDR for children is A LOT slower than EMDR for adults because their brains are not fully developed so it's not a quick fix, but it's definitely helping my son.

There is a medication prochlorazine I think it's called and may help as it's anti sickness liquid I had and helped me feel confident enough to eat again.I got it prescribed.

My DD developed emetophobia and then subsequently OCD around germs/dirt/ handwashing when she was about 7 and she has had periods where she really struggles with it and then times when she seems to cope well. We have tried counselling and CBT and quite a lot of self help books/ programmes.
She is a very anxious person anyway and really struggles to separate the feeling of anxiety from nausea which then makes it worse because nausea makes her anxious! She is 18 now and its a lot better because unless shes having a really bad episode she is aware of the vicious cycle of anxiety feels like nausea which makes her anxious and so on. She also tries to manage her anxiety generally but with A levels on the horizon I think we might be heading into a tricky period.
Its interesting what a PP said about neurodiversity as I think my DD definitely has some traits but she is very high functioning so has never been diagnosed.

Thanks everyone. She keeps saying she feels something rising ibto her mouth and has to keep swallowing. I thought acid reflux maybe but she won’t consume pepto bismol or anything as texture is too thick. Does anyone have any ideas?
thanks for helping me. I really appreciate it as I feel so very low.

My daughter went through a similar phase when she was around 7 following a tummy bug, not quite as severe as your poor DD would go to school but took the sick bucket everywhere to bed, in the car, panic attacks if not near it, obsessed over hand washing and germs too. It passed but took a good 6 months. Just out of curiosity are you emetophobic too ? I am, I also suffer from OCD around germs, so always wondered if it was something she’s subconsciously picked up from me, allthough I try very hard to not show I am bothered by both.

I’m not but my eldest had it when she was around 7. She is fine now.
I feel like I’ve let her down so much. Thanks for replying. How soon did she start to respond to CBT?

The rising feeling in the throat does sound like acid reflux, if she won't touch pepto or gavisgon, you could ask the GP for omeprazole a low dose. My son is on it for the last year but he does have coeliac disease too.

CBT works really well but it will be her responsibility to engage with homework tasks, the therapist might offer a joint session so both of you can get on board with the formulation and identify the things that are maintaining the problem (avoidance/reassurance seeking/safety behaviours etc).

could try EMDR but not sure I’d call a migraine with vomit a ‘trauma’ - it’s a fairly run of the mill although unpleasant life experience.

We had the first CBT session today but she locked herself in the bathroom. I really thought this was our lifelifne

Oh bless her. Don't worry, the first time seeing a therapist can be absolutely nerve wrecking. The therapist needs to take it very slow and build up a decent rapport with her too before launching into treatment.

Hi OP I’m in this nightmare right now with my 9 year old. She barely left bed today and has brushed her teeth once this month, I could go on.
Im just posting to send some solidarity as it’s such a lonely and scary place to be. Thinking of you and your daughter. I hope things start to ease soon. I am desperate too and so disturbed seeing her like this, it’s heartbreaking.
we tried online EMDR today but it was just focusing on managing anxiety and she struggled to do the session.
Anyway hugs to you both x

That could easily be anxiety rather than a separate physical cause.
I have an anxiety disorder, and severe emetophobia, and my anxiety symptoms are all nausea related, sensations in throat etc.

Was her CBT in person? Is it NHS? Are video calls an option?

My daughter is 13 but has had periods of terrible anxiety around vomiting/sickness bugs for a number of years, I think caused by a sickness bug and then Covid spoiling her birthday when younger. She’s also had generalised anxiety around school and many other things. Anyway I just wanted to say that although it feels never ending, things do change. In November her sibling having a sickness bug caused her to stop eating, drinking, going to school, refusing to leave her bedroom, etc etc. and this went on for many weeks. At the time it seemed impossible to see a way out and every day we were all emotionally exhausted. In the end we offered her an incentive/reward to return to school as so often we realised in the past that the first step is always the hardest and thinking about something that causes anxiety is usually worse than the event itself. We agreed on a certain number of days attendance to receive the item she wanted.
She is older and able to recognise that anxiety is restricting her life but will not engage in any kind of talking therapy as is so shy. In fact she was discharged previously from CAMHS as she wouldn’t attend as it made her so anxious! We have often wondered if there is any unrecognised ND but a number of professionals and we as parents don’t think this is the case. She is just a very anxious person!
Apologies for the major essay but just wanted to give you some hope that you can go from spending days and days shut in the room/in bed/refusing to eat and drink during to the fear, to managing to return to school/friends/activities. We haven’t fully resolved this and i think it will reoccur but we did find a way through the most extreme period.

My daughter experienced this from about the age of 8, and although she would go to school, lunchtimes were an issue for a while, and it affected attending parties, sleepovers, eating out or in public. She eventually recognised that the feeling of nausea was anxiety, and she wasn't going to be sick, the worry just made her believe she would be. It took a while, and she later had a form of hypnotherapy which helped her general confidence. I remember that feeling of helplessness, I hope your little one will engage in the therapy.

Thank you all so much. I feel very desperate and alone in all of this and your messages give me hope.
I wake up with total dread as to how the day is going to pan out and at the moment one day just rolls into the next. We are both teachers and it is getting so hard to hold my job down as she needs constant support. She screams at me and hates me for trying to get her the help. I was so hopeful that these sessions would be the lifeline.
The CBT is private and online as the GP told me we will be waiting a long time for a camhs referral. We don’t have the money for it really and last night we paid £100 for her to just shut the laptop and lock herself away.
I just pray for some improvement.
thank you all for supporting me with this and sharing your stories

Thank you so much for your message when you are experiencing such an awful time too.
Where did you find the online emdr? I found someone face to face but my daughter won’t go. Sending you all of my thoughts and best wishes

https://www.thriveprogramme.org/cure-your-emetophobia-and-thrive/ A friend in the same situation recommended this to me

Re EMDR, if your DD googles it, she might see that nausea is a side effect of EMDR - it’s not particularly common, and actual vomiting is not a side effect. But you should be aware that she might see that nausea is a possibility.