Emetophobic freaking out about c section

[Ftm2015]

Hi ladies

Do you know what I hate the fact that Google was ever invented....just spent the last half an hour googling vomiting during c section and now I am well and truly freaked out...

I am having ELCS this time next week. Ironically it's due to severe anxiety and my emetophobia which is fear of vomiting. Now I am well educated and didn't make the decision lightly. I know that nausea and vomiting is high during the operation. But my midwife assured me that if I tell every man and his dog when I arrive for my c section about my phobia that they will prevent it by giving me anti sickness through the IV. After googling I have read vomiting is highly likely both during and after the operation.....now I am just totally freaking out about it all when I was feeling quite relaxed about it

Please can someone give me advice or reassurance. I haven't thrown up in over 20 years and have gone through my pregnancy without being ill so the thought of going through this operation is just scaring me to death at the moment xx

I am always sick with anaesthetic. The moment I said to the anaesthetist 'I feel sick' - he gave me an anti-emetic. My nausea disappeared instantly!

I didn't feel sick at all after that :)

DS is now 8 and has only vomited about 3 times in his whole life. The cat's more pukey than he is!

I have emetophobia too. I have to ask why you thought it was a good idea to have a child when you have this condition??

I have had two c-sections, one under general anaesthetic. No vomiting here, but then we emetophobics tend not to!

I'm emetephobic too, and I did vomit during my elcs as my blood pressure dropped very quickly and i passed out. it was rectified by the anaesthetist really quickly though - I'm talking seconds, and it was quite far in to the operation so I quickly forgot about it once the surgeon held my ds up above the curtain. I completely understand how worried you are, i was the same before the operation, but once I was there I was more concerned about my baby being safe than me being sick. just try and concentrate on the end result

Mintty despite my phobia and how severe it is I am not the kind of person to stop living my life how I want it so having a child was always on the cards. Plus I know other people who have the phobia and have children. I feel it's unfair to ask such a question.

I feel very positive about the ELCS next week after all of your stories and I realise now that there is no more point in worrying. I am sure everyone will do what they can to help me and that is all I can ask for!

I vomited throughout my labour, ended up having an EMCS as wasn't progressing past 9cm and didn't vomit once. The anaesthetist knew I'd been very sick earlier so was more than happy to give me as many anti sickness shots as I wanted.

Sorry not managed to read thread but I had a planned section last year.
The anaesthetist told me to tell her every time I felt sick as it was a sign of low blood pressure and she would give me more fluids.
I did exactly that. I would feel sick, tell her (the monitor would then bleep showing low BP) and then I would get more fluids and not feel sick. I wasn't sick at all during because I did this.

No vomiting for me either - never even knew being sick whilst having a section is a common thing!

I had an ELCS because of my emetophobia (and a few other mental health-related things). When they put the whatever it was up the cannula I felt a bit green, the anaesthetist offered to knock me out! But I felt better in seconds. No sickness during or after. I was prescribed extra fluids so I didn't eat until the following day, just to make sure it wouldn't make me feel nauseous.

I'm hoping to have EMDR for my phobia soon, have heard this can help.

Good luck OP!

Baby sick has never bothered me either. My children being sick (v rarely) never bothers me. Me being sick was the problem. I was frightened of takeaways and use by dates and crowds of people. I was always worried I might catch something or get food poisoning. Like most emetophobes, I spent years not vomiting. It was the norovirus in the end. DD caught it and passed it on. I could no more not vomit than I could not breathe. Being that ill and having panic attacks at the same time was my breaking point.

I am so much better than I ever was. I don't fear it every day. Still rubbish during an actual sickness outbreak at school but I have coping techniques now. I was determined not to pass the fear on to my children too. It seems to have worked.

Ftm, I've had two c-sections - after the first one I did feel very sick and they quickly gave me some anti-sickness medication and I felt fine. For the second one I mentioned the sickness and they just gave me some medication before the procedure and sickness wasn't a problem at all.

Hopefully this is reassuring - I wasn't sure whether to post, but once I mentioned it to the doctors it was no big deal at all to have the anti-sickness medicine, so as long as you mention it I'm sure all will be fine.

It'll be worth it, promise

Same as pp I felt queasy during elcs, told the anaesthetist and he rectified it immediately.

But after my first emcs I had a bleed and whatever hormone they gave me made me sick. Mentioned it for my elcs and was put on a slow release drip with anti-emetic in the recovery room.

Also after my 2nd section I was starving and ate too soon after the op. Bad idea.

Just thought I would mention those so you could be aware of other trigger points after the section.

Nice I have heard of EMDR but would be interested to know more?

It's the waiting game now for me that is making me anxious. I know I am luckier than some who wait a lot longer as I have been given the choice to have a section.

I will keep you all posted but am determined for it to be a positive experience. My dp is great and very supportive and is so relaxed about everything! Opposite of me lol X

I've had emdr for post traumatic stress, didn't know it could be used for phobias. I had successful cognitive behavioural therapy for a severe phobia x

Ftm2015 - I'm only 8+2 so a long way off, however have already requested an ELCS due to anxiety, however mine is due to fear of needles / medical professionals doing things to me without my permission and the lack of control you have in a VBAC

I've had counselling twice in my life for fear of injections and the last time, it's been about a year. It's helped an awful lot, however there's no way I'm 'over the fear' and I doubt you'll ever be over your fear, but you could certainly learn to be OK with it, I feel.

I had 2 wisdom teeth out under general anaesthetic in January - I'd never had any kind of operation and I'm 33, I was petrified - not only because I would have a cannula in my hand, but also because medical people were doing things to me.... when I am under.. so I couldn't control the situation.

Honestly, I thought I would die, that I would be the one person in 100,000 where something went wrong, the one person where the surgeon would screw up, I'd die of blood loss, I'd have speech problems... and all the nurses would laugh at me and think I was pathetic for crying so much and being so scared over needles.

It was such a positive experience! Every single person was absolutely lovely, they didn't mind I was crying so much and did everything possible to reassure me. They let me do as much as possible (hold the oxygen mask on my face, read my notes as soon as I came round even though I couldn't focus - but I wanted that 'control'), didn't patronise me, helped me at every step of the way. I cried with relief when it was over as it was the absolute opposite of what I thought would happen.

Then on Thursday (3 days ago) I had my first ever filling which needed 2 injections - I thought the dentist would laugh at me, that I'd go to pieces, that the dentist would slip and I'd end up with damaged teeth...... It went amazingly well and it didn't hurt anywhere near as much as I thought it would. Also... the dentist was lovely and supportive and just put me at ease. I am still so proud of myself!

What I'm trying to say is, I totally get your fear - it can be all consuming and you can feel really alone, as if noone else can understand how petrifying it is. However I think sometimes, it's the thoughts in your head that are more petrifying that the actual event. Twice this year I thought I'd have a horrendous experience and twice I've been proved wrong - I'm utterly dreading my booking in blood test next week and also the ELCS due to all the needles, but I'm going to take each 'even't as it comes and look for the positives.

Maybe make a list of questions / confirmations you want beforehand? Confirm the anti sickness drugs? confirm what you want to happen if you start feeling sick? Confirm what the process is and when the most likely time you may feel sick, so you can be ready for the potential and act on it quickly?

You will be absolutely 100% fine, I wish you well

Thanks Fluffy reading your story really rings true so many people struggle to understand what actually goes on inside your head. You have been so brave though and my hat comes off to you BIG time. I will definitely have all questions ready so I can be as prepared as possible.

Thank you so much for your kind words. I can totally understand your needle phobia too it isn't pleasant but luckily for me they don't bother me at all.

Good luck to you when the time comes I am sure like me you will be absolutely fine