emetophobes, it's that time of year :(

[devilinside]

First bucket sighting at school this morning. My sister had norovirus last week after attending a party where some selfish buggers thought it was acceptable to bring along a vomiting toddler. Most of the other guests got the bug including an elderly man. Feel free to add your rants and worries here.

Thanks Becky. I 'm with you on the spiders! Hope your boys enjoy their pirate day. X

Alexle, I have had quite a lot of treatment. (CBT, exposure therapy, hypnotherapy and mindfulness ), the only one that has made a slight difference is the mindfulness as its more about controlling your anxiety rather than curing the phobia. My phobia has gotten worse since having children, I guess when I was single and childless it was much easier to avoid but having kids means at some point you will have to deal with it happening ( so then we re on edge all the time waiting for it to happen ).

Thanks Marne. I have had hypnotherapy and cbt too. I have also tried many of the 'quick fix' phobia cure things advertised on the internet. This latest dr I am seeing uses cbt too. He is based at the maudsley but I am seeing him privately. I can't really afford it but I'm desperate so will manage it somehow. I'll keep you posted if it helps. That's great about the mindfulness helping. There's a course locally starting in January so will look into it. I think I've also accepted that I will always have this to a degree but hopefully I can learn to manage the fear and anxiety better. Xx

This is my thinking about treatment although this is just my personal view: I believe that, deep down, I don't want to lose the phobia because the phobia is stopping me from being sick if that makes sense. You can have all the treatment in the world but if you still want to hang on the fear, even subconsciously, it won't make a difference.

I think your spot on Dancegirl .

I went private for hypnotherapy and CBT after having a horrible experience with nhs and exposure therapy although I do believe exposure therapy could work if done correctly. When I am very anxious I will try anything (which is why I went private as I was desperate for a quick solution, sadly it didn't work).

A few weeks ago (when I posted here) I was sick due to medication, I was petrified but I am now try to focus on the fact 'it was not that bad, I did not die and a few hours after I felt fine', I keep trying to tell myself that but I still feel petrified of being sick again , I don't think I will ever get rid of the phobia but I hope one day I will be able to manage it better.

Yes, I can really see the sense in that dancergirl. My last therapist said that no one can control vomiting and that this misconception is maintaining my phobia. She tried to help me to drop a lot of the behaviors or rituals that made me feel safer. I do think you get to the point when you are almost afraid of not being afraid in case it leads to more vomiting.

Marne it sounds like you managed that brilliantly but i'm so sorry that you are still feeling like this afterwards

If anyone is interested I just bought some antiviral hand foam from boots. Not sure how good it will be but worth a try.

marne that's a really depressing thought that you still find it terrifying after being sick. As I haven't actually been sick for over 30 years, I think it's the fear of the unknown with me. Sometimes I think if I was actually sick I might stop being so scared.

Can I ask you a question about when you were sick - did you 'know' it was going to happen and did you manage to get to the loo/a bowl? Sorry if TMI. I've felt nauseous many, many times over the years, sometimes extremely so but it hasn't happened. So I don't know how it feels to know you're actually going to be sick.

That's ok, I don't mind you asking. I had a mouth abscess and was in pain all day and feeling sick on and off but I had booked tickets for a show with dsd and didn't want to let her down, by the evening I was in agony and my mum kindly took me to A&E, I was given liquid morphine as I can not take codeine, the nurse also gave me a anti sickness med, I was feeling a little queezy but not sick, later they gave me codeine and told me I should be fine as I had been given the anti sickness med earlier, I took the codeine (as was still in a lot of pain) alongside the antibiotic without thinking that my stomach was empty (apart from the morphine I hadn't ate or drunk much all day), mum drived me home but five minutes before we were home I started feeling sick, I didn't say anything to my mum as I thought I could control it. As soon as I got out the car I started retching (whilst hammering on the door for dh to let me in), managed to make it to the kitchen sink (dh was moaning at me for not going to the loo), I was shaking and crying, retched a few times and then brought up all the meds I had taken. TBH it wasn't that ba as my stomach had no food in it so didn't have the taste of vomit in my mouth just the taste of morphine. I then went up to bed but continued to shake for an hour until I knew I was not going to be sick again.

I went through most of school without being sick (probably from the age of 11 until I was 20, never got drunk enough to be sick and never caught bugs, I was sick once whilst pregnant with dd1 and then caught a bug when dd1 was 4 years old, have had a couple bugs since. Being sick (catching bugs) has made me worse, I can deal with the dd's being sick its the fact that I might catch it that makes me anxious, I can clean up after them (although I hate it I have to do it to make sure it has been cleaned up properly to reduce the chance of the whole house getting it).

A year or 2 ago it was effecting me every day, stopping me from going out, stopping me from using public transport and stopping me from allowing the dd's to do things such as school clubs (I just wanted them to be at school when they had to be and then have them safe at home). I can now go out more (as long as I have hand wipes etc..), I still don't like taking the girls shopping at the weekend in case they catch something, dd1 has done a few school clubs and has friends over and we are thinking of flying (going abroad) for the first time next year. Although it still effects me a lot its not as bad as it was.

I do think my phobia is quite extreme (as it does effect my everyday life) but i'm sure there must be people who have it worse.

Hand holding needed my dd 8 yrs has been in my bed alnight and was sick at half 5, then 7 then at 9. Everytime managed to use the bowl, i am so worried that as she was so close to me last night that i will get it, i am such a horrible mum. i dread being sick and find it hard to properly comfort her. Does mottilium work if you take them before you know if you will get it.

I'm here pinkkoala. I'm sorry your dd is feeling so rubbish... Good news it was all in the bowl. Use bleach and wash hands. get her back into her own bed and wash your sheets.

I have this stuff called virusolve for when dcs are ill which is uncommon fortunately. I got it from the germwarfare website. It was recommended on here by someone on an emet thread (I recognise Marne from there but have nc'ed since those days). Knowing I have it in the cupboard helps and last time ds was sick I cleaned the bathroom from top to toe with it and nobody else caught it. I am alone with dcs so it does help.

How is she doing now? Very possible that after 2 v's that will be it for her. Really hope so.

Sorry 3 v's... still hope that's it.

She is asleep on the sofa, had a sip of lemonade an hour ago, i am hoping and praying we might get a bit of a break. I have stripped the bed, bleached the bowl, and toilet.

Well done - you are facing your worst fears do be kind to yourself.

Door handles ate something I always do too.

Thought it was too good to be true, after 2 hrs she has been just a bit of liquid sick. She has slept for an hr.

pinkkoala- you can take Mollitium now if it makes you feel better (helps with the anxiety) but I would just take it if you start feeling poorly, it can take a hour to work though, I always take 2 tablets when I first feel ill and then another 4 hours latter. Fingers crossed your dd stops being sick soon, well done to her for using a bowl though, makes things much easier and less likely to infect everyone else. I think I read somewhere last year that the virus can live on fabrics for up to 18 days but can only survive on surfaces for a couple hours. Hope your dd feels better soon xx

Hello pinkkoala. I'm so sorry that you're going through this. My Ds has been ill in the last couple of days and everyone on here has been so kind and supportive. You are not alone and I will be thinking of you. It sounds like you are doing really well in a very difficult situation. I hope you dd is feeling better soon. Xx

She hasnt been sick for 8 hrs, but has slept all day, is this normal for a bug. I am still very anxious.

Sounds very normal. I expect she'll be much better in the morning. :)

Do you always get the bug after your childrdn have had it, i am still anxious amd havent eaten much just in case.
dd slept last nite and hasnt been sick since noon yesterday. She feels very dizzy though is that normal.

Can you give her some squash and rice cakes? She's probably very empty. All sounds fairly standard to me. I would keep her off school tomorrow too.

And I have NEVER caught a bug off dcs. Touch wood!!

Sounds normal to me, she will be feeling dizzy and week as her tummy has been empty for a day and she will be a bit dehydrated, you can give her flat coke (it will help rehydrate her) and try a bit of toast.

I don't always catch it off my dc's and the times I have caught it was after dd2 covered her whole bedroom in V, dh has only caught it once (that was the time we all had it).

Keep eating if you can or you will feel poorly because of being empty, eat foods that are low in fat (bugs like fat) so thinks like chicken, veg and salad, if you take motilium it before eating it makes food pass through your gut quicker but the best thing is to drink lots and lots of water as it will push any nasties through your body. Fingers crossed you wont catch it xxxxx

oh, my hand gel came yesterday but dd2 got to it before me and has emptied the contents on her bedroom floor so will have to order some more, on the plus side, dd2's room is probably virus free .

She is bit brighter today, had slice and half of toast cut into shapes with cookie cutters, and has had one episode of the runs. I will keep heq at home tomorrow as our school is 48hr ruling. Can you lot beleive that i actually work in a private care home with my phobia, i sound really silly about this phobia. How are all you doing. I hate this time of year, bring on summer.

Glad she's feeling better pink, I might be getting a job in a care home after Christmas (though I will be out of the way in the kitchen), my mum has worked in care homes for 15 years and has only had one norovirus outbreak (most of the staff got it but my mum didn't), she says she rarely has to deal with V but often has to deal with the other end.

I hate this time of year, I do think we have been lucky this year, winter seemed to start early last year and after a wet summer it seemed to be winter for most of the year. I always hope for a really cold winter (in hope it is too cold for the bugs to spread), not sure if that is the case though.