Anyone else with emetophobia

[Dinoraw]

I can deal with my kids sometimes being sick. I was so proud of myself when I cleaned my 1 year old up when she was unwell. An I'm getting better with this phobia. I couldn't deal with dds baby milk spit up at first but now it doesn't bother me.
But if I ever see anyone sick or hear it I panic and I get really angry and I can't deal with it.
Anyone over come it?
How do you deal with it when your kids get older?
If dp was sick I think I'd have to leave for a few days.

My phobia is of people feeling/being sick but the cleaning up part doesn’t bother me. I’m useless regardless of who it is (including my children) and need to put physical distance between myself and the person. I get very panicked about it

I have this but have gotten so much better over the years. Still not a huge fan of vomiting in any form but I can deal with the DC's. I find wearing ear plugs helps if they are puking. It the noise for me that's the real killer. I'm determined not to pass it on so pull out all stops to seem 'normal'.

Still not keen on public puking on the streets for example but I'm able to manage it through distraction and not replaying it in my head. I still swerve it at every opportunity when out, drunks,night buses etc

Bizarrely I'm a HCP and it wasn't until I started working in the NHS I met lots of staff that have emetophobia. Never come across it outside of nursing.

Yes, I do, although I'm much better than I used to be. I had to have hypnotherapy to get on a ferry last year and that seems to have helped in every sense.

I don't know what the answer is. I'm very lucky in that my children (7 and 9) are very rarely sick - have I now jinxed that? They find the idea of vomit hilarious so I'm hopeful I have acted "normal" enough that they don't have it.

My dh has it. I didn't know until we had children. I'd never even heard of it.

No helpful advice I'm afraid.

Ironically my first DC has been a very sicky child. He has allergies which cause vomiting and an IgA deficiency that meant he had multiple D&V bugs and cyclical vomiting. He would vomit 30 times an hour sometimes, we lived in A&E the first two years. It was awful.

Not much you can do though when it's our own child. I think the inadvertent exposure therapy was helpful - a silver lining I guess.

Yes I've had this since primary school age. I used to be a lot worse than I am now, I would have carried around anti-nausea medication constantly through my teens and early 20's but through therapy I managed to get rid of the obsessive need to have those with me at all times. During my morning sickness I was a fucking wreck, could barely leave the house other than work because my anxiety/panic attacks were constant but Since my ds has been born 3 years ago I seem to have calmed down a good bit. I've had a d&v bug where I didn't have a full blown panic attack during it (wow!), my ds has thrown up a few times over the years and although I do get tense about it, I find that me trying to act normal in front of him really helps keep the lid on the anxiety, I can't clean up the sick my dh always does that but I can clean my son himself/change sick pj's and comfort him which I genuinely worried I'd never be able to do. Also last year my dh accidentally poisoned himself and was projectile vomiting constantly and I had to take him to A&E with him puking in a bag the entire time in the passenger seat beside me and I managed to stay relatively calm! Whereas 6 years ago my dh got sick and I hid in the bedroom with my fingers in my ears humming lalalalalala, so big improvement. In saying that my bil gagged in front of me the other week after taking a swig of off milk and I bolted from the room immediately. Swings and roundabouts. Its a very debilitating phobia to have and it used to rule my life, now I manage to keep a lid on it.

Wow nogods you've done amazingly! It's quite reassuring that people are seeming to get better rather than worse with age. I think it's like any phobia, tiredness and stress makes it worse. My best friend has a "hair thing" - can't cope with long hair off the head (as in in hairbrushes, on the floor etc) and that's way worse for her when she's stressed.

Thanks flipitydip, I genuinely never thought I'd ever get to this stage considering I've had this phobia since 6 years old but I'm so glad I have, I really think having my son has helped to improve things greatly.

That's amazing Nogodsnomasters!

I have very severe Emet. It really limits my life as I'm scared of going to places where people might throw up. I also have contamination OCD specifically focused on stomach viruses (e.g. Norovirus, Rotavirus) and basically any time I handle/touch anything that non-family members may have handled I fear that I'll contract Norovirus (e.g. from cash; from door handles etc.).

I can cope with baby regurgitation because it's not contagious and I'm ok with dog puke but I'm particularly concerned about viral vomit. I also cannot stand being near anyone who is vomiting and would leave the house if anyone was being sick at home. I'm not a mother yet but would love to have kids some time in the next five years and had been wondering how I would cope with Emet and motherhood so it's good to hear a success story.

Do any of you have OCD comorbid with the Emet?

🙋🏻‍♀️ Emetophobe here.

All about other people being sick. Have two wee ones now though and I seem to be dealing with them being sick. It’s adults being sick I struggle with.

It’s strange though. My oldest daughter is three and I can literally count on one hand the number of times she’s been properly sick. She wouldn’t remember ever being sick. She has never once seen me freak out about sickness. Not once. I am very careful.

And yet last week the baby was sick. Tonnes of it all over the kitchen and me (I was a proper brave mummy. I just got on and dealt with it. Definitely different with your own kids!) DD1 was really freaked out about it. I really hope she isn’t the same

Me, up to me being pregnant with Ds I couldn't throw up on my own, I panicked, had to have someone with me, couldn't breath, cried. The first time I was sick my then husband was at work, I had to ring my mum as I hadn't made it to the bathroom. Fortunately being pregnant gave me a crash course & I learned to manage my own throwing up, when DS was born, I could manage the milky sick, that wasn't a problem, I just held my breath & cleaned it up quick, I still find it hard to cope with clearing up proper sick & can't watch or hear anyone being sick, my DS was very sick in his bedroom, the only way I could clear it up was to cover it in shaving foam to mask the smell & them put kitchen roll over to clear it up & scrub the carpet afterwards. My DS is older now & has learnt to manage himself as he knows I just can't deal with it. I think mine was triggered when my mum was expecting my brother, I can remember her being constantly sick & my dad was at work, that's the only thing I've ever been able to put it down to

elspeth I used to be exactly like you in that it controlled my life, and before motherhood I used to worry ill never be able to look after my sick child and ill never make it through morning sickness, don't get me wrong it's not a total breeze but it is 100% worth it and the mummy instinct kicks in and takes over so if you do want to have children do not let this phobia put you off and ruin your dream, you will make it through. I do also have a massive issue with stomach bug germs, I wash my hands before I eat, I try not to put my fingers in my mouth other than eating, I close the toilet lid before flushing, I use toilet paper to touch public toilets (lifting seat for ds and for touching flush), these will never be fool proof as my ds is in nursery and caught norovirus in March anyway but dh and I both did not catch it because we practised good hygiene techniques.