Emetophobia + panic attacks

[anxiousbundle]

Anyone else suffer from emetophobia? (Fear of vomiting) I've suffered for quite a few years now but it's gotten better over time (not great, but more manageable!).

I also get panic attacks surrounding potentially getting ill :( I had a takeaway this evening (pizza) and now I'm freaking out I'm going to get food poisoning! (Highly unlikely from a vegetarian pizza). The awful thing with anxiety is it tricks your body into feeling ill too so you freak out.

I obsessively wash my hands, anti bac and clean surfaces daily, avoid eating meat and drinking alcohol etc. All to avoid throwing up.

I don't know how I'll cope when I get pregnant/have a baby in the future! I'll be sobbing every night with anxiety I reckon over morning sickness/labour then having a school age child who'll more than likely pick up a bug here and there.

How do you guys manage your emetophobia?

I suffer from this and its the worst. Growing up I thought I outgrew it, that is until I had kids!! I was not afraid of pregnancy and thought I would just deal with it if I felt ill....luckily I had no morning sickness and felt great both times. Seriously, dream pregnancies and I loved being pregnant. My son just had a tummy bug a week ago and I spent 3 days bleaching the house and wiping with dettol wipes etc trying to keep everyone else clear and healthy. When one of my children get sick, I freak out and can't cope. I run out of the room and just call to them saying I am coming back, they are being so brave etc. The best way to cope I found is at least being prepared. So I have disposable gloves, masks, bleach, wipes etc....to help deal with it. I only started avoiding things after having kids. Before that, I had emetophobia, but it was not so bad. I never washed my hands growing up! And amazingly, I was only ever sick once during my school years (age 6).

One thing you should realise in your home, is no need to crazily clean surfaces, unless someone in the house is actually sick. Do you live by yourself?

Sorry, I do not have any good advice really...as I struggle with it myself. It seems quite common phobia. I also get anxiety about it, which causes my tummy to hurt. When I was a child I could never eat breakfast as my tummy would hurt. I would eat only a small lunch, again because my tummy hurt at school. Once I got home though, I was able to eat normally because my anxiety eased.

@StarlightIntheNight argh that sounds like my worst parenting nightmare😩 it's awful because I want to be able to be there for them when I have children but I fear I'll just freak out and scare them if they get sick!

You did so well to deal with it and I hope no one else got sick and that your son is feeling a lot better now! The good thing is bugs last a short amount of time thankfully!

I live with my boyfriend and our puppy. I constantly wash my hands, use hand gel all the time when out, avoid eating out etc.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with the same thing, at least we know we're not alone! Funnily enough I used to have the worst stomach aches in the evenings before school and hated eating breakfast too!