Emetophobia - terrified of this sickness bug

[nellyraggbagg]

This sounds so stupid, but I'm completely terrified of the children (not to mention DH and me) catching this Norovirus that's doing the rounds. I've been emetophobic for as long as I can remember, and it has become even worse since having children. Every time they open their mouths, I'm terrified they're going to say they feel sick. When I go to bed at night, my last waking thought is: "Oh my God, what if they're sick in the night?" My DH is working away a lot at the moment, which makes matters even worse (he is good at dealing with sick, thank goodness!!) I have dealt with both children being sick (I have found that manic cleaning helps very slightly to take my mind off the blind panic), but am rigid with fear following newspaper reports of this current bug. How will I pick DS up from school if DD and/or I get it? My Mum is miles away, unfortunately. And what if DH gets it? I don't know how I'd cope if he were sick. Please, please help, someone - even if just by saying that I'm not the only person who feels like this!

DS and DD now in bed. Am having a tot of jack daniels! He was sick after a coughing fit. He has temp and cough/cold (yet another one) and quite a lot of mucousy stuff came up, but not all his lunch am thankful to add. I did sort of shriek when it happened, but just because it was so unexpected lol! But I calmed down quickly, got him on the sofa, got a bowl. Phoned friend down the road and asked her to give DD tea (which she did, bless her). He was sick a few times more after coughing through retching, but only a tiny bit. I was brave and stayed in the same room as him!!! He was ever so brave! When he got it in the bowl he shouted out "I did it Mummy" really proudly. At least he doesn't seem distressed.

Then I was brave again and gave them both a bath. Had bowl in the bathroom and at one point found myself sitting with him on my knee holding bowl up for him to be sick into (he wasn't). Never done that before. Am thinking to myself its probably not a stomach bug, as such, the amount of vomit so far has been quite small. But who knows?

They are in bed now. He's in my bed. Am feeling awful about this but considering sleeping on the sofa as much as I can - am sure will be up with him in the night, but thought I could get an early hour or so on the sofa before he inevitably wakes up again - the cough is horrendous. AIBU?

not at all Daphne. I wouldn't have handled it half as good as you have! Congrats on dealing so well with dh away. Sounds like it is the cough making him sick rather than a bug but like you i always air on the side of caution! Have you anything to calm his cough down? How old is he? really hope you are ok! xx

Phew Daphne sounds like you did really well. My DS was sick on boxing day for the same reason, and although DP dealt with it, I wasn't too alarmed becuase it wasn't the dreaded 'V' bug.

Sounds like it's not that though -if he's only vomiting small amounts.

I'd have a couple of drinks and curl up on the sofa if I were you. You can always check on him during the night - although I'm sure he'll be fine once he's in a deep sleep.

He is 4 and a half wiggle. [whispers because not wishing to tempt fate] he has only vomited twice before now in his entire life. Just twice. I don't mean two tummy bugs where he vomited a lot. No, not my little man, only twice has he actually thrown up. He is so fab! All I want is for him to feel better. Surprisingly unconcerned about myself. And at least DH gets home tomorrow.

I do think the cbt is probably helping.

Sounds like you are dealing with this whole situation absolutely fabulously!! bless yer! Your ds obv isn't the sickly type (just like my dd - she says touching eveything thats wooden!!!!!) It is the bad cough making him sick, so once he's settled he'll be fine. If i were you i'd have a couple more jd's and hopefully nod off on the sofa. He'll be fine, you'll see. It's not a bug. Sounds like you have one fab boy there D. xxxx

Daphne - you are marvellous. And no you are not being unreasonable: I'd be on the sofa too. You'll presumably not be sleeping much anyway, so you'll be checking on him lots. It does sound as if your CBT is having an effect, which is fantastic. It does sound as if your DS's sickness is related to his cough - poor little man. I hope he's feeling better tomorrow. With a bit of luck, he'll be getting his cough out of his system. Let us know what happens!

BB - glad things are ok in the Bun household, and sorry to hear about your disappointment. I remember it well when ttc#2...

WELL DONE {smile] Daphne. You sounded like you handled the situation really well. It doesn't sound like a tummy bug either so hope you are not feeling anxious today about anyone else catching it. You should give yourself huge pat on the pack today! How is he now? We will be into Spring in a few weeks so hopefully all these horrid bugs will slowly start to disappear now. Its fab your DS isn't a sicky boy. My DS has had his moments but is no-where near as bad as some of the others in his class. One of his friends is sick loads - probably every three months or so. There is no way I could cope with that!

So sorry this month hasn't gone to plan BB. How long have you been trying for? Hope you are ok x

Funnybunny - I will second that you were not told. You WOULD have remembered - us emetophobes are finely tuned to the V word!

Had a scare myself yesterday. Took Ds to Burger King as a treat and the burger was luke warm as were the chips. When I was collecting the food I didn't take much notice as I was juggling shopping bags too, but after DS had eaten I thought back and realised the burger had come out of a microwave. Last night was spent listening for noises from DS's bedroom and frantically praying he wasn't food poisoned. He is ok today so fingers crossed he hasn't been

Just got a minute to say thanks everyone for kind words. I was not a superstar!! (blush) but I did get through it ok. Twas only a gentle exposure because DS did not have tummy bug, was only a few little bits of vomit (first one not insignificant, I suppose) due to coughing. Clearing up was quick thanks to ineedapoo - of course kitchen roll!!! - why hadn't I thought of that? Got my bathroom rubber gloves on, covered it up with kitchen roll and stood on it (to aid absorbtion lol!) luckily had some carpet cleaning stuff in cupboard under sink with a gentle disinfectanty type smell. Used an old bathroom sponge to do the scrubbing. Threw that away . Washed gloves in disinfectant soap and hung them out to dry on the line outside. Felt almost normal!

Actually did have weirdy sensation whilst dealing with it all that if someone was watching me from outside they probably wouldn't know I had a problem. All was calm and reassurance to DS. Not 100% what I was actually feeling but I think I got away with pretending it was cool IYSWIM? Don't think I transmitted any panic to him.

He is feeling much better now, the cold is coming out so he is more coldy than coughy, but I am going crazy through being in the house for 3 days solid. Was supposed to have a job interview Thursday morning which I had to postpone - the potential employers were v understanding so have re-scheduled for Tuesday morning. Am seeing light at the end of the tunnel!

Thanks again for all your support.

Daph xx

Good to hear your news, Daphne! How fantastic that you got through it without letting him know that you had a problem - that in itself is a huge achievement. I am so full of admiration - I can only hope I'd cope as well as you have done...

I'm glad your DS's cold is on its way out now. I am looking forward to my dcs being able to blow their noses!

Good luck with your job interview... xxx

hello my fellow emets!!! we are back from a really lovely (and v free) couple of weeks in south africa... actually have been back quite some time but ds came home with a feverish tummy bug (d not v, thank goodness but certainly entailed plenty of panic) which i then caught which, combined with all of the post-holiday catching up and ds turning 2 this week has left me with so little time to post here (had started to write a few but never finished...)

crazily enough i thought about you all loads while i was away, wondering how you were all doing and hoping no v had hit anyone. it was such an amazing relief to be away in beautiful weather and outside all of the time with no fear of v bug. (we did have one near miss when the hotel brought a cup of off milk for ds's bedtime drink (thank goodness for my ultra vigilent nose!) suffice to say, the minute we landed back in this noro infested country the fear struck again...

so, tomorrow we are having a party for ds. i am so nervous one of his toddler friends will bring noro into our house as it seems to be still rife around here...

bb, so sorry af arrived. i am right there with you (although in my 2ww at the mo)

daph, brilliantly handled. i am in awe.

everyone, i have missed you!

Welcome back, zonedout! We have missed you too. Glad you had a fab and noro-free holiday - what a bummer that you've come back to a noro-area. Try to keep hold of your holiday feeling for as long as possible. And happy b'day to your ds!! xx

Hi zonedout glad the hols went well.
Daphne well done sorry for my brief post my 2 were shouting at me but didn't want to ignore you.
BB good luck for this month

Hey Zonedout. Welcome back!!! Am so glad you had a relaxing holiday. We were all wondering how you got on so am really pleased it was good. I hope the party goes well tomorrow. How do you know it is still rife where you are? If you can get hold of some, put first defence on your DC's hands before the party as it is supposed to offer protection against germs for hours after application. Let us know how you get on.

Daphne - I was like that when DS had a tummy bug Nov 2006. DP couldn't get home and I remember reassuring DS, holding the bowl etc and thinking "I look so normal" yet inside I just wanted to turn and run . Even though it wasn't a tummy bug you were still fantastic! These phobias are supposed to be dealt with one step at a time, so even though it wasn't a bug, it still involved the dreaded V and you coped. Its a brilliant achievement. Good luck with the job interview

BB - loved your comments about your DH enjoying himself!! Am sure it won't be long for you. Got lots of friends TTC at present - one has just got pg after 7 months of trying. Two more are at the same stage as you and have been trying since Jan. Just out of interest did you get morning sickness with your first pg? I was a little nauseous but ok.

Nelly - what have you been doing of late?

Hello notalone! What I've been doing is a lot of half-term childcare-ing and an equal amount of worrying, as DH has been working away a lot (cue major anxiety in case there's a v-ing episode!!) Today we went to the old ladies' coffee-morning in the local church hall (I kid you not - it is very cheap, the home-made cakes are marvellous, and the ladies love the dcs), and the old lady who served our cake did so with her bare hands. Eek. I try to tell myself that nice old ladies don't have noro-hands, but I'm not entirely sure about that one.

DS goes back to school on Monday. Grr. I don't suppose the half term will have made much difference to the bugs lurking there, unfortunately.

Your post reminds me that I still don't know how anyone can hold a bowl. This is a major stumbling block for me. I am better at cleaning carpets than I would be at holding bowls (perish the thought). I don't even like the words 'bowl' or 'bucket'. At least carpet-cleaning gives me a practical task to focus on. I am not looking forward to DS turning six in May - I don't much like the sound of the word. Every time he says "I'm going to be six ...", I hear "I'm going to be sick ..." Hit me over the head with a big stick, somebody!

Daphne - hope your DS is on the mend. Poor little man.

Welcome back Zonedout. Glad you had a good trip and that it was v free. It's amazing how traumtic holidays can be for us emets!

We are going to the Isle of Whyte soon and I am already stressing about the ferry crossing. Not that I'd ever 'allow' myself to be sea sick, but the dc's are another issue.

Nelly, I can't stand bowls or buckets either, and the thought of holding one for a sick child shudder. Although, I'm sure I'll have to do it sooner or later.

Hope everyone else is OK.

Evening BB!

It sounds as if your DD is over the worst if her nappies are better today than they were last night. My DD had a very nasty tummy thing (turned out to be rotavirus - she ended up being rehydrated in hospital) when she was 2; the very nasty v (on my birthday!!!!!) did follow two days of d - but she was very poorly for those two days -high temperature, listless, no appetite at all, crying etc - so it does sound as if your DD has just got one of those runny episodes. I'm sure Weetabix and baked beans could have an effect on anyone!! My DS ate Granny's home-grown cabbage the other day, and entertained us (or so he thought) for the whole of the rest of the evening with his own personal wind-band.

I hope your DD is better in time for nursery tomorrow. I am living in fear of my dcs coming down with something overnight and not being able to go to school - I need to wash my hair, and it's impossible with them around!!!!

Glad to see your DD is better DD. These D bugs are also guaranteed to send us into panic, are they not?

I'm really pleased this thread is still going. I'm now finding it really helps when I'm in one of my panics. DP doesn't really understand about my phobia - even though he's the only person that knows.

Oooops, sorry BB (DD's on the brain - having one myself!)

Hope your day passed peacefully BB. I took DD back to school today back to worrying again oh well only 4 weeks 2 days till Easter hols

Hi everyone, just popping on for a quick catch up with whats going on in the lives of us emets!
Daphne - good luck with interview today! Hope it goes well. Let us know how it goes. Got everything crossed for you [including my eyes which isn't a good look!!]
BB - Good luck ttc#2 this month, have loads of fun trying!
Nelly - I am the same about bowls and buckets. Struggle to even say the word bucket. Don't like it in B&Q(think it's B&Q anyway) where they provide buckets to put your stuff in, hate walking round there and seeing loads of people carrying them. aaargh!
Also understand the age six thing, my dd is now 7 thank god!
Went to the doctors today and while i was there i mentioned wanting help to deal with v phobia, and how scared i was with this noro going round and she just said well if you get the bug i would think it be better to v and get it out (I'd asked for more anti-emet tablets). Was very disappointed with her response. Just felt she totally didn't get me. Asked about counselling and cbt, she said there is very long waiting list. Tbh, felt very down about the whole thing and didn't push it. Maybe it comes down to cost or something but didn't find her very helpful or understanding. maybe i expect too much? Left it for now.
Anyway, sorry about the essay!! haven't been on for a few days though so i'm making up for it! Hope everyone is well and coping. Lotsa love W xx

BB - so glad your DD is ok. Bet you feel like a whole weight has been lifted.

Hey Nelly. Hope you had a good half term. We did but Ds is back at school now and I am back to worrying. I overheard one of the mums a while ago saying that this year is worse for germs than previous years as it has been really mild, so am hoping this cold weather has not killed them all off now. . The old lady fete sounded great BTW - there is something about cakes made by old ladies that are really scrummy!

Wiggelit - Your Dr sounds like mine - totally unsympathetic and not even trying to understand. You are under Rotherham Primary care trust too aren't you? The waiting lists are ridiculous. Is there any way you can change your GP? Did you get your anti emets in the end?

Annoyingdevil - this thread really is a godsend isn't it?