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!

Hi everyone!

Nice to see you zonedout! You've managed to get through a bit of a turbulent time, hope things are better for you now. Keep in touch!

Dot, how's you today hun? any news on your x-ray and what the problem may be? Hope you aren't feeling so sick again. Let us know of any developments. Thinking of you.xx

Notalone - you still in London chick? Missing you! And bb too, where are you hun? Hope all is good with you. xx

thanks so much dot and wiggle for the welcome back... don't feel i really deserve it after being such a useless fellow emetephobe the last few months but much appreciated...

dot, you are sweet but your admiration is misguided! i am truly blessed and lucky to be pregnant with a second (hopefully healthy)child and the ms is just something to be got through. i am also extremely lucky that it has eased off a little now... i know of many who suffer throughout pregnancy so i really have nothing to moan about.

you, on the other hand, are sounding like a very poorly bunny at the moment. and so so tiny, you would blow away in a stiff wind i really hope you are receiving good doctor care and they get to the bottom of it all quickly and get you feeling well again. funnily enough, i had a host of stuff wrong with me in my late teens/early twenties (including a nasty viral pneumonia) and was also around he 6 stone mark. must be so so tough with lo's to take care of though.

what a horrendous experience at soft play but at 6 miles of paper around your hands!

how is bb's therapy going? i know she was ttc too so hope all is well with her.

Hey zonedout, you do deserve the welcome, you've been through a lot, you're not useless! Didn't know you had ms. Sorry to hear that. My friend has that. SHe gets on ok though at the mo. I have me which is obviously not as bad as ms, so really sympathise with you hun. xx

Hi to everyone else! xxx

Hello everyone. Still lurking!! x

Hello Dot! I'm still lurking too! How's things with you hun? Have been a little worried over the weekend coz went to visit a friend on fri, who was going to visit another mutual friend so she asked if i wanted to go with her so i did..got to this other friends house and only minutes into the conversation she said she'd had her DD off school all week coz she'd been really ill with a tummy bug and that she'd also fetched her DS home from school in the morning coz he was feeling unwell so she thought he was coming down with it too...aaarrghhh!

I couldn't get up and go home coz none of them know i have this phobia and also i'd gone with my other friend in her car. Was stuck!

The thing is i never visit anyone without checking first, usually fone or text to check all is well, but this time i thought to myself oh stop being so paranoid and just go...ha, that came back and bit me in the bum didn't it!

Anyway, i'm still eating and trying to be rational etc but i am worried.

Plus, My DD had d for a whole week a couple of weeks ago and yesterday she had it again..Don't know what that's all about.

How is everyone? xx

Hello wiggle (and all!)

Yes, isn't that just typical that you come into contact with tummy-bug folk the minute you decide not to be overly anxious?!

We went to a toddler neighbour's b'day party today, and I overheard one mum saying they'd all had a tummy bug, and that she was still feeling ill. Oh fab. Of course, it would have to be a buffet... I never eat anything at such events, but the dcs were of course eating stuff that had been handled by goodness knows who...

Wiggle - I hope your DD's d yesterday was just a one-off. It would be very tough on all of you if she had another d bug!

Fingers crossed everyone else is healthy!!

Thanx Dot. It's very unlike DD to be ill actually, even when she's had d she's still eaten and been upbeat, it hasn't really bothered her. It bothers me more!!

Love to all on here! xx

Have you lot seen this?!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/2724/549539

I don't believe the responses!!

hi all

i have been lurking here for months, and want to thank you all when things have got tough i jump on here and read.

i had to respond when i read dots entry so i had a bit of a rant back ooooppppssss!!!!

i have suffered with emetophobis ever since i can remeber and now have pnd and ocd so am on medication, and see a nurse from the cmht. i am so glad no one knows me on here i hope!!! i never knew this had a name let alone any body else out there to have it i thought i was just some weirdo, what would i give to have a phobia of spiders heights or something normal! sorry x x x

i think you are all brave to send your children to school, please please please dont judge me my dd1 it turns out was being bullied at school, but obsession did not help when we decided to withdraw her from school and home educate her, now i know its the best thing we ever did.

look forward to chatting x

Welcome, Mumtoo3!
Home education is great. We thought about it ourselves, and may have to re-visit it later on given our rubbish local secondary school and the cost of independent secondary school fees
You will find lots of emet support here!

Evening all! Welcome Mumtoo3! You will get a lot of support on here.

Dot, just been reading that thread...ain't it soooooo annoying that parents have this attitude about the 48hr rule?

I was on a similar thread not so long back about exactly the same thing..i was having my twopennie's worth! God, it infuriates me.

Mumtoo3 - Good for you educating at home, no-one -will- should judge you.

Evening everyone else xx

Hey bb! Thanx for saying hello! We've missed yer! Just stick around, you never know when you might be needed. Lovely to hear from you after all this time, so glad you are doing so well. That's brilliant! Pleased to hear that this phobia isn't taking up so much of your head space. wish i could get some cbt like you. Well done girl! xxx

BB - what fantastic news!!!!!
So, so glad that it's working for you.
Thanks for the encouragement. Maybe I'll actually do something about it now...
Hello everyone else! x

thats great news about getting help from cbt

i have a cmht nurse who comes to see me about my pnd ocd and phobia so i will mention this to her.

hope it keeps going well
x

hey bb! Need you for a sec........next door neighbour just been round coz her DP had to go into hospital today coz he wasn't very well..anyway my DH and i helped her get him into the car etc and i text her later to see how he was, she text back that she was just on her way home and that she'd see me in 5. Anyway she turns up and we were just eating dinner but invited her in anyway and sat her down at the table with us so she could fill us in on how her DP was....During the conversation she drops out that her DD had had a sick bug on thurs, she (mum) had it fri night and DP had had it this morn! aarrgghhhh! So there she was sat at our dinner table breathing on our dinners and us and i'm like omfg!!!!! My DH has told me not to worry but can't help it. I've took a stemetil already!

bb help me cope with this and put it into perspective!! Perleeeez! What are the chances of us picking this bug up from them? Help! xx

Wiggle: !!!!!

I would be in full panic mode, but I am sure someone more sane would tell me that I had no need to panic

Logically, you can't have come into contact with your neighbour's d or v, which should mean you are safe... I do hope so!

Let us know how you get on ... x

Thanks Dot. Hopefully we will all be ok but had i known they'd been ill i wouldn't have been so amiable! I see her knocking about every day so didn't think anything of it. But as she was ill fri night i didn't know and i saw her thurs taking DD to playgroup, her DD was sick after that. I didn't suspect anything was wrong. Usually i have a 6th sense for stuff like that! Tbh though it did enter my head on fri but i don't know why and i just dismissed it thinking i was being paranoid as usual!

Oh bb thanks so much for that! Could really do with a hug atm!

My Dh said he was extra careful when he helped her DP into the car just incase it was anything to do with v. I on the other hand was hugging her and talking to her in close proximaty!!!!!!Scary poo eh?

I will be ok won't i? My DH says i have to have faith in my immune system and i will be ok. (not so sure!)

Thanks so much bb and Dot for your support. Will keep you posted! xx

Wiggle - I'm sure BB is absolutely right. Thinking logically again (oh, how my DH would be laughing at the idea of me being logical about v!!), we must all come into contact with people on a daily basis (in supermarkets, on the bus, at playgroup - whatever) who've recently had d or v - only we don't know about it, so it can't worry us other than in the generally abstract way in which we worry anyway!

Thinking of you...

Hey you guys, Dot and bb. Thank you so much for thinking of me. I'm doing ok actually, much more rational than normal, think bb's therapy is rubbing off on me.

Last night i said to DH that if it happened it happened and i'd deal with it.. and i said for all i know i could've been stood next to someone in tesco's who'd recently had d or v and not know and not think anything of it. So i'm not going to worry myself. I'm eating as normal (which is a MASSIVE thing for me) and i'm quite chilled.

It's all thanks to you guys and your support on here. Thank you so much for just being there, that in itself helps a lot.

How are you? How is everyone else on here, it's been v quiet of late...Notalone, where are you? Will text you about meeting up hun. Lotsa love to everyone xxxxxxxxxxxx

Glad you're doing okay, Wiggle!! Hang in there...

DD's first piece of intelligence on the way home from her nursery school yesterday was that another little girl had been sick at school. Oh fab...

I am trying not to think about it!