Emetophobia

[cocoapple]

Has anybody successfully gotten over this phobia or at least found a way that has lessened it? I’ve had enough of it. It’s taking over my life and have even considered not wanting to be here anymore just because of the constant anxiety it causes. I have had cbt but it didn’t help and I am on sertraline which helped initially but I feel its no longer effective for me

@Jifmicroliquid it’s so frustrating isn’t it😩 the last time I had a bug, it was quite a bad one. I just couldn’t stop being sick for a good few hours. It was really awful. Then the next day I felt fine and said to my partner that it really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and that I was proud of myself that I didn’t have a complete breakdown (that I thought I would have if somebody would have told me what was going to happen to me) Then for a week or so after I felt full of confidence, thinking I had finally got rid of the phobia. But nope, it came back!

This is so true, it’s never as bad as you build up in your head and afterwards I’ve also felt amazing as though I was proud of myself. The fear always comes back though.

A few weeks ago my youngest had a temperature and wasn’t right. I tried so hard to make myself get a bowl rather than not facing up to the fact he may be sick. As it happened he wasn’t sick, but even a little step like getting the bowl and feeling ready to face it was a big deal for me.

I don’t know what the next few weeks will bring, but I’m going to try and face it the best I can.

I used to be absolutely terrified of others vomiting and myself. When I was little, if we were in a pub, I would be too scared to go to the toilet in case someone was vomiting and any family parties etc. as soon as anyone said they felt sick, I would run. I don't want to see it, hear it, smell it. It affected my life and places I would go, films I would watch.

I carried on like that until I had a baby (wouldn't be around them before in case they vomited) and obviously she was sick on me all the time and we caught 1000 sickness bugs and I kind of got used to it. I was never ok around someone who was sick but I could accept it. Now she is older and there is less vomit in my life, it's coming back but I hope to never again be at the level I was before.

Well I feel like I’ve jinxed myself a little somehow! DS has just said he feels sick. I am quite panicking inside but I am trying to stay calm because the more I panic the worse I’m going to feel obviously. Hopefully he’s ok but if not I’m going to try my absolute best to remain calm and make it not seem like the end of the world as it normally does. Maybe if I can change my way of thinking, tonight won’t be too bad (if anything happens)

How did you get on @cocoapple? I hope he wasn’t sick. I keep telling myself that I can deal with it, I have before and I will again.

@OfDragonsDeep He was absolutely fine. I think he just ate too much. I got into bed and couldn’t drop off for ages for worrying so I put a film on and just focused on that until I fell asleep

@cocoapple in a way it’s nice to find people that are so similar to me! Whenever I reply to these type of threads I think ‘I’ve found my people’ but I’m sad that we all seem to be stuck in the same boat with this endless phobia. Glad your son was ok in the end. My dd will say her tummy hurts and then she’s totally fine. Exhausting!!

@OfDragonsDeep I totally agree - avoiding things just makes it worse, you have to make a conscious effort to say yes to things. I find this does chip away at the fear, and keeps it manageable. But doesn’t fully remove it. Still worth doing though. It’s hard not to berate yourself about this fear and I do have to remind myself that this is just my ‘thing’!

The darkness thing is interesting too - I wonder if this is evolutionary? I guess being sick is noisy and in the dark, that would have made us vulnerable to attack. Daytime is much easier to manage for me too!

@Nandosplease my fear is mostly around contagious bugs! I can cope better if someone is sick due to alcohol etc. It’s the infectious part that makes me feel terrified.

@Eyesopenwideawake it’s nice to think my mind is just trying to protect me. I’ve had other phobias (flying - I can now manage but never feel fully relaxed, at one point refused to fly for 6 years). I know it’s part of a bigger anxiety problem and I know it can/will latch onto other things than sick. After my last hypnosis I’ll be honest, I felt a bit weird/vulnerable that I had shared so much with basically a stranger, and it hadn’t even really helped. It’s left me feeling a bit weird about it but I might try it again one day.

Why oh why does sick feel manageable in the moment, but the fear comes back full force? For all the hours I have spent worrying about my DD being sick, I’ve always coped and think ‘it wasn’t so bad’ and then I’m back to worrying! Sometimes I catch myself just going over my ‘plan’ in my head - not necessarily in an anxious way, just repeating the steps I’ll take if I have to deal with sick. And then I’m like… what am I doing?! Why can’t I think of nicer things instead!

Sorry for the wall of text!

What happened with me was that I was suddenly sick while out with my family. I threw up by the side of the car in a public car park. I was surprised by myself, but I just dealt with it, it wasn't the end of the world, people around us didn't notice/care, and I moved on and got better.

I wouldn't say it's cured me as such, but it was like a weight was lifted to know that I can go through that and everything is literally fine almost immediately after.

@ManchesterLu im glad you found that your experience cured you! Some people find it makes them worse but I like hearing a positive story like yours. Long may you continue to be phobia free 😁

Hi all,

Sorry I know this an old chat but I can't believe how much I can relate to all of you . I honestly thought I must be the only person who feels this way.

I've had this phobia since I was 16 . I'm now 31 and have two young children .

I think about being sick every single day and it just over takes everything .

For those of you who had children that went to nursery etc how did you cope ?

My LG is 3 ... I personally wanted to hold off putting her into nursery until she was 4 but keep being told by family members it will be good for her and I'm sure it will but my God the anxiety I have already and she hasn't even started yet.

I am so so so scared of what's illness she may catch eg sick bugs etc and how we will all cope with this.

How do you cope ? I feel like I am just going to be riddled with anxiety even more when she starts and I don't know what to do .

I really don't want this phobia to affect her in anyway , I will be so cross with myself if she picks up my bad habits around it , but I guess I just want to know how often your children got sick when at nursery etc ? What can I expect? Xx

Hi @Beautybake5 sorry to hear you're in this rubbish little club!

I was exactly the same when my DD started pre-school at 2. The first week she started I was literally on the edge of my seat thinking she was about to be sick any moment! Somehow we've got to her (school) nursery year, she's now 3.5 and so far it has been ok. She's had a couple of sick incidents but not bug related, she has been sick a couple of times when she's had a temperature. But it's really not that often. What gets me is that I just don't KNOW FOR SURE when it will happen!

Some posters on here say they will only get the contagious sickness bugs once or twice in primary school. Others will say it's every year. I think it is different for everyone and depends on so many things.

I think, like with any fear, you just have to push through it. It kind of gets a bit easier when you start to realise that it is pretty rare throughout the year, and most nights will be ok. But I still struggle with the daily churn of thoughts wondering if today will be the day. I can function, I can get her to school, I can take risks with things, but it's the thoughts that are the problem. You might want to check out Anna Christie, I'm currently reading her e-book (although it was quite pricey on Kindle). It's very much based on the fact that anxiety is the problem here, not sick. I find it helps to remind myself of that, I'm working on separating the two things in my mind.

I could go on and on but I'll stop now, here if you want to chat :)

Ugghhhhh I'm in the club too and it sucks 😢 How do I get cbt? Is it worth talking to the GP about it? What helps?!

Thank you for the replies !

Have you caught anything off her as of yet ?

It's weird for me because if i know someone's sick due to a hangover I can cope ( just about ) but if I know it's potentially contagious I'm just a mess.

I just hate this fear so much. I know all phobias are horrible ... But this just takes over doesn't it.

Thank you for the book recommendation, I will definitely give that a go!

Yes get in contact with your Gp ..it may help . I've tried CBT 4 times now 😩 .. One therapist I had really did help me to look at things differently and to remind myself that when we are sick it's the body's way of protecting us, but the fear is always there and I just know when she starts I'm going to crumble.

My DD is also very very clingy and shy so I'm so worried how she will be without me .

Urgh ,hate being an adult!

I'm the same. I hate it so much!!
I actually had hypnosis for it 13 years ago when I was pregnant with our first child, I was sceptical (she commented on this!) and I'm not exaggerating when I say it was totally life changing! I realised just how much it had affected my life (even more than I thought) and was incredibly liberating.

It got me through many tough times with the kids being sick (though we have been lucky and they haven't been sick often certainly not every year)
But now it has crept back in a bit, and I've started to worry a lot again. Maybe I need a top up session... but just to say I would massively recommend it if you can find someone good.

Any emetophobes about ?

my son was violently ill Saturday night , I was just starting to relax that 48 hours had passed and it might be food rather than bug related but then my daughter has had it during the night.

i hate this , so much i can’t bear the fear that it will be me next.

my kids are 24, 21 and 16 and ive had this since oldest was a baby

@ettiespaghetti bless you, we all remember that fear. To be honest, I don't understand people who don't have it! Wash everything but mostly hands and just spray anti-bacterial into the air 😂😂😂

Best of luck!

Thank you , son’s girlfriend has now started - this is horrendous !