Emetophobia help

[JKDcot]

Hello

My 1 year old son has picked up a tummy bug and has had diarrhoea for a week now. We’ve been managing it as much as possible and keeping his fluids up. He doesn’t have a temperature and is well in himself.

My husband today has come down with it and is in bed feeling sick. I’m dreading it hitting me as I have severe emetophobia. I always knew this would happen with a small child. But any advice please? How will I cope?

Thanks

I’m an emetophobe and have not caught a single tummy bug in the 7 years I have been a parent (jinxed it now though). Once I thought it was inevitable: the time I was directly vomited on, but I went straight in the shower at 3am. DH didn’t and he succumbed.

I think it’s possible to at least minimise the chance of catching it with very fastidious hygiene and laundry protocols in place for tummy bugs. I am the one who holds them while they are sick, who sleeps next to them to catch the sick, and most of the time I’ve been fine…

It’s awful worrying about it. I don’t want it to make me so scared but I hate feeling or being sick so much...

My DS is 5 and I’ve never picked up a sickness bug from him. Just be really fastidious about hand washing and you should hopefully be ok.

I know how you feel. My DD is 19m and she's not caught one yet. I'm dreading the first time she does. I'm better than I used to be, but still.
I get very panicky if I feel sick, and that's worse than the actual sickness itself. I try to remind myself of that alot. It does help.

I have this too! In order to catch a tummy bug you have to transfer particles from vomit or feces into your mouth. If you don't do that, you won't catch it. Just wash your hands before you eat and don't bite your nails - and try not to touch your face. You'll be fine. I've gone 13 years and only thrown up twice (on the same day, due to a migraine .. and it really wasn't the trauma I'd built it up to be 😂).

Emetophobe here as well! The particles need to enter your mouth for them to infect you so just make absolutely sure you do not touch your mouth afterwards. Unlike respiratory viruses (which everyone is more than familiar with now), tummy bugs can't infect you through the nose.

Scrub you hands thoroughly with hot water and soap after changing diapers. Throw sheets & clothing into a hot wash, get rubber gloves on and spray down all surfaces that might be contaminated. Replace everyone's toothbrushes and any open mugs/cups in the bathroom. No shared baths obviously.

If you want to be extra safe, avoid making cold foods or finger foods during the time someone has a tummy bug. Make sure all meals are piping hot and each person has their own plate/bowl to prevent cross contamination.

See a hypnotherapist, I am one and we have processes where we can help people overcome phobias. I have helped many with emetophobia, it doesn't take many sessions of hypnotherapy.

I've been through this and not sure how I got through the other side but honestly the dread feeling is 100% worse than the actually being sick part. Funnily enough I think actually catching a bug once was what set me on a better path of coping with it. The sickness wasn't as bad as what I put myself through all the time and after that I felt it easier to rationalise it after that.

I'm also emetaphobic. My 6 year old has had two stomach bugs and I've not caught them even though I had no choice but to do some of the clean up. I washed my hands, made her wash her hands and bleached toilets.

I have had a couple of unrelated stomach bugs in recent years (after not having one for over a decade). I survived the first one (6 hours of sickness overnight) but it wasn't nice with the anxiety. The second one was in the day so I called the GP (in a bit of a state!) and she got some anti-emetics put up at the nearest pharmacy immediately and a friend collected them and posted them through my letterbox. I took the maximum dose and it worked almost immediately. I now keep them in my medicine cabinet and knowing they are there calms me when I think someone in the house feels sick.

Hi @AegonT,

I know this post is a few weeks old but I just wondered which anti-emetic you were prescribed?

Hi. It was Stemetil.