Emetophobia - any fellow sufferers? What do you do to cope?

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Ok guys I’m panicking and need some help.

So remember I said Thursday my dad was sick and mum told me it was something he ate? Well he was much better and back to 100% normal. So I went round there last night as planned with my toddler and my mum was cuddling us both etc. I stayed the night but at 5am my mum came down with the bug and was being sick and having upset tummy.

I’m so angry. Clearly it was a bug my dad got. And now she’s got it. And I was sleeping in the house!!

I didn’t use the bathroom she was using, and I left the house with my son at 7.30am this morning and didn’t even go in and say goodbye I just wanted to get out.

I can’t even express how terrified I am right now. I’ve decided not to eat anything all day today but what do I do with my toddler gets it? How do you even deal with a toddler who’s got a bug? What if I get it! His level of hygiene is typical child and his fingers are always in his mouth at the moment.

Do you think my mum wasn’t contagious until she started being sick?

Sorry, but I’m so scared. I keep thinking I’ve got tummy pains
 
swimming said:
Ok guys I’m panicking and need some help.

So remember I said Thursday my dad was sick and mum told me it was something he ate? Well he was much better and back to 100% normal. So I went round there last night as planned with my toddler and my mum was cuddling us both etc. I stayed the night but at 5am my mum came down with the bug and was being sick and having upset tummy.

I’m so angry. Clearly it was a bug my dad got. And now she’s got it. And I was sleeping in the house!!

I didn’t use the bathroom she was using, and I left the house with my son at 7.30am this morning and didn’t even go in and say goodbye I just wanted to get out.

I can’t even express how terrified I am right now. I’ve decided not to eat anything all day today but what do I do with my toddler gets it? How do you even deal with a toddler who’s got a bug? What if I get it! His level of hygiene is typical child and his fingers are always in his mouth at the moment.

Do you think my mum wasn’t contagious until she started being sick?

Sorry, but I’m so scared. I keep thinking I’ve got tummy pains
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It’s terrifying isn’t it when you spend time with someone and then you find out they have or had a bug, I think it’s if you come into contact with their vomit, or if they breathe on you after they’re sick they can pass those particles on but I’m not 100% sure on when they become contagious,

I don’t have children and this is one of my biggest fears when having kids so I can’t imagine how stressed you are,
I would drink ginger tea and plenty of ice cold water to stay hydrated

I’m so sorry you’re going through this x
 
I can’t even begin to describe how scared I am right now. I am shaking. And I keep checking my toddlers nappy in case he’s had an upset stomach.

I don’t even know what to do if he throws up. I’ve got towels in the cupboard I’ll just put a few layers out.

This is stupid and completely time consuming. My hands are trembling I’m convinced it’s all about to go wrong and I don’t know what to do.

Hoping someone will read here who’s gone through this and give me some advice x



abovetheclouds said:
It’s terrifying isn’t it when you spend time with someone and then you find out they have or had a bug, I think it’s if you come into contact with their vomit, or if they breathe on you after they’re sick they can pass those particles on but I’m not 100% sure on when they become contagious,

I don’t have children and this is one of my biggest fears when having kids so I can’t imagine how stressed you are,
I would drink ginger tea and plenty of ice cold water to stay hydrated

I’m so sorry you’re going through this x
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swimming said:
I can’t even begin to describe how scared I am right now. I am shaking. And I keep checking my toddlers nappy in case he’s had an upset stomach.

I don’t even know what to do if he throws up. I’ve got towels in the cupboard I’ll just put a few layers out.

This is stupid and completely time consuming. My hands are trembling I’m convinced it’s all about to go wrong and I don’t know what to do.

Hoping someone will read here who’s gone through this and give me some advice x
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Ok, no idea if this will help you, but a counsellor once helped me put this all in context and I've found it useful since.

1. If you or toddler do get sick, you get sick. It's completely normal and better to get the bug out then keep it in.
2. Being prepared if you start to feel sick is fine, e.g a basin or some towels. Clean up wise, don't be afraid to chuck things straight in the bin if they become soiled if you can afford to replace them.
3. If you and toddler aren't feeling sick, try to distract yourself with anything you find comforting. Breathing exercises can be useful. I appreciate that telling you to try to relax is completely futile.
4. Do you know the root cause of your phobia? Mine is related to early childhood, control issues and some sensory issues I have. My counsellor went through some of the childhood stuff with me and assured adult me that it wasn't my fault. She also asked me what would happen if I was sick and what exactly I was worried about, and the same if someone else was sick. That really helped rationalise it for me. When I had sickness after the counselling, I could appreciate that I could actually feel better after bring sick and any unpleasantness would be short lived.

Much love to you, I know these months are really hard when you have emetopobia in full swing.
 
swimming said:
I can’t even begin to describe how scared I am right now. I am shaking. And I keep checking my toddlers nappy in case he’s had an upset stomach.

I don’t even know what to do if he throws up. I’ve got towels in the cupboard I’ll just put a few layers out.

This is stupid and completely time consuming. My hands are trembling I’m convinced it’s all about to go wrong and I don’t know what to do.

Hoping someone will read here who’s gone through this and give me some advice x
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With sickness bugs you’re only likely to catch them if you ingest vomit/poo particles, so if neither you or your son were close to your mum once she’d started being sick or used the bathroom she was in, it’s extremely unlikely that either of you will catch her bug.

I definitely think this is true from my own experience. When I was a kid, I would avoid family members like the plague if they had a sickness bug and would also wash my hands loads to prevent any ‘transfer’ of infection and I never caught any sickness bugs.

Hopefully this might put your mind at ease a bit x
 
Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to reply.

I’ve had a big old cry this evening putting my son to bed because I’m just so scared. If it was just me on my own here I wouldn’t be as scared but because he’s here and toddlers are very unpredictable aren’t they. I mean he touches everything and and fingers in mouth of course they all do, but because I cannot control what he is doing it’s making me worse.

I keep thinking I’m getting it too because my tummy feels funny but it’s likely just nerves.

And I guess when I think about something that happened 7 years ago…. I was sleeping in the same bed as my (then) boyfriend and in the night he came down with a bug and I didn’t catch it. I went home to my own house as soon as he started.

This is just tit isn’t it. I’m scared also because my parents are unwell so I can’t just phone them up and ask them to come round. I don’t have many friends in the area, and the ones I do all have kids.
 
I hope you are okay swimming!

My little one was sick tonight. I truly thought I'd got over my phobia after being sick every day for 4 months going through chemo but oh no. Here I am not wanting to parent my little one out of fear of him being sick near me 😭
 
I get that 100%.

I am sitting here just watching my little one asleep on the baby monitor with the volume up cos I’m so scared he’s going to be unwell

I hope your child is okay? I know what you mean about not wanting to parent. I’m on my own here and earlier I just wanted to grab my car keys and run away.

YellowMellow14 said:
I hope you are okay swimming!

My little one was sick tonight. I truly thought I'd got over my phobia after being sick every day for 4 months going through chemo but oh no. Here I am not wanting to parent my little one out of fear of him being sick near me 😭
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@swimming I've only just seen your comments about your situation. I totally understand the level of fear you were dealing with. I really hope you and your little one are ok. Perhaps it might be worth trying to talk this through with your doctor? They may be able to refer you for some CBT or something. This is such a horrible fear to live with isn't it, but you don't have to deal with it alone. There is help out there and maybe your doctor can point you in the right direction xx
 
Guys, I'm on major panic alert as a mum at school was just telling me about the bug she and my daughter's friend have had. I was telling her it's my worst nightmare and that I'm on anxiety medication because of my fear but she just kept telling me. She told me some other kids that have had it so I'm sure it's just going to wipe through the school now. Quite frankly, I'm terrified.
 
PennyPop said:
Guys, I'm on major panic alert as a mum at school was just telling me about the bug she and my daughter's friend have had. I was telling her it's my worst nightmare and that I'm on anxiety medication because of my fear but she just kept telling me. She told me some other kids that have had it so I'm sure it's just going to wipe through the school now. Quite frankly, I'm terrified.
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I could tell you the same ,same here,Im feeling disheveled at the moment,and worrying allot,and helpless to it all x im trying to block it out,and pay attention to my children,and not let it take me over ,I hate it so much x
 
Penny for them said:
I could tell you the same ,same here,Im feeling disheveled at the moment,and worrying allot,and helpless to it all x im trying to block it out,and pay attention to my children,and not let it take me over ,I hate it so much x
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It's just the worst way to live isn't it. I was short with my daughter earlier and I regretted it instantly but I couldn't bring myself to cuddle her to say sorry. Isn't that awful??
 
PennyPop said:
It's just the worst way to live isn't it. I was short with my daughter earlier and I regretted it instantly but I couldn't bring myself to cuddle her to say sorry. Isn't that awful??
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It happens x I do it,when things settle I find I apologise,in my own time when I can mean it and I'm not reeling- You-we- will!! feel calmer times ahead xxx
 
My 14 year old daughter has this. Due to this she has safe foods and restricted diet. She checks the dates of foods constantly and checks everything is cooked through. Some words trigger her and cause her to have panic attacks. My uncle also had it and lost a lot of weight and became very restrictive with his diet also.
 
So I never thought I had this phobia but for the last I don't know 6 months or so I can't stop thinking about my kids being ill - being called when they're at school or sick at night time.

It's literally all I think about..
 
bookworm1210 said:
So I never thought I had this phobia but for the last I don't know 6 months or so I can't stop thinking about my kids being ill - being called when they're at school or sick at night time.

It's literally all I think about..
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It sounds like you're one of our gang lovely! Hope you're doing OK with it. Hopefully this thread can be somewhere you can find some support xx
 
PennyPop said:
It sounds like you're one of our gang lovely! Hope you're doing OK with it. Hopefully this thread can be somewhere you can find some support xx
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yeah it does... 🙁 thank you. This time of year just fills me with dread and especially when I hear there are sickness bugs at school.
 
Hi everyone, I hope you don’t mind me joining!
My dad is currently ill with a sickness bug and the past two nights I’ve been woken up to the sound of him being ill. I used to have a real phobia of myself being sick, but now it is around other people and a fear of hearing/seeing them. I have been laying in bed covering my ears trying to block out the noise. I then can’t settle again in case I wake up and it is happening again.
I try to be realistic and ask myself what is it I’m so afraid of/what will happen, but I can’t give myself an answer. It is such an irrational fear.
I am so glad to have found this page and others who can relate! I’m at a point now where I’m considering staying in a hotel for a couple of nights until I’m certain it has passed 😬
 
happycamper123 said:
Hi everyone, I hope you don’t mind me joining!
My dad is currently ill with a sickness bug and the past two nights I’ve been woken up to the sound of him being ill. I used to have a real phobia of myself being sick, but now it is around other people and a fear of hearing/seeing them. I have been laying in bed covering my ears trying to block out the noise. I then can’t settle again in case I wake up and it is happening again.
I try to be realistic and ask myself what is it I’m so afraid of/what will happen, but I can’t give myself an answer. It is such an irrational fear.
I am so glad to have found this page and others who can relate! I’m at a point now where I’m considering staying in a hotel for a couple of nights until I’m certain it has passed 😬
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Ah man I am in fear of this x I can only say,if you have any white noise /fan/ white noise can be located on your phone -play that in your bedroom-also ear plugs -so you have to hand things to help you sleep x I hope your dad is ok.
 
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