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

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I suffered from emetophobia for 10+ years and it honestly ruled my life. I don't have children which I guess made it easier for me to 'control' but I still made my family and friends lives hell when I was around them. For me, it was part of my OCD which on a wider scale was a symptom of my chronic GAD. I was put on medication (Sertraline) and I found that it helped massively with my phobias. It's one of the few SSRI's that help specifically with intrusive thoughts and OCD. I'm not pushing medication as I know it's not for everyone, but the fact that I can enjoy food again, go on holiday, drink alcohol and actually be there for people who are sick themselves is huge. I really feel for anyone going through this as I know how scary it is, but if medication is possible for you, then I would definitely recommend xx
 
pimplepopper123 said:
I suffered from emetophobia for 10+ years and it honestly ruled my life. I don't have children which I guess made it easier for me to 'control' but I still made my family and friends lives hell when I was around them. For me, it was part of my OCD which on a wider scale was a symptom of my chronic GAD. I was put on medication (Sertraline) and I found that it helped massively with my phobias. It's one of the few SSRI's that help specifically with intrusive thoughts and OCD. I'm not pushing medication as I know it's not for everyone, but the fact that I can enjoy food again, go on holiday, drink alcohol and actually be there for people who are sick themselves is huge. I really feel for anyone going through this as I know how scary it is, but if medication is possible for you, then I would definitely recommend xx
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I wish I'd had that result with sertraline. I hoped it would stop the voices in my head and the thoughts but it didn't 😢 I just wish I could turn off the constant little voice that just pops up out of nowhere and gives me something to worry about.

I totally echo the other comments, this is a thoroughly consuming and exhausting phobia, and living with it is just the worst 😢
 
My son came out of school this morning with a consent letter that needed signing for me to agree to cleaning him up if he has a toilet accident OR SICKNESS.
Ffs. I didn’t even wanna read that. I wanna put my head in the sand that this could even happen at school.
 
Drea1984 said:
The childhood trigger thing is interesting isn’t it?
I would have been around 8? How old were you?
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around the same age, so altho i was scared of being/hearing siblings sick, at the time i got on with it and was sort of ok. the full phobia was when i had my first child, and then after i had my second i developed an eating disorder because i was worried about getting ill from certain foods, up until then i ate everything, now i want too, but darent! its been 21 yrs with the eating thing 😫 i am bored of the same foods and being scared of eating. my mum died not long after i seen her be sick a few times and this was the childhood trigger. i was 9/10 when she passed. im petrified of dying.
 
Here we go. Please someone put my mind at rest!

My 4 year old is going to be on the pathway for ADHD and constantly (I mean CONSTANTLY) is jumping or running or rough housing with my sofa cushions.

He was just doing this game where he plummets himself into my sofa head first and rolls about on his front. Followed by jumping and other lolloping.

I was just cooking dinner and he said “mummy look” and he had either hiccuped or burped up some sick on the floor. It was no more than a tablespoon size on the floor and some dribble down his t shirt.

Is this likely being he was rolling around and jumping about too much? I’ve made him sit down now with the iPad to keep him still for a while. He is absolutely fine in himself. But now I feel sick because I took his t shirt off him and cleaned the mess.

if it was proper sickness it would be more noticeable right? He’s never had a tummy bug before or anything.

I feel sick now!! Gods sake
 
swimming said:
Here we go. Please someone put my mind at rest!

My 4 year old is going to be on the pathway for ADHD and constantly (I mean CONSTANTLY) is jumping or running or rough housing with my sofa cushions.

He was just doing this game where he plummets himself into my sofa head first and rolls about on his front. Followed by jumping and other lolloping.

I was just cooking dinner and he said “mummy look” and he had either hiccuped or burped up some sick on the floor. It was no more than a tablespoon size on the floor and some dribble down his t shirt.

Is this likely being he was rolling around and jumping about too much? I’ve made him sit down now with the iPad to keep him still for a while. He is absolutely fine in himself. But now I feel sick because I took his t shirt off him and cleaned the mess.

if it was proper sickness it would be more noticeable right? He’s never had a tummy bug before or anything.

I feel sick now!! Gods sake
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If it was a tummy bug there would have been loads and he would have felt sick and poorly. Sounds like he's just regurgitated a bit of food from running about after eating
 
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InanimateObject said:
That absolutely sounds like a burp with a little extra. Especially if he's been running around. No need to worry (but I totally get why you would!)
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Thank you for replying. He is fine. Ate all his dinner, and then some strawberries and a yogurt.
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RachRN86 said:
If it was a tummy bug there would have been loads and he would have felt sick and poorly. Sounds like he's just regurgitated a bit of food from running about after eating
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Thank you x he is fine. I feel a little bit calmer now he’s in bed asleep and I’ve got a glass of wine
 
Just overheard one of my eldest's friends say her brother is off school with a sicky bug 😩 now there's a chain of children potentially leading back to us and the worry is setting in 😢
 
PennyPop said:
Just overheard one of my eldest's friends say her brother is off school with a sicky bug 😩 now there's a chain of children potentially leading back to us and the worry is setting in 😢
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And now my youngest says she has a tummy ache! God I hate this phobia with everyone inch of my being...😩
 
PennyPop said:
And now my youngest says she has a tummy ache! God I hate this phobia with everyone inch of my being...😩
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Hope you're both ok.

I've made the decision to trial home schooling. My daughter hates the school she's in and is utterly miserable and wants to be homeschooled and selfishly I would prefer her to be home schooled to minimise the bugs she's exposed to. This phobia sucks 😞
 
The tummy ache passed quickly thank goodness and I'm feeling better today. Still worried though as the kid in question is actually our neighbour!! And my daughter plays with his sister after school! My husband is away from tomorrow morning until Sunday and I am so scared, I really don't want to be on my own! 😭
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RachRN86 said:
Hope you're both ok.

I've made the decision to trial home schooling. My daughter hates the school she's in and is utterly miserable and wants to be homeschooled and selfishly I would prefer her to be home schooled to minimise the bugs she's exposed to. This phobia sucks 😞
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Good luck, it sounds like it's a good idea to home school for you guys. I couldn't home school, I just don't have the patience! 🤭
 
I’m really scared right now. My little boys school has informed parents that 3 kids in his class had diarrhoea this morning. No vomiting.

What could that be? Is there such thing as a diarrhoea bug? I thought kids usually vomit first and then the diarrhoea comes after?

naturally now I’m like a sitting duck. I’ve got spare towels out my cupboard, and I’m only giving him bland foods and I won’t eat at all for the rest of the day.

I’m literally shaking. Every move he makes I’m saying “are you ok? You ok? What’s wrong!” But he seems ok at the moment.

I hate hate hate this I’m fully alone lone parent and I know I will go into fight or flight but no one gets this phobia. My friend just told me to grow up.
 
swimming said:
I’m really scared right now. My little boys school has informed parents that 3 kids in his class had diarrhoea this morning. No vomiting.

What could that be? Is there such thing as a diarrhoea bug? I thought kids usually vomit first and then the diarrhoea comes after?

naturally now I’m like a sitting duck. I’ve got spare towels out my cupboard, and I’m only giving him bland foods and I won’t eat at all for the rest of the day.

I’m literally shaking. Every move he makes I’m saying “are you ok? You ok? What’s wrong!” But he seems ok at the moment.

I hate hate hate this I’m fully alone lone parent and I know I will go into fight or flight but no one gets this phobia. My friend just told me to grow up.
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Oh gosh, I'm not sure about this one. I totally sympathise with all that you've said though, I am the exact same. I'm looking at ways to fight the fight/flight response which so far looks like it's breathing techniques...apparently the physiological sigh is a good one for getting back in control - basically, you take 2 short breaths in through the nose and breathe out through the mouth for a long breath. If you type it into YouTube you'll see videos about it. There's lots online about the vagus nerve too, apparently stimulating that can have a positive effect on anxiety. Maybe a few things worth having a read about to see if they can help?

My neighbour now has the bug and my daughter is outside playing with her daughter at this very moment 😫 I'm so scared that's it's only a matter of time. We're going out tonight and I'm so worried that I'll be coming out of the event to a message saying someone at home is ill.

I think I'm going to have to go back to my doctor because I just deal with the constant, intrusive voices in my head, but I don't think there's anything else I can try...
 
Glad all is ok. We should all take comfort from the fact that every time one of us has panicked on this thread everything has actually been fine!
 
Pleased to hear you're ok @swimming, hopefully you get some sleep now.
Yes @RachRN86, that's a good point! I hadn't thought of that!

I was talking to my sister this weekend about what the struggles with this phobia are like and she's recommended trying CBD oil. I'd never thought about it before but she was telling me how people swear by it for anxiety. I'm definitely going to read up about it and see which one is the best to try. I'm also looking into doing some mindfulness stuff too, I'm basically trying anything anyone suggests! But maybe CBD oil could help some of you guys too xx
 
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