Fear of Vomitting (Emetophobia)

[mightyjenny]

Hi all! I'm so happy I found this... I feel like I'm going crazy and knowing that others feel the same as I do makes me feel a little bit better ;)

My emet developed out of nowhere, for no reason, as far as I can tell anyway. I think this stomach flu season has been the worst I've ever seen, it seems every day that goes by I hear about someone different I know suffering from norovirus and I'm completely panicked. It has gotten to the point that I barely leave my house for fear of coming into contact with it. My b.f. and bro (who live with me on a part time basis) work out of town one week then are here one week. The week they are gone I feel so much better, the week they are here I'm freaking cause I feel like they're going to bring some nasty stomach virus to me. I'm driving them nuts telling them to wash their hands every half hour! I don't know what to do anymore and I can't seem to get this under control. My doc prescribed me Cipralex (SSRI) last month, I haven't started it though as one of the side effects is vomiting.... See? Crazy!

I feel like my whole life has come to a halt, I used to be a social butterfly, every weekend organizing parties and dinners etc... and now I'm lucky if I get out of my pyjamas. Deep down I know that even norovirus isn't all that horrible as I've had it before and I'm still alive today to talk about it, but I've just got this huge fear that it's going to hit me, without warning, and I'll be sick in a public place - oh god the horror! and what if diarrhea strikes then what do you do?

Have any of you tried Cipralex for this or any other SSRI? I just want my life back. I feel ridiculous yet can't stop.

Thanks !

Signed crazy jenny 

[julsisblue.49]

Hi, I'm new here, too.  I suffer from anxiety due to the fear of vomiting.  Have had this fear for most of my life.  The fact that yours has come on only recently is a plus for you, because you could possibly be cured.  You see, the longer you wait to deal with this properly, the longer it will take to rid yourself of it.  It's kinda like the cigarette smoking habit.  It's harder for a person who's been smoking for 25 years to quit then one who only began smoking a few months ago.  After the initial onset, the rest is really "learned behavior"  Our brains trick us into thinking that we must continue to fear this thing and that there's nothing we can do about it.  It is also referred to as a "strong hold". 

I know it sounds like I should be cured, right?  I'm 49 years old, have come to the place where I can function each day, and am able to live a pretty normal life.  For the most part, I do whatever I want and go anywhere and do almost anything.  But I am still not completely free of the phobia.

I do take medications daily and must make daily affirmations of faith, but for the most part, I guess I'm as cured as I can be right now.  But I still hold out hope that some day I'll be totally free of this "monster".
Would love to chat sometime if you'd like.
juls

[PAing]

omg! i never knew there was a name.
i have a really big fear of throwing up (especially in public)
i always fear the worst and always think im gonna throw up
so im constantly naseaus
wow, glad to know im not alone

[kermit]

Hi,
I also suffer from this, I can't believe there are other people out there like me! I feel exactly the same, I avoid so many things and I have tried so many things to help me but nothing has worked. I freak out when I hear about stomach bugs or food poisoning and I don't like going anywhere which is hard on my husband and on our marriage.

How does xanax help you?  I don't like taking meds cos of the side effects but do they have any nausea/vomiting side effects?

Great to hear from you and I'll post more info about myself later.

Cheers,
kermit

[retrogurl88]

My vomiting fear has skyrocketed over the last few weeks, ever since lots of people have gotten sick around me.  I work in a school, so I have seen the aftermath of a vomiting episode several times recently.  I even had a nasty episode myself about a month ago when I got sick with a terrible stomach flu.  Now everytime someone coughs, my heart explodes because I'm convinced that they are going to get sick in front of me. 

[kermit]

Hi Retrogurl,
What country are you in? I read your post and it made me very anx, sorry   when you say the aftermath of the episode, what do you mean? how did you cope when you got it? i am guessing that you would be hypervigilant about getting sick so it makes me wonder why you did?

a very anx kermit

[SaSa]

I am very afriad of vomit and vomitting. I think the main fear for me is that it's an action that I cannot control, and I hate not bieng in control of myself. As I mentioned in my introduction post, my fear of vomitting has only recently come on after having a horrendus stomach bug which saw me puke so much I passed out and I had to be admitted to hospital becuase I was dangerously dehydrated. I don't know if anyone here may of expirienced this, but whenever I find myself stressing out whether I'm going to be sick or if I have contracted to Norovirus, I start to feel naueous and get that awful tingling in the back of my throat.....has anyone else had this?

[retrogurl88]

kermit--

Hi Retrogurl,
What country are you in? I read your post and it made me very anx, sorry   when you say the aftermath of the episode, what do you mean? how did you cope when you got it? i am guessing that you would be hypervigilant about getting sick so it makes me wonder why you did?

a very anx kermit

Sorry I didn't respond to you right away, I haven't been on here recently.

Anyway, I live in the U.S.  I apologize for making you anxious.   The aftermath I was referring to was a nasty stomach flu I had back in March.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do to stop from throwing up at the time, because my body was ill.  I forgot to note that I work in a school, so I get sick quite often.

~RG88

[Leah4]

I have this fear very bad.  It is more seeing vomit than vomitting myself but it is so bad that my heart is racing really fast right now just typing the words vomit.  It is such a terrible fear and I really want to get over it.