Emetophobia (Fear of Vomiting) advice.

[arizonagirl1986]

no one is posting no new advice no one has any new storys

[Jonathan Mead]

My wife had this problem for a long time. It was related to a bad experience she had a child where she almost choked and ended up vomiting. The only thing that got her over the emotional trauma and fear was eventually vomitting again and realizing that it was her fear of choking that caused her fear of vomitting.

I hope the best for you, living in fear like that is a terrible thing.

[arizonagirl1986]

does anyone have any new advice

[MintChocolate]

Hi:

I just found this thread. I was listening to the CD "Relieve Anxiety with Medical Hypnosis" by Steven Gurgevich, and he mentioned the condition so I Googled it. I had no idea there was a name for it or that it was common.

I've suffered from emetophobia almost all my life. I didn't have it when I was very young because I remember (very well) having the stomach flu when I was preschool age. I threw up all night to the point where my mother slept on the floor beside me next to the bathroom. I remember feeling better the next day and happily eating breakfast (no way could I do that now) as my mom talked about washing my vomit-covered bedsheets in the middle of the night and wondering if the washing machine disturbed the neighbors.

I vomited a couple more times until I was in the first grade (both times chocolate milk at night) and then didn't throw up again for 26 years! It makes so much sense that people that suffer from this do not vomit for long stretches of time. It's as if the fear stops whatever it is that triggers vomiting as I can't believe I could have gone that long otherwise. I'd usually gag but nothing would come up. I'd often rush outside if I felt sick. For some reason I liked being outside when I felt nauseous. I think it's because I could just throw up anywhere and I wouldn't have to go to a specific spot. Fortunately my fear didn't keep me from going to school, working, and traveling (though I don't do the latter very much anyway).

Unfortunately, it's affecting me more recently then in the past. I got strep throat February of last year and took medicine that eventually made me feel sick. I took some Tylenol because I was in so much pain and began feeling even more nauseous and mostly scared. It was more a feeling in my throat area than my stomach. I started gagging. Finally oatmeal I had eaten three hours earlier came up, I spit it out and that was it. At first it didn't seem so bad. For the first time vomiting in 26 years, it went very smoothly. I just calmly walked to the toilet and the apple cinnamon oatmeal actually wasn't all that unpleasant coming up. I thought I got off easy.

Well, the gagging continued even after I got over the strep. I developed a fear of gagging as well as vomiting to the point where I'd stop eating if I felt nervous for days at a time. It was very difficult to start eating again. I also get very nervous taking any type of medicine (even over-the-counter stuff).
I never had a fear of medicine before but now I usually can't finish a prescription because it would put me through too much stress and anxiety even when I took several pills and knew it wouldn't hurt me. Sadly, throwing up didn't help me overcome the fear. It just gave me a fresher memory to enhance my anxieties.

When I go through a panic attack and feel like I am going to vomit, I get ice water and splash it on my face and stomach. My co-workers understand my problem, fortunately, so it's no big deal if it happens at work. Gum and mint chocolate hard candy sometimes helps, too. Other times, I can't stand anything in my mouth. Usually attacks happen at night when I'm home, so I'll lay on the bed, loosen my clothes, splash ice water on myself sometimes to the point of shivering, and listen to an anxiety CD or read a Simpsons comic book. Sometimes it keeps me from getting enough sleep. Fortunately I haven't gagged or stopped eating for about nine months but the anxiety still plagues me. I only know how to cope with it not how to cure it. It's just comforting knowing I'm not alone.

[sheffy4]

I had what I guess you would call "mild" emetophobia for my entire childhood, until a couple years ago. Like many emetophobes, I hadn't thrown up for a long time, I think since I was in 3rd grade. I would only get scared of throwing up if I was actually feeling sick, but it did not control my life at all.
What I can tell you is that my phobia went away after I finally threw up after over 10 years. I think mostly I was scared because I couldn't remember what it was really like to throw up, and I was remembering it being a lot more horrible than it really was.
Maybe try and think of several ways you could "face your fear."
I know you probably won't like this suggestion, but maybe the next time you feel nauseous you should invite your body to vomit instead of holding back. I'm not saying gag yourself, but if you feel like you are going to be sick, just let yourself be sick. It might eliminate some of the fear of the action.
Or, since you fear being far away from home (and your safe place), maybe start to go on little road trips, either alone or with friends. Start with small trips away from home (maybe only a few hours) then upgrade to trips that last several days. Eventually you will see that even though you are not at home, you can still be safe.
Also, when you start having fear, maybe ask yourself, "What is the worst that can happen?" Maybe you could vomit in public and people would think you were a freak. Maybe you could vomit onsomebody. Well, George H.W. Bush vomited on the Japanese Prime Minister, and the world did not end. Sure, it was a terribly humiliating and disgusting moment for everybody, but life went on, and everybody came out just fine.

[bev]

Originally Posted by MintChocolate

Hi:

I just found this thread. I was listening to the CD "Relieve Anxiety with Medical Hypnosis" by Steven Gurgevich, and he mentioned the condition so I Googled it. I had no idea there was a name for it or that it was common.

I've suffered from emetophobia almost all my life. I didn't have it when I was very young because I remember (very well) having the stomach flu when I was preschool age. I threw up all night to the point where my mother slept on the floor beside me next to the bathroom. I remember feeling better the next day and happily eating breakfast (no way could I do that now) as my mom talked about washing my vomit-covered bedsheets in the middle of the night and wondering if the washing machine disturbed the neighbors.

I vomited a couple more times until I was in the first grade (both times chocolate milk at night) and then didn't throw up again for 26 years! It makes so much sense that people that suffer from this do not vomit for long stretches of time. It's as if the fear stops whatever it is that triggers vomiting as I can't believe I could have gone that long otherwise. I'd usually gag but nothing would come up. I'd often rush outside if I felt sick. For some reason I liked being outside when I felt nauseous. I think it's because I could just throw up anywhere and I wouldn't have to go to a specific spot. Fortunately my fear didn't keep me from going to school, working, and traveling (though I don't do the latter very much anyway).

Unfortunately, it's affecting me more recently then in the past. I got strep throat February of last year and took medicine that eventually made me feel sick. I took some Tylenol because I was in so much pain and began feeling even more nauseous and mostly scared. It was more a feeling in my throat area than my stomach. I started gagging. Finally oatmeal I had eaten three hours earlier came up, I spit it out and that was it. At first it didn't seem so bad. For the first time vomiting in 26 years, it went very smoothly. I just calmly walked to the toilet and the apple cinnamon oatmeal actually wasn't all that unpleasant coming up. I thought I got off easy.

Well, the gagging continued even after I got over the strep. I developed a fear of gagging as well as vomiting to the point where I'd stop eating if I felt nervous for days at a time. It was very difficult to start eating again. I also get very nervous taking any type of medicine (even over-the-counter stuff).
I never had a fear of medicine before but now I usually can't finish a prescription because it would put me through too much stress and anxiety even when I took several pills and knew it wouldn't hurt me. Sadly, throwing up didn't help me overcome the fear. It just gave me a fresher memory to enhance my anxieties.

When I go through a panic attack and feel like I am going to vomit, I get ice water and splash it on my face and stomach. My co-workers understand my problem, fortunately, so it's no big deal if it happens at work. Gum and mint chocolate hard candy sometimes helps, too. Other times, I can't stand anything in my mouth. Usually attacks happen at night when I'm home, so I'll lay on the bed, loosen my clothes, splash ice water on myself sometimes to the point of shivering, and listen to an anxiety CD or read a Simpsons comic book. Sometimes it keeps me from getting enough sleep. Fortunately I haven't gagged or stopped eating for about nine months but the anxiety still plagues me. I only know how to cope with it not how to cure it. It's just comforting knowing I'm not alone.

[ForeverBlack]

I thought I'd throw in my two cents here, because it might help a few people.

Well, for the last year, since I last threw up, I have had an irrational fear of vomiting. I was afraid of it beforehand, but it was after that experience that it got really bad. All I remember is feeling sick around 10:30 PM, passing it off as nothing, and going to bed. Then around 1 AM (I believe) I woke up with a start and ran into the hallway form my room, yelling for my mom (I am a mama's boy, that should explain that). I collapsed against the basement door and my dad came running. I stumbled back into my room and passed out on my floor. My mom got me back up and told me that I was throwing up. There was vomit in my nose so I couldn't breath until I blew it all out. My parents brought my mattress out to the living room and I slept on the floor, keeping a bucket at my side all night. I threw up, I think, three more times during the night and once more in the morning. Each time, it went [vomit, small pause for air, vomit]. I remember telling my mom (after the first conscious vomit) that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I tried a few times to poop after I was done throwing up (this will make sense later when you find out WHY I was throwing up in the first place), but it didn't seem to want to come out while I was on the toilet. I ended up having what my mom called "sneaker poopers" and kept having diarrhea in my pants.

I have been thinking about this a lot today. Last night, yesterday morning, and off-and-on today, I have been feeling nauseous (along with bad gas, a loss of appetite, and I've been waking up during the night for the last three nights for no obvious reason). I came to the conclusion that, afraid or not, vomiting is a normal part of life and I'll have to face it again eventually. So I've calmed down and just welcomed the nausea. Plus, I am wondering... experts say that emetophobia usually stems from a traumatic experience of vomiting, and usually indicates that the suffering person is not afraid of vomiting itself, but believe they are because they subconsciously connect vomiting to that traumatic experience.

So if the only memory I have of vomiting (other than normal childhood "one-vomits") can be connected to an abrupt, unexpected case that involved surprise, anxiety, stress, and even the fact that I passed out, then perhaps I am not so much afraid of vomiting as I am just connecting it to the bad things that happened to me last time, most of which could just be connected to the anxiety and panic I was experiencing that night.

So here is my advice to other emetophobes and myself. While you cannot just simply think your fear away, you can try to embrace it. For some, a phobie can be cured. For others, they must make an attempt to live with it. I am merely a 16 year old who has only had one case of the stomach flu (the experience earlier described, which I caught from my mother, passed onto my brother (my dad did not catch it, surprisingly!) and kept me home from school the following Monday (despite that fact that I was done with the vomiting/diarrhea by Sunday afternoon), and one case of mild food poisoning (which only made me nauseous, I didn't actually throw up, and I felt better by the next morning). I can't afford the prices people charge to 'cure a fear' (which, in my opinion, is outrageous. We should only pay if it ends up working).

While I myself know all too well that even hearing the word vomit, let alone experiencing it, can seem like the end of the world to an emetophobe, rest assured that you are not alone. Vomiting is a part of life. It happens, and everybody does it. And while I'm sure my ranting cannot force you to stop worrying, I hope it can help you get one step closer to conquering your fear. Now, let's do some math problems, shall we?

Unless suffering from a bigger problem, the average person will throw up no more than ten times in their lifetime (and this isn't counting personal vomit inducers like bulimia and being drunk, or the random things like being kicked in the stomach). So say you live to be 90. That means that your chances of throwing up in any given year is a slim 9%. Your chances of throwing up on any given day are 0.0246575% in a normal year and 0.0245901% in a leap year.

So yes, emetophobia is normal, but I believe the first step (and possibly only step for some people) to curing your emetophobia is realizing that vomiting happens, and while studies do show that emetophobes typically throw up less than others, they will still throw up in their lives. And the chances of it causing long term damage is about as slim as the yearly odds of vomiting. It is not the end of the world.

[haylish]

Hi, I am the opposite I'm scared of other people throwing up is anybody else here like this?