Fear of throwing up-Anixety

[popdodle]

Hello, I've been suffering with anxiety from the fear of throwing up ever since i can remember, and i had for about 2 years straight in 7th and 8th grade then they went away, never and worried about till now, im in 10th now and i finally did throw up and now i freak out every time i get a stomach pain, jkust wandering if theres any techniques or somewhere i can go to make this stop, ik i won't throw up since i just did a month ago but like my mind keeps thinking i will..idk i justt need help

[Sarab95]

Oh my goodness, the fear of vomiting i have is that bad. I constantly try and evaluate the tiniest sickness i have and think i am going to vomit. Every time especially if i am in public or at work i just think of utterly embarrassing myself by freaking out so much and vomiting everywhere. Everyone looking at me, having no where to hide, getting it in my hair, choking on it. Dry reaching is the worst possible feeling i could ever imagine... Feeling like your eyeballs are about to pop... Your stomach acid is gagging up your throat. Ugh i just cant handle it all. even hearing the noise i get a huge freight and run away. Even seeing toilets or something gross i just get a huge scared feeling and have to prevent myself from vomiting which leads to an anxiety attack. I am so terrified and avoid the fear. It is the worst feeling ever and i don't think anyone would be able to relate :''(

[Sarab95]

Oh my goodness, the fear of vomiting i have is that bad. I constantly try and evaluate the tiniest sickness i have and think i am going to vomit. Every time especially if i am in public or at work i just think of utterly embarrassing myself by freaking out so much and vomiting everywhere. Everyone looking at me, having no where to hide, getting it in my hair, choking on it. Dry reaching is the worst possible feeling i could ever imagine... Feeling like your eyeballs are about to pop... Your stomach acid is gagging up your throat. Ugh i just cant handle it all. even hearing the noise i get a huge freight and run away. Even seeing toilets or something gross i just get a huge scared feeling and have to prevent myself from vomiting which leads to an anxiety attack. I am so terrified and avoid the fear. It is the worst feeling ever and i don't think anyone would be able to relate :''(

[Nicabob]

I'm very young barely a teenager and I've had this problem since kindergarten it has improved I've gone to therapy started taking Certraline which sort of helped.  It got better in 3rd and 4th grade I felt perfectly fine.  But now I feel horrible again!  I've switched medicines I was on Certraline then Lexapro then Fluoxotine which I am trying to get off of now.  Last time my stupid Phychaiatrist took me off of Lexapro cold turkey!  I passed out a bunch of times and my ears would be plugged up.  I have passed out recently too.  Any suggestions?  I've gotten some bad habits along the way playing with my hair holding my breath and breathing hard.  HELP!

[CiaraMarie]

Ive suffered from emitophobia for about 11 years now and im only 17. i was close to dropping out of school loosing my part time job and the majority of my friends. i can't do anything. the only thing that helps me are white tic tacs. it might be weird but i swareee by them. i eat close to three packs a day and they're the only thing that can even come close to getting me to feel better. all mint helps me but the best help are white tic tacs. hopefully even if only one person trys them, maybe it might help and make it a little more easy to deal with.

[Alisonj29]

I have it as well, and have for as long as I can remember. My sister was a "puker" and she was very very loud. I recall sneaking into my parents room and sleeping at the foot of the bed when she was sick as it scared me so bad. I HATE this time of the year as the flu runs rampant. To make it worse I have three kids and two that are in school. GERM haven. I homeschooled my daughter for a year and nobody got sick that year!! Now with my son in junior kindergarten they catch everything and I am terrified to even send him. I too stop eating if anyone around me is sick or if I feel slightly off. Then I may have very bland food for three weeks or so. I can only remember being sick from a flu about 3 times in my life. and the other causes were labour and surgeries. I have no idea how to overcome it at all.

[lossy4]

i have the damn phobia also,  i  HATE it , seems like i  find myself sucking down emetral all the time. I have 2 little girls and whenever they get sick i turn into a basket-case. Although i can help them when they are sick. (hold there hair back, clean up mess, ect..) I freak out the hold time they have there sickness. I can't eat, fell sick myself,  worry im going to get it. You should get a-load of the way i act.
     Anyway i never really had the need to tell anyone about my struggles because  i never really had to deal with it. If someone was sick, i just took off and told them hope you feel better. But with my kids  i have to face it and i am not doing a very good job at it AT ALL!!!
     So i had to talk about it. I chose my father. I told him the hold story, although he didn't understand my fear and how it could be so crippling , he gave me the best advice he could give at the time. (which kinda sorta helps but far from a cure yet)
       He told me that since it is a phobia and phobia is fear. The only way to concur fear is to face it. ALOT!!!
        This means Eat  when people are sick, taking care of the sick,  keeping yourself calm when feeling sick and just act as normal as possible around the sick. All of which i have incredible trouble with.
      Somewhere along the line you just have  to ask yourself. is throwing up going to kill me? Highly unlikely then why is the fear so bad ?  and what exactly am i fearing? These are all questions i ask myself and as much as i love my kids im so scared of there germs.
        Lots of luck to anyone with the same problem  hope you all can find your sword and shield.   Fight this fear and  beat it    
    Verys best of luck to all

[MrGreen]

Valium is another one of their answers because it is a muscle relaxant. But valium can be a hard tablet. I have nothing against it. But if you take a high dose you can feel it kick in and feel the come down from it as well. I do take a very small amount daily. I was told to take about 10 times the amount I do take. I just didn't want to take it. Simple as that. I don't mind the low dose. I have it to take if needed. The doctor told me to take it three times a day. But I only break a 5mg tab in half and use 1 time a day. I am on enough other things as it is. See if you doctor knows what the name means. I found most hadn't a clue. You can let us all know.

[anxietyfighter]

I agree that it isn't treated as a real condition on its own. My doctors have been keen to label it as anorexia, however I will bring up 'emetaphobia' to them and see what they have to say. I was offered valium to help me calm down in the hope that it would let me eat, but because its addictive and makes me feel sleepy it isn't a long term solution. I think the only real solution is therapy and (agree again) whatever works best for you.

[MrGreen]

Emetaphobia is the word you are looking for. They treat it just like a part of anxiety. Which, in my opinion, is wrong. I see it as like another eating disorder at times. With the logic that an empty stomach can mean nothing to throw up. People, like myself, have gone so far as to stop eating because of emetaphobia. Lost a lot of weight as a result. Reached danger levels. Then found a good doctor. He was the first one that ever heard of the word ' emetaphobia '. All those before him had to ask me what it meant. So I do think although the condition has been around for ages, that doctors don't know what to do with it. So really it is like a condition that has not been recognised for what it can really do to people. And until that time comes they will simply continue to treat it as just another symptom of anxiety. I just think they should be treating it in a different kind of way. It is like they have no answers for it. I was put on stemitil for it. The med you take when you are sick. Stops you throwing up. If anything it works likes a safety blanket. If you don't get sick that often you can grip onto this fear. I can only recall 3 times in my entire life that I threw up. One was nasty. I was outdoors. Having pushed myself back out after a decade in the house. Way away from home. Nightmare come true. With any luck another decade or more will pass without anything happening like that again. Is there an answer? In the medical sense I don't think so. I think you have to find whatever you can, that will help you to survive, anyway you can. Whatever works best for you. As you can see it is a common condition amongst folks. Just do your best. And we are always here to talk with you.

[AO111]

I have a fear of throwing up too. (well sorta). Last year I threw up for the first time in my 28 years of life lol. I realized it wasn't so bad to throw up. Feeling sick still makes me nervous though.

[sthompson088]

I have had the same problem since I was in 8th grade...I'm 22 now and still struggle with it ALOT. When I feel sick I try breathing exercises, or I lay down with a cold cloth on my face. When I was in school I would ask to go to the sick room or somewhere to be by myself so no one else would see me acting crazy. By the time I started 12th grade, I stopped going to regular school and went on home bound. I haven't had a job since then and it's hard for me to do alot of things. Please please PLEASE, do not let yourself get to that point. I know that it is very hard bu tyou cant let it consume your life. Have fun with your friends and enjoy every day.
Good luck!!

[anxietyfighter]

I also have a fear of becoming sick. A few years ago I had food poisoning, and I became so anxious about having it again I stopped eating anything except toast. Obviously this wasn't a healthy way of dealing with it and I now have to tackle an eating disorder as well.

What helps me is keeping myself distracted when I eat. By not focusing on the food I don't become as anxious about it. Also when I begin to feel nauseous, I remind myself it is part of my anxiety, I'm not going to be sick and then I try to ignore it. You have to say that to yourself, very loudly in your head. It is a panic attack and they it will go away.

Also a good idea to talk to your doctor, mine suggested drinking ginger tea as its supposed to calm your stomach down.

Good luck.