Help please-Phobia

[Chookdee]

Hello. I am new to this forum and thought I'd post, after having read some posts with lovely responses.
I am a 36 year old, 13 wk pregnant with 2nd child, and I am seeking help with a phobia I have had since childhood. It is ruining my life on many levels, and Im questioning my ability to be a good mum, to the point where i am starting a slow road back to depression ( major depression 9 years ago, but no symptoms for years ).
I have a fear of vomitting-me or anyone else. I have to be as far away as poss if someone is sick, my heart rate jumps, I faint, I feel terribly frightened and  I have a terrible feeling of fear for days.
I have a doctors appt next Monday, but just wondering what to expect...can this be cured??  Will counselling help? hypnotherapy? The fear is effecting every day of my life.
Sorry for the long post! Any responses will be greatly appreaciated.

[Chookdee]

Thank you both so much for responding. Cant believe there's others out there with the same issues....gosh...there are some really goood points and i am looking forward to atleast trying to discover what this is about and searching a cure, which by the sounds of it, is not going to be so straightforward!!
Thank you again.
xxx

[MrGreen]

There is no miracle cure for this one. To me it is the third eating disorder and should be treated as such. Because at some point most emetaphobics stop eating. The logic been that an empty stomach will mean nothing to throw up. I done exactly that. Lost a lot of weight. Enough to worry people and land me in hospital. So to get help would be a great thing for you. But that to me is the main problem. They don't know how to treat it as of yet. Most don't even know the word ' emetaphobia '. So they just treat it like normal anxiety.

It would help to find out why you have your fear? Where it all began? Those would be the kind of things a therapist would be trying to discover. Then they would set out some logic before you. How often would a person throw up on average? Once a day? I doubt that. Once a month? Maybe if they were prone to catching things. Once a year? Just another maybe. Some emetaphobics haven't thrown up in years. It is just the whole fear. That was how I got back eating again. Along with my little friend called stemitil. The tablet to stop you puking if you ever were.

You have one kid and another on the way. That can't be easy because kids throw up. I think they pick up things a lot more. Having to deal with that must be very hard. The new born is not so bad. It doesn't seem the same as an older kid throwing up. When the milk comes back up. Even I can put up with that. And I am a wuss about this sort of stuff.

Can it be cured? The cure is within your own mind. Just to take each day as it comes and don't think ahead of yourself. We do that we make things worse. One step at a time. That's all anybody can ask of you. That's all you need take.

[Brian0357]

I have the same thing. The only thing that has helped me is to talk to someone about it. Realize that what can you REALLY do about it? Eat well and try and stay healthy but other than that you just cannot stress about things that are beyond your control. Trust me I know that it isnt as easy as it sounds but you just cannot let something like that control your life. If I hear or think about it sometimes I get this horrid wave of nauesa that goes through me. I know it isnt pleasnt but just try not to let it get to you because honestly its beyond our control.