throwing up anxiety please help me?

Everyday for the last 7 months, ive had really bad panic attacks for throwing up...even though ive never thrown up from my anxiety i still freak out an have to stay near a place where i feel noone will see or know... its starting to control my life from school to work. im only 17 i dont want to keep living like this:(

[sprout690]

You are not alone.  Has something changed that has caused your anxiety to increase?  Sometimes it can be something you are not even "stressed" about, but simply a change.  I know that you probably don't want to hear this, but sometimes it's better to go on a medication-even for a brief amount of time...just until you can figure out exactly what is causing you such awful attacks.  I am taking 10mg of Lexapro and it has significantly changed my life...I still feel like me, I still struggle with anxiety, but I can function now.  I don't vomit and I am moving forward.  I would go see your doctor-more people are on anti-anxiety/depression meds than you know!  Good luck

[AO111]

So is it a fear of throwing up or anxiety so bad it makes you throw up? A fear of throwing up is called emetophopia. I've had/have emetophobia. I'm afraid of being in situations where I may or someone else may throw up. I'm 29 and I've only thrown up twice in my life. Both were recently due to heavy drinking. While it really wasn't a big deal to throw up I find I'm still afraid of it. If I feel like I may throw up I freak out. It's not a nice feeling at all.

[MrGreen]

I made this post last night on the agoraphobic forum to a girl who had the exact same fears. I am just going to copy and paste what I wrote to her. Is a long post. But it may help in some small way.

Emetaphobia. That is the word you are looking for. I suffer from it too. I go long spells without eating. The logic in my mind is no food = nothing to throw up. Bad logic to have as it has done nothing but made me under weight. The thing about the condition is that hardly anybody has heard of it. Thus meaning they don't know how to treat it. To me it is like an eating disorder. It sure stopped me eating for a while. So until they use the same approach as they do with eating disorders I can't see there being much progress in the area of treating an emetaphobic. My doctor put me on something called stemitel. It is normally giving out when you have a virus and are throwing up. I guess it acts a bit like a safety blanket for me. Just to know I have taken the tablet eases my mind a lot. I do eat. Not as much as I should. For the exact same fears you have. Throwing up. So it is not a dumb thing. Loads of people suffer from it. Doctors tend to just treat it as part of anxiety. Not as a condition all of its own. Which to me it is. So I have never really gotten any real answers to the problem. I just plug away. Take it day by day. Do the best that I can. Eat what I can. There was even times I ate baby food. Solids. They are healthy. So they had all the vitamins in there too. It was one way of keeping me eating. If you stop eating solids it can be a long road back. I have approached many a person about the condition, only to hear ' what is that, I have never heard of it '. Common answer to emetaphobia. So we are left to deal with it ourselves. Just a case of finding an approach that will work for you. Even if that means nibbling at foods. Rusks and the likes. Sounds daft. Baby foods. But they are lighter. They will keep you going. Until you see that it is safe to eat. Which isn't easy. I still struggle with it big time. I was even put on medication that normally has weight gain as a side effect. I said it would do nothing because the problem is in my head. You can want to eat. But your mind tells you not to. No doubt I gained no weight on the medication. Probably the only person to even lose weight on the medication. ( LOL ) I do drink water. A lot of it. Liquids are needed by the body. You just have to try and inch your way back in there. My suggestion for food would be baby food. Just to get something into your body. Worth mentioning that I did end up in hospital as a result of not eating. I lost that much weight. It was danger levels. I slowly just began to eat again. But like I said earlier, I still don't eat that much. Still share your fear. So don't be afraid to share anything you want on the forum. You at least know you have somebody else with the exact same condition. I am always here.

[urdacrazy1]

I use to have that fear too. In fact I still do. The only difference is that I'm not constantly thinking about it anymore. I just freaks me out a little when I'm not feeling well. But there was a point in my life when I would obsess about it so much I wouldnt eat either. same logic no food, nothing to throw up. I thought about it so much I was ALWAYS nausous. I dont know how I actually got over it but I did.
Now my 10 year old daughter is like that. Even if she's not the one who is sick or throwing up. If she she sees someone throwing up or is in earshot of hearing it she FREAKS out!! i dont know what to do about that. Any suggestions?

[AO111]

I can see how it's almost like an eating disorder. When my anxiety is very bad and I have stomach distress from it then I pretty much stop eating because I'm afraid if I eat I will puke. I hardly ate anything last week and this week I can eat a little bit but it doesn't take much to get me full and when I start to feel full well I stop eating for fear I will get too full and puke.