Emetophobia (fear of vomiting) Support

[lukenick1]

Just checking in to say I am still in anxiety mode. My ds8 is finally better, but my ds11 started throwing up on MOnday after school. I was home with the kids and was forced to deal with it on my own. As soon as he started to wretch in his room I ran so fast out of there and into my room. Was screaming to him to hurry and run to the bathroom. He got most of it in the toilet but did get some on the rim and on his carpet. I was frozen in fear and couldn't be there for him. After he took his second shower (threw up again in between showers) i was able to go in the bathroom wearing a mask and gloves and cleaned really good with bleach and lysol. Thankfully he didn't throw up anymore. I stayed on the couch downstairs all night and tried to fall asleep. My anxiety was so severe my heart was pounding out of my chest. I am sooooo worried I am going to be next. I can't even think about eating and if I do I am petrified to touch my food with my bare hands. I even ate a sandwich yesterday with a fork and knife. I made the sandwich with a pair of tongs. I am losing my mind over this phobia. This is so exhausting! I am trying to be so careful but what if it's unavoidable

[TaraPA]

I know the anxiety all too well. The sleepless nights too. The constant worry that it's going to happen....it's going to happen...

I don't know how to make it better for you, but I know how you feel. I leave for WDW on Sunday for a girls trip & I'm sooooo anxious that one of the kids will be sick while I'm gone. Isn't that nuts - I'm not even here to have to deal with it, it's the worry over it happening while I'm away that's making me nuts.

All I can say is hang in there, this too shall pass.

[acejka]

Originally Posted by lukenick1

Just checking in to say I am still in anxiety mode. My ds8 is finally better, but my ds11 started throwing up on MOnday after school. I was home with the kids and was forced to deal with it on my own. As soon as he started to wretch in his room I ran so fast out of there and into my room. Was screaming to him to hurry and run to the bathroom. He got most of it in the toilet but did get some on the rim and on his carpet. I was frozen in fear and couldn't be there for him. After he took his second shower (threw up again in between showers) i was able to go in the bathroom wearing a mask and gloves and cleaned really good with bleach and lysol. Thankfully he didn't throw up anymore. I stayed on the couch downstairs all night and tried to fall asleep. My anxiety was so severe my heart was pounding out of my chest. I am sooooo worried I am going to be next. I can't even think about eating and if I do I am petrified to touch my food with my bare hands. I even ate a sandwich yesterday with a fork and knife. I made the sandwich with a pair of tongs. I am losing my mind over this phobia. This is so exhausting! I am trying to be so careful but what if it's unavoidable

I was just thinking about you this afternoon, I was wondering how things were going. Sorry to hear it's moving through the kids. Hopefully you be able to avoid it, or as they say emetophobs usually get it from the bottom end only.

[BabyMo]

Originally Posted by acejka

Hey Everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well. And I'm sorry to read about the stress everyone is having with it being winter and noro going around so bad. My grandma is just learning about what it is and she keeps telling me about every news story that comes on tv about noro shutting down an establishment in her area. It's making me nervous to travel up to VA for my baby shower in 3 weeks.

I'm also starting to stress out about the baby coming and then turning into a toddler and young child which means I will have to deal with real vomit and not just baby spit up. I've already ruled out sleepovers at our house, it's totally not happening, I don't care how much this little girl begs not at my house! Ugghhh. Good thing I have a long time before those days come.

I think once the baby is here and we get settled into our new house and things settle down in life I might see a counselor about this. I can't keep living like this, even though I am functioning. I want to be able to help my daughter and not be afraid of her if she is sick. I want to not worry all day long if I've picked up a germ. Maybe I will grow out this once she gets here. I know I've come around leaps and bounds since having to deal with my dogs throwing up.

YMMV, but my kids rarely v*. I don't know if the twins have ever, and my ODD has only v* 4 times in 5 years. One of those times was because she got into the peanut butter and ate too much, so it wasn't even a bug.

Thank you to everyone who welcomed me. I seem to be feeling better about norovirus. If I see a thread on another board about a family that has it, I can post support and advice (Gatroade, BRAT food) without getting nervous.

But then my daughter said that her belly hurt last night, and I was a nervous wreck for about an hour.

I've been feeling a lot of anxiety lately. I've been having nausea and exhaustion symptoms every morning (not pregnant), and it's gotten to the point where I don't want to go out. We had a school appointment on Monday, and I felt nauseous during the appt, and that made me nervous and anxious. All of a sudden, the nausea passed.

I am feeling very nervous and anxious about our WDW trip. I really just don't want to go. I don't want to get caught in the park with a nausea spell.

I have been to the doctor, and all my levels are normal. I am going back soon to go over a food diary and talk about some anti-anxiety medication. Living like this is no fun!

[TaraPA]

Just checking in to say hi & see how everyone is doing!

I'm between trips. Some of you would have freaked - my friend that I shared a room with got a stomach bug & was throwing up for about 4 hours during the night! It didn't bother me, as long as I didn't have to deal with it! I slept through most of it. I was EXTREMELY careful getting ready the next day in that bathroom though, I must have washed my hands a million times. I wiped everything down with my hand sanitizer & tissues. I was up & out of that room faster than any other day! (By the way, she said the Poly was the nicest room she ever had to be sick in!) I saw no other sick episodes in any of the parks. My kids were not sick here at home either but I still had anxiety about it while there every single day. I did have my sick radar up though in the parks, I'm always listening & scanning (nuts, I know.) I did have a kid in a line behind me holding his stomach & crying that his tummy hurt. I was out of that line in a hot second!

Next trip is next week, and my anxiety over that is what if one of the kids gets sick the night before we fly, or worse yet - on the plane? Or on a ride or Disney bus? We're all split up - I booked airfare just last month & there weren't 3 seats together. I will a nervous wreck the entire flight. Thank goodness the flight is only 2.5 hours.

[kacaju]

UGH...so last week my oldest dd18 got a stomach virus...throwing up for 6 hours overnight. My dd12 who has the Emetophobia did really well...she knew her sister was sick..but it did not cause her anxiety. Well...now hubby has it. I woke her up this morning for softball...and explained that Dad couldn't take her because he was sick (and to stay out of the downstairs bathroom)
She said she heard him get sick last night...she did NOT have a panic attack...she was able to stay in her bed and sleep. AWESOME news!! I am so proud of her. She has therapy this week...so that is good

[sunkissed73]

So guys I need help/encouragement/advice. I have generalized anxiety disorder and an EXTREME phobia of v* and stomach ailments. It's gotten to the point now where it rules my life! Ugh. Well anyway, I'm in Orlando now and TERRIFIED. Of coming down with something. I saw v* at sea world today and had a panic attack and of course worried about it all day. I'm stayin off property but will be going to all 4 parks and I'm already paranoid about v*. I know it's not rational but I'm still worried and that's no way to spend a vacation. I have been hand washing and sanitizing and lysoling like crazy. It's ridiculous. I have some party members not as diligent with handwashing as me and it's freaking me out. Ugh this worrying has got to stop- I'm annoying everyone. What advice do you all have for me? Thanks for your support - hope you guys understand my worries, as ridiculous as they may be.

[TaraPA]

Originally Posted by kacaju

UGH...so last week my oldest dd18 got a stomach virus...throwing up for 6 hours overnight. My dd12 who has the Emetophobia did really well...she knew her sister was sick..but it did not cause her anxiety. Well...now hubby has it. I woke her up this morning for softball...and explained that Dad couldn't take her because he was sick (and to stay out of the downstairs bathroom)
She said she heard him get sick last night...she did NOT have a panic attack...she was able to stay in her bed and sleep. AWESOME news!! I am so proud of her. She has therapy this week...so that is good

Yay so glad she handled it that well!

Originally Posted by sunkissed73

So guys I need help/encouragement/advice. I have generalized anxiety disorder and an EXTREME phobia of v* and stomach ailments. It's gotten to the point now where it rules my life! Ugh. Well anyway, I'm in Orlando now and TERRIFIED. Of coming down with something. I saw v* at sea world today and had a panic attack and of course worried about it all day. I'm stayin off property but will be going to all 4 parks and I'm already paranoid about v*. I know it's not rational but I'm still worried and that's no way to spend a vacation. I have been hand washing and sanitizing and lysoling like crazy. It's ridiculous. I have some party members not as diligent with handwashing as me and it's freaking me out. Ugh this worrying has got to stop- I'm annoying everyone. What advice do you all have for me? Thanks for your support - hope you guys understand my worries, as ridiculous as they may be.

Yes we do understand your worries - they are NOT ridiculous to any of us. We get it. I don't have any advice for you other than to do whatever you need to do to carry on. Wash your hands all the time if need be use your sanitzer every few minutes.

It's funny how you say you're starting to annoy the others - I just annoyed my son with my emet anxiety. He was at a birthday party today & called to say they invited him to sleepover (EMET ANXIETY IN OVERDRIVE!!) Of course I immediately ask him what he ate, did he eat junk, does he feel ok, etc etc. Totally irrelevant but I had to keep asking. I ended the call with "make sure you know where the bathroom is wherever you're sleeping, and you can call me to come get you during the night if you feel sick." He was so annoyed with me. Typing it all out I do see how absolutely ridiculous I sound, what mother grills her kids about what they ate & how they feel when they're sleeping somewhere else? I'm guessing no other mother tells her kid to be sure to know where the bathroom is at at sleepover. Like you said Sunkissed73 - it rules our lives! I will sleep with the phone by my bed tonight in case he calls.

[lukenick1]

Hi all,
It has been 3 weeks since my first ds came down with the stomach virus and happy to report that I never got it!!!!! Everyone in the house got it but me. I guess my neurotic cleaning behaviors worked! I wore a mask, gloves, cleaned with bleach, lysol, and NEVER put my hands in my mouth! I washed all the dishes on sanitary cycle for 2 weeks and bleached all clothes and towels. Yes I may have ruined some clothing because of bleach but I don't care . This nasty bug can be avoidable if you take proper precaution in your home and outside of your home. Never EVER put your hands in your mouth no matter what the circumstances are at any time of day or year!!!! That is number 1 rule! If someone is vomiting that you are caring for wear a mask and gloves when cleaning up after them. Always clean with bleach and lysol brand III. If you keep toothbrushes on the bathroom counter top and someone had been sick in that bathroom THROW them away!!!!! Vomit can splash and aerosol into the air. Only crazy people like me think of that! LOL Don't forget to clean doorknobs, toilet handles and light switches. Anything that the sick person may have touched needs to be disinfected.

Sunkissed73...... make sure you keep your hands out of your mouth and do not touch your food with your bare hands unless they have been washed really good with soap and water. Hand sanitizers do NOT kill stomach virus. Make sure to use a paper towel to shut off faucets and open doors in public places. This is my only advise. Try to not worry about it and enjoy yourself. Stomach bug is a winter virus mostly so coming from New England I associate it with cold weather. The warm Florida sun helps me to relax about it. Have fun!

[lukenick1]

TaraPA

You are right!!!!!!!!!!! I would have died if someone in my hotel room had a stomach bug!!!! You are a brave woman!!!!!!! How you slept through that is beyond me I would have lied there with headphones and shook all night long. As a matter of fact I would have had to leave the room and bunk in with someone else. No way could i handle that!!!!!!

[sunkissed73]

Thanks everyone! I will do my best not to worry! I'm from New England too, funny enough! I'll keep washing my hands! But I am considering seeking therapy when I return home. Enough is enough!

[kacaju]

Originally Posted by sunkissed73

Thanks everyone! I will do my best not to worry! I'm from New England too, funny enough! I'll keep washing my hands! But I am considering seeking therapy when I return home. Enough is enough!

Please consider therapy. My dd12 has been in therapy for a year now and I KNOW she would never have done as well as she did coping with 2 people vomitting in the house as she did. I do not have this fear...so it is very hard for me to understand. I do know it is real and I am doing everything I can to make sure my dd can cope in life with it. Therapy has been the lifesaver for her!

[kacaju]

WOOHOOO!!! DD12 went to a sleepover last night and I did not hear from her!!

The party started at 6...but she had softball, so was unable to get to the party until 8:30 She thought that was good, because it would give her less time to worry and after 3 games of softball she would be too tired to worry about getting sick!!

She had her phone and I told her if she needed me I was only a text away... I pick her up in 45 minutes.

[kacaju]

she did grreat..she said she never thought about being sick!!!

[kacaju]

she did grreat..she said she never thought about being sick!!!