am i the only one who is afraid to throw up?!

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aeraffa614

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ever since i remeraber, i have always had an EXTREME fear of vomiting, when i was 7 or 8 years old i was hospitalized in a mental health unit, i wouldnt eat because i was afraid i would throw up. i would throw screaming fits if i thought i was going to be sick.

AND although i learened to control my anxiety somewhat better now..i still get extreme anxiety when i feel anything wierd in my body. like if i have a headache. i think im getting sick, if i have diariah , i think omg.. im gonna throw up...and the most cause of my anxiety is when i feel a lump in my throat,,and i handle this anxiety by chewing tons of gum..

im also on phych meRAB to help control my anxiety, but when i feel sick, they dont work..

please if there is anyone out there...how do you deal with your fear of vomiting, ive been dealing with this fear all my life..and i just dont want to do it anymore..

i have a 2 year old daughter and im scared that one day shes gonna be sick and need me..and im not going to be able to help her..
 
aeraffa614 - I'm so sorry to hear about your fear. My heart goes out to you, not because I have the fear, but because my daughter does. She is 11 years old and has been dealing with a horrible fear of vomiting ever since she was 6, when she went to school sick and vomited in front of a friend in the nurse's office. She has not vomited since then and has no idea what it feels like anymore so every little thing that she feels going on in her body, she automatically thinks it means she is going to throw up and she panics. We tried a therapist with her but I don't think at that time she was old enough to understand how to "boss back" her fears, as her therapist tried to teach her how to do.

I wanted you to know you aren't alone. There is actually a term for it - emetophobia - and there are a lot of people who have it. Best of luck to you!
 
did anything happen to your daughter that gave her that fear? i think i got the fear from some stuff that happened in my childhood
 
I used to have this fear too. When I was about 11. I couldn't watch anyone else throw up and I would look in the mirror every night to see if I looked pale, which might mean that I was going to throw up. It was a phobia for me. I didn't throw up between the ages of 11 and 16 and then I discovered alcohol... Needless to say the fear went away after I'd been sick a few times. I didn't have to do anything to make it go away, it just did. It was like gradual desensitisation. I guess the thing with fear is, when we're in the miRABt of it (ie throwing up) we just have to get on with it, and afterwarRAB you think 'well that wasn't so scary.' I'm not trying to make light of your fears by any means because when I had it it was very, very bad.

Look up emetophobia in the search box. There's a few posts on here about it.
 
aeraffa614 - The only thing that happened to my daughter is that she threw up in school in front of a friend when she was 5 and that started this fear. She also has obsessive compulsive disorder. Vomiting is just one of her fears but it is the main one that affects her life every day. She also fears turning into things, i.e., werewolves or other animals, but the older she gets, the more those fears are going away as I think she is realizing that it is impossible for that to happen.
 
OMG! I thought I was the only one that had this complex. I can remeraber every single person, by name, that has ever thrown up in my presence dating back to elementary school (I am now 26). In high school I used to have the worst panic attacks brought on by feeling like I was going to throw up, when I wasn't even sick. As I would be heading to my next class all of a sudden I would think, "oh my gosh, I'm going to throw up in front of all these people." I'd run into the bathroom and stand over the toilet sweating, heart beating out of my chest....and nothing would happen. I must admit, a little of the fear still exists today. Like if there is someone coughing or chocking (especially while eating). But it is not nearly as bad as it used to be. Two things that helped were pregnancy and becoming a mom..lol. I have to convince myself to remain logical, and not feel like if someone is sick I automatically will be also. No, you are definitely not alone. Best wishes! God bless! :wave:
 
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