Making Moves!

[Abbi.P]

I'm sort of a silly emet. I decided to date a boy with some very serious health issues, most of which involved him chronically vomiting. But, you can't really help who you fall for, right? Well, being with him has done wonders towards my getting better, though I do realize why it is. With him, nausea is a constant part of his life. And he is fully aware when he will need to throw up, and can warn me far ahead of time. Enough time for me to leave the house or get headphone on or anything I need. At first, when he was done, I would feel nauseous myself because I would have started to panic while he was gone. But now I'm finding that if he tells me he will need to throw up, I just tell him to go somewhere that I can't hear it, and when he comes back, I'm completely fine. No panicking. No nausea. And I even get him water or whatever he needs to help make him feel better. I sit and talk with him and ask him if he's feeling better. When we first started dating, I used to run at the word nausea. Now I can just talk about it like it's nothing. But, I do realize that the reason I'm becoming okay with this now is not because I'm becoming okay with the vomiting. It's because it's not unpredictable. I think the part I'm scared of the most with this phobia is not being able to predict when it will happen. But with him, he can predict it before it happens. It's never a surprise. So even though I do think it's helping me in some ways, I also understand the reason that it doesn't bother me as much as it would with anyone else. I hope that makes sense. And I hope that this really is steps forward rather than in reverse. Any thoughts on this?

[Rebecca85]

It's kind of like controlled exposure therapy in some ways. Because you know what's coming and can stay calm over time you will get used to it. You could try gently pushing yourself. Like going a bit closer each time (not enough to make you anxious, like maybe a single step). But I completely get what you mean, I often v from my Crohn's and it feels completely different and much more controlled than an sv does, so I deal with it much better.