Let me first start of by saying I'm not nearly as affected by V*ing as some people dealing with Emetophobia. I am very grateful for that and in fact, this summer when I tried to eat chili with a cold I dry heaved 7 times without crying (I know that sounds pathetic coming from a 20 yr old guy). I forced myself to smile a few times in order to trick myself (which didn't work) and after taking a nap my roommates came home ad I felt fine. I would still get nervous around others when they felt sick but for the most part, I was living my life to its fullest!!! That is... until November of 2014... I'm attending a Bible school on the west coast and am in my 4th yr. Before I entered in the fall though, I wasn't guaranteed to come back due to some troubles with tax returns. I was able to go to school but throughout the entire semester, no money was being put into the school because of said issues. This caused me unbelievable stress due to not knowing if I'd be able to graduate. A bunch of other stuff was going on too and was adding more stress to my life. Well on Halloween I wanted to dress up so I borrowed a shirt from a friend, he had recently had F** like symptoms including v* but I tried not to think about it. Unfortunately I was unable to dress up due to size differences and forgot about it. That weekend though, my friend came out, we went to taco bell and watched him play a game. I remember I was being stupid and making fun of it with him and joking with him until around 215am. All the sudden I felt a little nauseous. I panicked and went to my room to try and sleep it off. I was up until 4 tossing and turning doing everything in my power not to think about the bathroom or let myself v*. I'm pretty sure I got a simple fl*. However, it lasted for like two weeks. In that time I ate about enough to count as eating one day's full serving of food. I then seemed to get better. I was so happy, I couldn't wait to wait to eat again. Then I got sick with the cold but wasn't to bothered. Oh, by the way, midterms were at that time and I hadn't been studying or doing hw, just trying to rest and get better. It was Thanksgiving week when this happened. I was feeling more confident and getting back into my old self. Thanksgiving day was great, I ate alot of good stuff and had a good time. However, around 11 pm my stomach started feeling odd. I went to sleep around 12 but woke up 45 mins later feeling horrible. I went to the bathroom and had di******* and felt gross after. I barely ate and seemed to get a second Fl* for about a week. I decided to go to the doctor. By the time I could see him, it was a week alter and all this time I lost alot of weight because I was literally starving myself, because I didn't want to get sick. Everyone on campus kept saying I looked like I lost weight (btw, I was thin to begin with). Most of my days were spent not going to classes, not doing hw and just sleeping. Only getting up to work at my job. When I saw him, he diagnosed me with IBS (which I guess runs on my moms side of the family). I was devastated. I was praying it was an ulcer or simply bad luck with getting a temporary fl*. Now I guess I have to live with avoiding foods that upset me and cause me nausea which seems to be alot. I haven't really eaten anything except 1 or 2 sandwiches a day. Today, I have eaten two granola bars and that's it. I'm still losing weight and am very tired and upset with this. I just want to be normal again. I want to be able to eat foods and sing and talk without feeling a tad sick and freaking out about it... The only times I have felt truly at peace is when I sleep only to be rudely awakened to reality. Everyday I think about v* and freak out. I eat only because I have to, I don't enjoy it anymore. Some days I simply want to sleep and never wake up. Does anybody else have this? What have you done to help yourself? My mom said it gets better over time, is this true?