New Here and Suffering

[itsjustches]

Hello all! I am new here, just signed up. It's midnight here in the UK and as usual I am wide awake with nausea.

Does anyone else's emet cause them to feel nauseous 24/7? For three and a half years I've been suffering with mild stomach bug symptoms: nausea, acid reflux, digestive problems, etc. I've had all the tests but they've all come back negative. So is it possible my emet is causing all this? It is totally destroying my life and is affecting my mental health badly.

I just constantly feel like i'm about to v*, with waves up and down of severity, but it's always there. Always.

[itsjustches]

p.s. sorry if i've got anything wrong in my post, new here! haha.

[Maige]

I think that's what a lot of people on here called 'anxiety nausea'. Pretty much EVERYONE with emetophobia experiences this, feeling sick a lot despite being alright and not actually about to get sick. Personally, I'm better with it now, but I still feel nauseous often only to end up being totally fine.

[Ivyvictrola]

I used to have what I referred to as "tummy aches". I had them all the time and they caused a huge amount of anxiety. I had all the tests done and no one ever found anything wrong. Once I got my anxiety to a more manageable level, (in my case, anti-depressants) they completely disappeared. I used to think I had IBD but now I am now convinced that they were all in my head and nothing was physically wrong with me.

[itsjustches]

I've sadly tried everything and nothing is getting the anxiety under control. Just had another sleepless night because i'm awake all night thinking i'm about to v*. Anti-depressants, therapy, medication, none of it helps. I've been given every anti-emetic out there with no luck, none of them work. This is what's making me finally realise there's nothing really wrong. I just don't know where to go from here. I can rarely leave the house, and the nausea is destroying my life. I had to close my business too.

[thecheesecake17]

The thing I can't work out with those who suffer this is how you eat - surely you function normally but you can't always be n* if you eat cos in my op, eating is forbidden when feeling unwell. However, I understand you have it severely by the sounds of it.

OK well it sounds simple but when you're thinking about your feeling, swallow. If you feel perfect, no tummy sensations or anything, you're 100% perfect. If you feel acidic or generally ewwww, then I'd say that's real. I'm guessing you haven't actually gotten sick either right? That's me all over...and someone above wrote about how since feeling less anxious it helped - well I too had constant aches and pains and some n* from June-August and a doctor did some very very serious tests and since they all came back negative, I'm eating three meals more and the second I get a tiny tummy upset, il take a Rennie and whether it's placebo or not, I finally feel like I can live again.

Don't get yourself down about it, just really try and fixate on other things, to me, the people around me act as though stomach stuff doesn't exist. If you think about it, n* is just an illusion, like a monster. It's there but its not real, its the brain giving us a stupid uncomfortable warning, that's all. The only time I'd say its real is when germs are trying to poison us and you know what, its only there to save us. Otherwise, I'd say ALOT of it is in our brains...I'm honestly no expert and this post might not help but to me, if you've been through what you've been through, and you KNOW nothings wrong, you should really try go out..go for little walks..get a budgie or a fish and just enjoy life.

However, I know its the worst feeling in the world. I've used peppermint sooo many times in times of crisis that I go out of my way to not use it and to wait out the n* and usually it vanishes. Find a little remedy like ginger or extra mint(since we are both British haha) and believe me, you will definitely start feeling better. Failing that, get an endoscopy - I dread to imagine a consistent case of n*.

Beat of luck

[itsjustches]

Thank you all for your comments.

thecheesecake17, your post has been helpful. it's made me feel like there is maybe something wrong, but my phobia makes it ten times worse.

I struggle to eat actually. I am gluten/wheat/dairy free anyway because of all this, and i eat bland tiny meals 3 or 4 times a day. Like a piece of dry toast or some plain pasta.

I always have stomach problems. It constantly feels acidic and churning. With the nausea waves these get worse. I'd say my every day nausea is maybe a 5 out of 10, and bad days (more common these days that good days) it's a good 9 out of 10. I had an endoscopy 2 weeks ago, just an upper GI one, and that found nothing. I take Esomeprazole for stomach acid and Metoclopramide for the nausea. Neither seem to make any difference. Otherwise i've had ultrasound scans, fibre scan and countless blood tests but they find nothing. I was sent for anxiety treatment and all of my anxiety is gone, except for the phobia.

I guess i just want answers. It's been over 3 and a half years now. I'd like to be able to work, or have the energy to clean the house or get off the sofa. I've tried ginger, lemon, peppermint, apple cider vinegar, every home remedy and every anti-emetic. I'm thinking about getting the Cure Your Emetophobia & Thrive book and seeing if i can help myself now. I do go out on "good days" - i'd class those as days where i don't feel like i'm about to v*, i just feel nauseous. I'm big on hand cleaning though and get through a bottle of anti viral every time i go out.

We're emigrating to the US soon and i really want this under control before we go.

[andee]

Hi, maybe you need an anti anxiety med, like ativan...I take that and it definitely helps the anxiety. I only rarely take it because you can easily get addicted. But it really sounds like you are so anxious that it's causing all these symptoms.
I definitely feel nauseous when I'm anxious, and it's awful. I would check with your doc and make sure all is right, then really consider some meds. And if the other meds aren't helping, don't continue to take them, esp the acid one...that causes even more issues! Take care and hope you are ok...