Symptom Checklist. Does anyone do this?

[Haley22]

Hello I'm new to the site. I'm 20 and I've had emetophobia since I was a little kid. Since then, whenever I thought I might be sick, I'd have a checklist of symptoms. I would check to see if I had a fever, check my appetite, and my tiredness level. Over the years I've dropped all of those because they can be symptoms for many things and I've had them for many things besides SV. Now, when I think I may be sick, I only use two sure fire methods that can tell me right away if I have the SV. I know they work because they have been the two constants in every instance of SV in my past. First, I do some exercise, something like jogging or riding a bike. If I have the SV, this causes almost immediate cramping and weakness. It's happened every single time I've ever had SV, so once I do this and it doesn't result in cramping, I'm usually reassured. However, if I'm not, I can do one other thing. I go for a drive. A drive in the car always caused the same symptoms in the past, minus the weakness from activity. These are the only symptoms I check anymore. I was wondering what similar rituals or checklists you guys might have?

[tiredofitall]

I think about my favorite food and if the thought makes me feel worse than I’m pretty sure I’m sick but if I think that food sounds good than it is just anxiety.

[anxiousgrl28]

I relate to this so much... not really sure if it’s a common symptom of emet or what but I’ll check to see if my mouth feels really dry, or if my lips are pale. I’ll check my complexion too to see if I look green. I’ll usually check for a fever too. But I always know I’m going to be sick when I get chills and I can’t get warm, and when I get like an empty gnawing feeling in my stomach. It’s good to know I’m not the only person that does this

[emetosophia]

I totally do it aswell. I am also checking for chills, like anxiousgirl28, because that is the strongest symptom i can remember from the last 2 times I vomited.
I also look at myself in the mirror to check if i am pale or green. Seeing that my complexion is normal calms me down enormously!

[plarsson]

These are safety behaviours potentially - please be aware that they just fuel your anxiety, and ultimately do no give the reassurance you want.