Do you fear vomiting at night?

[gumdropper1]

Is that why so many emets are night owls? A recent poll on this site found that 74 percent of emets are night owls. Regular polls of non-ememts find them about 50-50 or that there are more morning people than night owls.


This really makes me think ...


Is emet and specifically the fear of vomiting during the night contributing to poor sleep habits by emets? Someone here must have something to add to this. Tell us, please. It your fear implicit? Explicit? Can you tell about the awful incident that made you fear the night? We will all listen and understand. Doug

[xroofusx]

I fear v* most at night, the last 2 time's i v* it had been in the day, and those two times i found it less of a panic then i get at night. Personally i think the reason we fear it more at night is because it feels as if theres no where to go, its dark which i feel gives a sense of feeling trapt.

Ruth x

[missminty]

I think it's worse at night because there is even more of a lack of control. I fear waking up feeling sick, having no time to take an anti-emetic and being caught totally unawares. In my head more people get sick at night (i don't know if this is really the case. I think that if you wake up feeling nauseous it must be the real thing because it was bad enough to wake you up. A lot of my daytime nause is panic-based which wouldn't happen at night. Damn nights!!

[zane2673]

The night is the worst for me. I think because as a child that's when one of my worst episodes occured. If I have a panic attack at night, I usually feel safe going to sleep after 3 am.

[mars]

Hi Doug,


Last time I v* it was at night, 2.15am.....so that's when I'm most afraid. I generally feel safe after 4am, but I am becoming less of a night owl now as I have to get up at 6.30am for work.....M x

[razziorose]

I fear sleeping with an upset stomach, once I choked
on my vomit in my sleep...ever since..I have not been
able to sleep at night on an upset stomach. Do not
let that frighten any of you, please, I had an
underlying sickness with it.
Anyway, it all makes so much sense!

[Galadriel]

I think its worse at night because well, everyone else is asleep, and its like your left with just your thoughts and nothing to distract you. Also all the times I've been sick with maybe a few exceptions were at night. I can remember as a kid absolutely hating going to bed when I was sick (especially with a stomach bug), it just seemed so much more nightmareish or something, and all the family was asleep and there was nothing between me and it. Ugh.

[crimgoddess]

Well, I am a complete night owl, and it has nothing to do with emet. In fact, any anxiety relating to emet is usually reduced at night, because I am in my own apartment (comfort zone), and my boyfriend is usually well and asleep before I wander off to bed.


*amber*

[mitch04133]

I am a night person, always have been. Plus , I work midnights, just like being up at night better. But I think the main reason why I am more scard of v* at night then during the day, is being alone. I mean I got my boyfriend, but I just feel more alone at night then during the day. And sleeing and all of a sudden waking up to v*, is like I don't have control. If I am already awake, I feel more in control. Does that make any sense?

[daffodil]

I think fear of v* in the night definitely contributes to my sleep problems. The last time I v* it was in the middle of the night. It woke me. The last time I almost v* was the same, woke in the middle of the night with d* and extreme n*.
I feel safer when I am awake, because I feel my defenses are up, and I can fight it better.

[xroofusx]

Its weird most people get ill at night, maybe its because are bodys are just to tired and as we're not doing anything we start to think about it, i remember when i was younger i used to be 90% deaf in one ear and 40 in the other, and i used to get a lot of earaches and went dizzy which made me used to v* but it seemed to be at night if i woke up all of a sudden and got up. I used to stay awake untill about 4/5am not because i was scared of v* just because i used to be talking to my friends lol.

Ruth x

[melissarene]

The times that I remember v*, it was actually daytime. But I still fear the night time the most. ESPECIALLY when I'm not comfortable in my own bed (such as if I go visit friends and family, etc). I'm alone. There's nothing to distract me....

[andee]

Definitely night time is the worst. Most of my incidents were at night. For me it is feeling alone and not being able to call someone or be distracted easily. That is also when most of my panic attacks occur. And also being afraid one of my kids will wake up.</font>

[samara's on tv]

I'm a night person but I've always been a night person. I've only V*ed twice at night and once I V*ed early in the morning when I woke up. I don't think it has anything to do with my emet cause I like late night TV so I just stay up and watch it LoL!! But I can understand that being a fear of peoples.


~Monica

[kristin1980]

Id have to agree with Ruth on this one too.. I feel more clausterphobic at night and I dont know why it just seems like i am stuck and cant go anywhere. And i guess in my experiences i have v** more at night then day.. only once during the day ..


*shrug* otherwise i dont really know...

[taffy]

yep! I try to stay up as late as I can so that I can sleep through any illness. Mine started when I was taking the birht control pill Alessee-28. I woke up 3 days in a row at 2am or 3 am dry heeving. So now I try to stay awake past 3am.

[purpleteacher]

I am very much a morning person, but my emet is worse at night. I think it has to do with the fact that I can't get help in case I need it if I get sick at night. I will have to wake someone up and bother them by me being sick - during the day, it is less disruptive to others. I also cannot go outside or call someone on the phone because at night, those just aren't things that are very appropriate. During the day, I can step outside and get fresh air or just pick up the phone.


The times I remember getting sick, were all during the day or early morning.

[abbey_16]

my emet is worse on a night aswell i love getting up in a morning but i dread going to bed i think about it most of the day and i know its because during the day if i feel ill i can take an anti emetic but in the night i cant and im scared i will suddenly wake up and V*!

[metallikat87]

that's what i'm most afraid of. if i go to bed at night and i feel even a little ill i'm scared i'll wake up and have to v*. that's what scared me most about about when i got s* about a week ago. i went to bed feeling fine but woke up around 1:30 and just started v*. it doesn't keep me up at night unless i'm feeling n* because then i get afraid that i might not wake up in time and i'll v* in the bed and on my fiancee...but ever sincelast week i've been fine with my sleeping, it hasn't kept me down!

[xexxhoshi]

My emet is sometimes worse during night as I tend to associate what happens with night with what will turn up in my dreams.

[californiagirl]

I think emet is worse at night when you have kids, for fear that they will wake up in the middle of the night s*.

[daffodil]

^^ Definitely! I worry about this all the time, too!

[bigemet]

oh my goodness, vomiting at niteis the scariest thing i could experience lol..i get so scared.

[irish_kirsty]

From the past, I have v* more at night than during the day. So I think thats where the fear comes from. If I have an upset stomach I'll keep my light on until it goes away, cause the dark increases the anxiety. If it wont go away I plug in a night light right by my bed. I think its a security thing, so that I can see. But I dont know, if someone else in my household is sick I feel safer in my bed at night. So its reallu mixed for me.

[josie]

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<TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNABLE="off">I am a night owl as well but never really thought about it being related to my emetophobia,....but I can see a link now that I really think about it. There are times I want to take a antiemetic before I go to sleep just in case and when I do, that helps me sleep. I HATE sleeping. It takes me hours to fall asleep because my mind does not stop running,...its so weird,.....but then Im weird,....I have always been the weird one,....always,...</TD></TR>
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[kimmyc24]

Thats an interesting question Doug..


I am not a night-owl AT ALL, and am usually asleep on the couch by 10.30pm!


However, I do fear night-times MORE as an Emet, and as someone else has mentioned, its because of the lack of control I feel at night. I think this stems from my childhood - whenever I was sick it was always at night and would wake me up. I remember both my parents would get up and stand with me, one stroking my back and the other talking to me calmly etc - I don't actually think this was good for me, and have often wondered if it caused me to magnify V*ing in my mind as a big traumatic thing, and if they had just let me get on with it alone I would feel differently about it now?


As others have mentioned above, I think its because its quieter at night, and dark, and I know for myself I absolutely DREAD the thought of anyone waking up to the sound of me V*ing. If I do wake up during the night the FIRST thing I ask myself is: WHY am I awake now? HOW am I feeling? and am I going to be sick?


Then if I do feel a bit off, I start thinking about where I can do it - out the window, or run to the garden, or downstairs loo away from bedrooms etc. Its awful!! I don't mind doing it at night, its who HEARS me thats worst for me! [img]smileys/smilies_11.gif[/img]

[lgri5th]

I am also more terrified of the night time upset tummy. I won't allow myself to fall asleep for fear of waking up with the immediate urge to v*. Sooo, I stay awake, sitting up cross legged in the bed, with a pillow in my lap and my head in my hands rocking slowly back and forth. When I finally start feeling better, usually after phenergan, prevacid and antacids...I will lay down a doze off. By then, it's usually around 5am and I only get an hour of sleep. The next day is hell.


I also have a fear of my three kids waking up v* in the night. If I hear the slightest noise, I panic and wonder who is sick. Especially if one of them wanders in my room at night. Very scary for me...

[nikki.l]

I think emet is worse at night when you have kids, for fear that they will wake up in the middle of the night s*.

I couldn't agree with this more!


I am a nightowl...I think the problem with this for me is that it gives me too much time to think about my problems.

[moonshadow]

Yep, I put my emet down to a night-time incident when I was 7.


I don't worry about myself so much at the moment, but I habitually wake around 4 a.m. TERRIFIED that my mom or hub might get ill. Just last night I had a nightmare about my mom. (Her bathroom is next to my bedroom). It has happened in real life a few times, and even tho I tell myself that their illness passed and everything's fine, I still live in dread of the next time! Sometimes my anxiety goes away, as if my subconcious can't be bothered to stress about it any more, but if I'm feeling low, it comes back. That means awful anxiety until A) I hear hub go to work and B) mom gets up and is okay. I hate feeling like this!


If it happened to me, I like to think I'd cope better than I did when I was 7 but I'd rather not find out! I've had a few night-time incidents of waking up feeling yuk but just having D* - and that was bad enough. I think the worst thing about being ill at night is feeling so exhausted but being unable to sleep. It's so unutterably tedious waiting to feel better - I think that's what I fear - having to get through those hours until it passes!