I’m new here - Introduction

[sarahlynn]

Hi, I am new here. I just thought I would come on & introduce myself.

My name is Sarah. I am 31 years old. I am married and have 2 children (a daughter who is 2 yrs old & a son who is 4 months old).

I have had emetophobia for as long as I can remember, and I feel it has become worse (more intense/severe) over the years. I don't know what caused it, I have no abuse or serious trauma in my past/childhood. My brother did V* a lot when we were growing up (he suffered migranes frequently, causing the v*'ing), and I was sometimes "stuck" in the same room or car or situation with him while he v*'d... I guess that must be where my phobia comes from (???) but really its not too uncommon to be "stuck" in situations where others are v*'ing... (and NOT become phobic) ..so why me??[img]smileys/smilies_27.gif[/img]

I have just recently found this site... Have only recently discovered that v* phobia IS a real thing, with its own name. It's oddly comforting to know that I am not alone and that there is a name for my condition. I am looking forward to meeting others on this site like me, and getting support here as I attempt to overcome this.

I started seeing a therapist (psychologist) a few weeks ago and have had only one session thus far. She seems really nice but I feel weird trying to open up to her, so I need to work on that. I also suffer (my own diagnosis) from anxiety issues across the board, and possibly slight depression as well. After the first session w/ my therapist, she suggested I go on meds for anti-depression and anti-anxiety. I tried Lexapro and it made me very queasy and I only took it 2 days b/c of the side effects. I have now been taking zoloft for a little over a week, and I have not had any bad side effects from it (though I'm not sure it's really "helping" my anxiety much, at least not yet - they tell me it can take a month to take effect).

I NEED TO OVERCOME THIS PHOBIA... for the sake of my sanity... for my children's sakes, for my husband's sake. I feel like a worthless mother and wife when I cannot even be in our house if anyone is sick. I get scared to come home, I can't sleep, I want to run away. I HAVE run from this phobia my whole life, as much as possible. Up until I've had children, it's always been possible to phsyically leave any and all situations where v* was involved (or might be)... now that I have kids, I can NOT run from them. I need to be there for them, through sickness and v*'ing. I need to be able to sleep at night w/out fearing that someone in my house will wake up v*'ing. I need to be able to relax when my kids come in contact w/ other kids (right now I get SO anxious/worried that they are surely picking up germs from everyone and everything, that will make them v*).

I want to be normal. I want to be happy. I do not want this constant fear and anxiety plaguing my life any longer. I will do whatever it takes to get over this. I have to.

Thanks for listening (reading) my story.

[missy77]

Hi Sarahlynn,
Welcome! I am 31 also and have been emetophobic for as long as I can remember. I do not know what caused it for me either. For me, my emet is sometimes worse than others. Right now my emet is really bad. I just found out that I am pregnant. I am so terrified of morning sickness. In fact I am starting to obsess about the whole thing. How did you deal with the morning sickness through your preganacies?
I am so glad that you found this site. This site has been really helpful for me too. There is a lot of people out there that know exactly what you feel and what you are going through. When I first discovered the name for my phobia, I thought I was the only person who had this fear. Then I found this site and I realized that I am not alone. And neither are you. We are all here to help eachother and believe me the support here is unbeliveable! We'll get through it together.

[sarahlynn]

Thanks Missy!

I am lucky that I made it through both my pregnancies w/out v*'ing. Well, I take that back. I made it through the morning sickness stages w/out v*'ing - I actually did V* once while pregnant but it was due to a stomach bug [img]smileys/smilies_07.gif[/img]As for the morning sickness, I didn't eat much the first couple of months during the "nauseous" stages, mostly lived on saltine crackers and water (my 1st pg'cy it seemed coke helped settle my stomach but not the 2nd pg'cy). I also used something called Preggie Pop Drops (preggie pops) - they didn't help completely but did take the edge off the nausea. Good luck, that first part is the hardest, and hopefully once you make it past the 1st trimester you will not feel icky anymore!![img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]