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Thread: Cured finally

  1. #1
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    I made another thread earlier about my experience with
    exposure therapy and how that has made my anxiety go away
    and I'm on 30mg a day of medication which is awesome
    since I was on 1000mg just a few months ago.

    I know different therapies work for different, but I just
    felt that after having this for 15 years that I had to
    either face it or run from it for the rest of my life. So
    I did exposure therapy and spent 2 days with doctors. It
    was monitored and done at the regular hospital. They
    gave me syrup of ipecac and I just happened to have
    caught the flu and I was sick for 2 days straight.

    I'm not going to lie, it was horrible. It was hard to
    get through and I can't really explain it, either then
    it's horrible. But the next week I found that my anxiety
    has disappeared and I no longer even think about v*. The
    following week I ate something bad and v* and I just
    looked at it and flushed the toilet then I went into the
    kitchen and ate more food. I don't care about v*
    anymore. I no longer dwell about it and for the first
    time in my life I feel that I'm in control.

    It's totally changed my life around. My mom thinks that
    Jesus saved me from all her prayers and maybe he
    did...but all I can say is that in those 15 years I
    experienced some horrible parts of anxiety and anti-
    depressants. Spent many nights praying for something to
    kill me cause I couldn't bring myself to kill myself. It
    was horrible and the last few years I've pushed away my
    friends and family and I'm grateful they are still here
    for me and they see a huge change in me.

    I know exposure therapy is an extreme for a phobia like
    this...but anyone who's talked to me on here can probably
    tell you how I let this phobia basically run my entire
    life.

    It feels good to be anxiety free and I know without a
    doubt I will never return to my old lifestyle and I'm
    going to do anything I can to help anyone on this site.
    And I'm not trying to be cheesy..but if I did it, you all
    can too =)
    AIM - r311dude (don\'t be shy, I love to chat)

  2. #2
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    SOOOOO GOOOD to hear that!! I almost tried exposure therapy, but it just seemed sooo extreme, and some of the techniques were really...weird. But part of me wishes I would do it. Great job...

  3. #3
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    Wow, praise the Lord, your story is definitely inspirational [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img] .

  4. #4
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    GOD LOVE YOU..I am so happy for you! I did exposure therapy - exactly what you described down to the letter just over 10 yrs ago...sadly it just made me worse. It really does go to show that what works for one may not work for another and its all about finding what work for you..everyone ticks in a different way afterall! I am so happy for you, I wish there were more stories like this out there. I hope you can embrace life to the full now x x x x

  5. #5
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    ^^ hello, thank you for also sharing your story! i'm eager to know if when you did the exposure therapy, did you do it with the same attitude as r311dude - "I had to
    either face it or run from it for the rest of my life" ? i'm asking because i feel like maybe perhaps a person's state of mind when they decide to do exposure therapy might have a lot to do with how effective the outcomes may be.


    and a question for r311dude, did you feel courageous and felt like something pushing you to do exposure therapy?

  6. #6
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    hi, I think you are asking me on th how did I approach the exposure therapy.... [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

    well, I may sound bitter now, however, my approach was somewhat different then. I was in a ironically similar scenario, I had 3 suicide attempts under my belt at the age of 19 (sorry if tmi) and I had very much reached the point that if I couldnt live with it, I couldnt live at all...I actually believed it would cure me, that once I had realised in my head that IF it happened, and I ''survived'' it then actually it would feel different to me, in that if if was in reality not as catastophohic as I imagined then there was no need to fear it....does that make sense??!! I embraced it actually on most levels, I feared it beyond belief and it took me many months with an amazing therapist to even be in a plac to think about doing it, let alone making a date, turning up, eating before hand etc...but I did and I did survive. However, I honestly can't tell you why in the end it didn't make the diffenrence in me as I really dont know. It was a challenge to me to do it and I also felt that I owed it to myself to try, and that I may always wonder if I didn't, that whether it would have been the thing that helped me, I never wanted to hold back helping myself..I think we all are motivated by different stuff, but that was how it playd out for me, I hope this helps....

    x

  7. #7
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    ^^ hi, i was (that's what the (^^ - see how they're pointing up) arrows mean just incase you didn't know. Thank you for sharing your background info with me and others, it'd definitely help others in trying to make the decision to do exposure therapy if it ever came down to it, because, as you know, hearing somebody elses experience makes a difference.
    \'Meow!\' for goodness sake! Scratch, scratch, scratch. (Lightly of course)

  8. #8
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    r311, how long has it been since you've been cured and how are you doing right now, update us on what you see has changed, i'm eager to know [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]
    \'Meow!\' for goodness sake! Scratch, scratch, scratch. (Lightly of course)

  9. #9
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    hey furryballs....you're welcome, I also wanted to add that when I did the actual v* as part of the exposure, the experience itself was no big deal...sounds absurb doesn't it??....I suppose what I am trying to say is that going through the experience itself at the time was probably positive (ie I did not freak out even once during the 24hrs it went on and on for) I think the more pertinent point was how I dealt with it in my mind afterwards....but the experience itself did show that I CAN survive it....can't really explain why given that, it still doesnt actually click or make any difference, as I don't get it myself!! you're right you know, others experiences help because it puts stuff into context...I hope this helps and you find your cure

  10. #10
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    ^^ hi twigandfuzz, thanks for your response again . I can kind of imagine that the experience was probably not a really big deal because i've read that many times before that when it actually happens, once again, it's not a really big deal, and i really believe that to be true. The mind is a very interesting thing isn't it, lol! I'm sorry to hear that exposure therapy didn't help you much as being the cure to emet. Right now i'm realizing that beyond discovering my emet recently, there are actually a lot of underlying problems i need to take care of and then one day when it comes the time for me to allow v* to happen on it's own and for me to not think of it as not a big deal would be just another stepping stone in life...a big stepping stone i'd be . I'm glad you were still able to achieve something in the end afterwards even though you didn't get the absolute results you wanted - when you can walk away from something knowing that you came into it with courage is an achievement in my book.

    Thank you, and your response does help.
    \'Meow!\' for goodness sake! Scratch, scratch, scratch. (Lightly of course)

  11. #11
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    I've been awesome!

    I have gained about 15lbs (i know, right LOL) and people
    notice a huge change in just my overall outlook on life.

    I no longer say no to anything I would have said no to
    before in my life due to my emet and anxiety/panic.

    I turned into a yes man! =)
    AIM - r311dude (don\'t be shy, I love to chat)

  12. #12
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    :-) Oh wow, how awesome is that. Thanks for updating us :-), you're an inspiration. Please share more stories with us so we can understand how much you've changed and how much we need to stop worrying about v* when it's definitely not going to happen. It just proves that it's all in the head!
    \'Meow!\' for goodness sake! Scratch, scratch, scratch. (Lightly of course)

  13. #13
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    Well done [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]
    geraldine xx

  14. #14
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    Richard - thanks for sharing your success story! Love to hear the sucesses. I bet it is amazing to feel the DISconnection from this fear all at once.

    My overcoming this was more gradual. It was an overpowering of the fear, through things that built up my self esteem and general attitude; and an understanding and trust of my body not to do anything I can't predict or (partially) control. I can only imagine the feeling of enduring that therapy and it being OVER. Truly amazing.

    It IS an answered prayer to your mom, too. Regardless of what happened your mom prayed to God who she beleives in, and you were able to overcome this.

    If you don't mind my asking; how old are you?

    Thanks!
    David

  15. #15
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    I'm 25.

    I also have a lot of underlying problems that come with
    my phobia (as with most phobias).

    I think the main reason was that this was so drastic
    because this phobia got to the point to where it was
    ruining
    every aspect of my life and not just 1 or 2, like in the
    past.

    I seriously thought I was just counting the minutes till
    I was going to just lose it all, but luckily I told my
    doctor about how drastic the situation was and they were
    able to get me in the program fast.

    Edited by: r311dude
    AIM - r311dude (don\'t be shy, I love to chat)

  16. #16
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    Cool!

    Have the other problems begun to evaporate after the phobia is gone? Hope so.

    It's interesting the doctor used ipecac to expose you to vomiting. I guess I care too much about my body running smoothly to ever consider that.

    Be good!
    David



    Quote Originally Posted by r311dude
    I'm 25.

    I also have a lot of underlying problems that come with
    my phobia (as with most phobias).

    I think the main reason was that this was so drastic
    because this phobia got to the point to where it was
    ruining
    every aspect of my life and not just 1 or 2, like in the
    past.

    I seriously thought I was just counting the minutes till
    I was going to just lose it all, but luckily I told my
    doctor about how drastic the situation was and they were
    able to get me in the program fast.

  17. #17
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    Thats amazing you were able to commit to doing that. I would have chickened out. I recently found this website and like so many of you Im AMAZED at how many of us there are. I developed emetophobia (I didnt know it was called that until recently) when I was a kid (Im 25 now) and I can happily say that I have almost recovered from it. Its still there but I can function completely. I still hate public transit and I wont ride on the school bus with my students but I can get through almost every situation without panic attacks. My recovery was gradual but mostly due to a therapy called Somatic Experiencing- I highly recommend it. Its hard to explain but its similar to EMDR (eye desensitization therapy)- basically it tries to rewire the part of the brain that is in fight or flight mode all the time. I recommend all of you check it out if you are looking for something new. Its probably important to note that my phobia was more about other people throwing up, not myself throwing up (I got over that part several years ago, although it was a part of it at one point)

  18. #18
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    Hey erinallen. I'm trying to find a therapist that does EMDR. It's the one thing I've not tried yet. Also, how did you get over your fear of yourself throwing up? That's more my fear than others doing it.

 

 

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