What a relief to have found you!!

[winnieag]

Hi everyone! I am new here today and I never thought that I would find a group like yours to talk to. I found an article in a magazine that told about this phobia - I just thought that I was crazy and over-reacting. At least, that is what my husband and my kids think. Right now, I am sitting here feeling very sick to my stomach and anxious. I went to a store this past week-end, drove into the parking lot, looked over and saw somebody vomiting on the side of her car. As you can expect, I've tried to keep my mind in check, but my stomach has been queasy ever since. I even had to take some Benadryl to sleep. Do I have the phobia? I guess I really do! I've had it ever since I was a little girl and am now 60 years old! Why can't I get over it?? The one thing I am not afraid of is baby vomit. I can do that with no problem, and I've had 3 kids. After they got older, my husband had to take care of them. It was awful. They would call for me, but I couldn't help them. The weird thing is that I can take care of diarreah and bleeding cuts. In fact, I would have become a nurse if it wasn't for the vomiting issue. That is how strongly this has affected my life. I'm having a hard time even discussing this here with you. My husband and kids ask me why I can't get over this - "Just throw up and you'll feel better!" Yeah, sure! Anyway, thanks for listening and I will be reading your posts. I'm not sure there is any help for me after all these years, but I am really interested in what the rest of you are saying. My eternal gratitude for this sight, Linda

[dixy]

This forum has given me a great source of comfort too. Like you I didn’t now anything about emetophobia. Like you I read about it from a magazine. It listed common phobias such as agoraphobia , fear of heights and emetophobia. I was stunned! I didn’t know there were other people with the same fears as me.

People have overcome this phobia. This makes me feel very positive that with a lot of hard work I will overcome this too. I don’t want it to effect my life or my children’s life anymore.

[olschesky]

welcome to the site it has helped me alot in lowering my anxiety.....now that i know i'm not alone. i'm older also....58 and have suffered wtih this since i was about 8 as far as i can remember. i went most of my life thinking i was the only one also.......no name for it. doctors told me "noone likes to v" so get over it.....i stopped trying to find therapists after that.....but am reconsidering trying to find one since coming in here. you will find some people who suffer alot more than you do probably.......i'm like you....i can handle baby v, or even drunk v from someone.....as long as it's not contagious i dont panic too badly. but alot of times i go into a panic for absolutely no reason....it's terrifying and horrible and i don't think a non-emet person gets that part of it.......it has kept me from flying, having children, drinking and drugs (good thing!) . i do go to work.....i try and push through when i'm feeling scared.....but i admit i have had to go home from work and just get in my bed.

hopefully you will find some "tricks" here to help you cope......i know i have. i just told my husband, mom and sisters about this in january.....i've totally kept it to myself all these years.......i had them read some of the posts that were closeley related to how i feel......it helped them see a bigger picture.....not just "i'm afraid to v".

ok...i've gone on long enough........again, welcome to the site and good luck and peace!

post when you're happy, post when you're not.......tell us when you're scared and best of all....when you have a triumph.....no matter what it is

[griffdiz]

I was just like you thinking that I was the only one. I knew that emetophobia existed but I never really knew anyone could actually feel the same way I did! I thought I was just weird. I also feel queasy for a whil after seeing someone vomit. Also I feel like everywhere I go i see someone vomit like I'm cursed! Baby vomit doesn't bother me either. I think its because I know its just undigested milk. I was holding my cousins baby for the first time and he spit up down the front of my shirt! It was more funny than it was gross.