New to the site! Hi everyone

[Suuuuma]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this site, and I have read some of the posts from all of you awesome people, and I am relieved to know I'm not the only one out there who is TERRIFIED of this! I am 33 years old, and have had this phobia since I was 7 years old. I cannot even begin to explain how unbelievaby scary it is to feel sick, and know what the possibility is. There is no one in my life who understands this, and they think it's silly of me to feel this way. I am afraid of this more than anything else I've ever heard of or experienced. I would rather give birth 100 more times then be sick once.
I was hoping I could meet some new people on here, but I'm not quite sure how this site works yet, so I was hoping some nice people might be kind enough to introduce themselves! It would be a blessing to speak with somebody who understands what this feels like. Write back anytime. I'll be back on here tomorrow night, and thank you for reading my short story!! I'm here to lend an ear to anyone who needs it as well. Take care all!!

[tw6652a]

I signed up in 2008 and decided to sign back in because I am starting to freak out again because my mom has gastro intestinal issues which make her nauseous it freaks me out so bad that I could hardly drive her to the hospital , I feel like Im losing control I really do , I hate this problem Ive been also suffering since about 8 , I want to be over this and help my loved ones and family members, this is debilitating , I know how you feel , I need some ways to cope , Ive been popping anti anxiety pills like crazy lately I want to help my mom and sis and niece when they need me and BF but now I cant and I feel like a bastard

[ann32]

welcome to the site! it is definately comforting! i am 33 with 2 kiddies, I have suffered with this for as long as I can remember! Hope you find some comfort here!

[whaletron]

Hello, I've just joined today and not sure how this site really works yet. So far, though, it is comforting to read people's thoughts and completely understand :0)

I'm 32 and been emetaphobic for about 20 years. I hate it and it I don't have the words to express how totally exhausting it is. I am often torn between the comfort I get from my OCD and habits and the sadness that I am not living the life I should be.
Love x

[Suuuuma]

This phobia has definitely had a huge impact on my life. I once worked as a caregiver at an assisted living facility, and I loved it and was very passionate about taking care of the people I took care of. One year we got a Norwalk Virus outbreak and had 40something people all sick at the same time (staff included). I hadn't worked for a week or so, and had to come to work the day it was really really bad because everyone was sick. I tried to find someone to cover my shift, and no one could do it. At the time I only worked 2 days a week, so if I could skip my shift, that meant that by the time a week went by for my next shift, it'd probably be gone by then--HOPEFULLY. Anyway, I ended up having to come in to work. I cried and cried all night the night before because I was terrified to have to endure watching people be sick AND take care of them WHILE they're sick, and try not to bring it home to my family to watch THEM be sick. I was paralyzed with fear. I remember pulling up in front of the building in my car for my shift. Just being in the parking lot scared me to know what loomed inside. I worked my one shift, came home and just my luck, the next evening I came down with it. To make a longer story shorter, I worked there for another year, and they got another outbreak one week, and I had to make the choice to quit on the spot before subjecting myself to the stress again. I just couldn't do it. The funny thing is, I'm going to school to be a Medical Assistant!! Not sure how that's gonna work! If I am to see anyone vomit, I literally RUN! And I'm not kidding, I run as fast as I can far far away. It's a nightmare to be so afraid of something you can't avoid all the time. I cringe at the thought the next time someone in our home gets the stoach flu. I think about it all the time.

[whaletron]

Wow! You are brave making such a career choice - but good on you for getting on with it!! I found it helpful to learn about what is happening inside my brain when I am anxious and frightened. When I'm having a crappy time I always try and force my logical brain side to shout out in defense! I often tell myself out loud what is happening and why and I find it helps a little bit.

I always try and focus on the present. If I start to panic I sit myself down and force myself to think about what is actually real and what is just the fear (not real). For example, the other day a work collegue was sick and I started to freeeeeeaaaaak out but at the same time I reminded myself that I don't feel sick and I don't have stomach pain and that I am still breathing...

Does this sound stupid?? I hope it makes a little bit of sense :0)
x

[claire43]

Hi welcome to the site. Im kinda new myself - I joined a few weeks ago and have found it to be very comforting at times and its also reassuring to know there are others out there who feel the way I do and who think and act the same. I think you are very brave to have actually gone to work during that outbreak. I know 100% that I would have NEVER had the courage to have walked into a similar situation. I freak out if I hear of someone whose maybe got a sv* incase either myself or my daughter catch it. I can usually keep myself out of harms way but my daughter is 19 and does her own thing. She doesnt have emet so it doesnt enter her head about contamination but I worry she'll bring it home to me!!

[olschesky]

welcome to the forum......like the others i find lots of help, advice and comfort on this site.....i'm 58 and have been emet since i was 8. i think it's awesome that you are in the medical field. there are a few others onthis site that nurses or aides. don't think i could do it. although the last time i went to my doctor (about a month ago) i took him a print out of emet information from this site......figuredit was time i talked to him about it.......he had never heard of it....but sat and read about it and then said "i think i have this also" i was shocked........he says if someone v in the office he has to walk out......someone else has to clean it up......even for his own children........so i suppose you just never know.

it's great that you were able to go to work with the noro going around......i definitely never would have been able to enter the building. i agree with your decision to leave though also.....sometimes the stress is just not worth it....

i have a cleaning business......spend my days cleaning toilets and tubs that have had god knows what on/in it........so you just never know what you're capable of

anyways , welcome again.....look forward to hearing more from you

[Suuuuma]

Thank you for all the replies guys!!! I can relate to each and every one of you, and I've had all of the same thoughts! I once had a neighbor boy get sick in the evening after he had played alllll day at our house with my boys, and he came down with a stomach bug that night at his house, then his whole family came down with it one right after the other.I wouldn't let my kids touch the toys he had touched for a week. I lysoled them and put them in their closet thinking they would surely get it if they touched them, but you know what? None of us caught it!! It's amazing how this brain of ours works isn't it??

[emmalinda]

im glad someone who has this wants to work in healthcare. i would love to be a nurse but i wouldnt never be able to cope. you think with this phobia the last thing we would want to do is be around the thing we fear the most. i cant belived you worked there with all ghat going on! must of been so hard but you should be proud of yourself. thats a great achievement! welcome to the site

[Suuuuma]

Thank you! It was VERY VERY hard to go into work knowing there was 40-something people inside with a stomach virus. I cryed all the way to the door and throughout my shift. I wish my husband could understand the amount of fear someone has with this phobia. It is the thing I'm most afraid of! Whenever a stomach ache comes along, I freak out and pray to god I don't get sick. It's nuts how the house feels like one big germ to me when someone in my family is sick. Isn't it crazy that our minds think like that? It's very exhausting. So many people have told me that the way to get rid of the phobia is to just do it. NO THANKS!!! The last time I actually vomited was when I was 15 years old, and I'm now 33. Even if I have a stomach bug, which I have in the past years, I can use mind over matter and prevent it, or have been able to up to this point in my life anyway (knock on wood). But I think we always have it in the back of our minds that a stomach ache will be back someday, and we will have to feel that awful ickyness of it and fear of it. I'm so glad I found a place where people understand. I can't stress to you guys how good that feels!!! I pretty much thought I belonged in a looney bin. I feel for all of you because I know what you're going through. Thank you for sharing YOUR experiences with me too. Maybe we all can get through this together!!! Let me know if I can help, or if you get in a scary place, I am more than willing to try and help anyone who needs someone to talk to. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend! Thank you!!

[KtLou]

I'm a newbie. I'm really suffering tonight as my husband has been really sick since 2:30am. I'm freaking out so badly in the next room sleeping on the floor withmybears covered!I've been having panic attacks all night! I even drove ten miles at 4;30 am to use a toilet because I don't Want to go near ours! I've phoned my parents who were not in the slightest sympathetic or understanding. I've had to come back home although I really didn't Want to! I've not slept at all & continent to worry about him & the fear of me catching something!

[KtLou]

Covering ears not bears!

Would lobe to meet everyone x

[emmalinda]

dont stress darl. you cant catch anything unless you come in contact with the stimuli then digest it! and i dont see that happening!! im sorry he is sick. have you checked on him lately? he could be feeling better.

[KtLou]

He's got dioreahh too now so I'm so scared it's a stomach bug not just something he's eaten which is what he told me it was originally! I'm scared to touch anything! I feel like everything is diseased and I want to bleach everything I'm not sleeping. He told me he felt better earlier but has just had another bout of d&v

[emmalinda]

all you gotta do is stay hygenic and wash your hands ferquently and you wont get sick. remember that you cant catch it if you breath around him or the bathroom or anywhere else. hopefully he'll better soon, seems like hes gettin it all out.

[hairyfairy]

I don`t know how you do it! I could never go near a person who might have a SV, let alone work with them. I was once offered a cleaning job at my local hospital, but I know that I wouldn`t be able to cope when the winter came around, & the noro hit, so I turned it down & I`m still unemployed.

[KtLou]

We had a family buffet food party Saturday afternoon and it turns out that a number of guests have fallen poorly last night/ today. Freaking me out. I have everything crossed and am praying to upstairs..... X

[Suuuuma]

You just have to keep your hands clean and lysol everything! I've learned that sometimes it's just best to sanitize everything and then wish for the best! I also take a lot of echinachea and airborne in the hopes of boosting the immune system so that if you do get it, it's not as bad as it normally would be. After all that is said and done, you just have to wait it out. I know exactly how you feel though. Very scary stuff! A good thing to remember too is it'll pass, and things will go back to normal eventually in your house. It won't stay this way forever. That helps me!! One other tip that eased my mind a little was buying disposable dishes and silverware to lessen chances of exposure. I did that the last time my hubby was sick in March, and no one else in the house got it thankfully! You probably won't yourself. You'll be okay! Hang in there!

[KtLou]

Ok it's now weds eve. I'm still not sleeping with my husband ( which is upsetting husband & upsetting me for doing that to him) he was I'll sunday night. He wasnt ill after abiut 6:30 monday morning. Spent all Monday in bed. Weak & tired. He went back to work tues afternoon. I cooked him plain pasta tues eve. And did sit In the lounge opposite side of room to him to watch telly for a bit. I've been spaying everywhere with dettol sprays & bleach. He stripped the bed off tues morning and that was washed in the hottest wash my machine could do. But I'm worried about how long he's contagious for & if the bed can remain contaminated even though he wasn't actually I'll anywhere but bathroom. He used wipes to clean bathroom during events & I made him clean tues, I cleaned it too by pouring bleach everywhere. I've also made him clean it again tonight. Whilst I did some more cleaning too.

I'm still terrified! I'm completly OCD! I'm washing my hands a million times. I'm barely eating at all. I'm letting him down as well as being terrified of my dog as he slept with him the whole time. (he is going to a groomer tomorrow)

Husband is going away Friday till Monday and I'm terrified of being on my own. And am scared of sleeping in our bed again. I'm praying and praying but think I'm actually going crazy!!! I even cried at my boss today who tried to help.

Will life ever return to normal!?!?

[emmalinda]

theres no way the bed or anything can be infected with the bug unless he v* or crapped all over it, seriously!! hes already wiped and sprayed down the bathroom so everything is fine now. theres no need to worry anymore! it will be uuncomfortable being around him and the things hes come in contact with but you gotta make yourself do it. you'll feel better and relived once you do. otherwise everytime something like this happens your going to react worse and worse. if you wanna talk to other people go into the private or general discussion or something and start a new topic

[Suuuuma]

If you haven't gotten it already, you probably won't. usually this stuff takes about 2 days to get to someone else, so the odds of you getting it are pretty slim. Hang in there and only time will tell!!