Im so tired of the nightly stomach aches.

[ccaassiiee]

Every night, almost at the same time, i get hit with anxiety and very bad N*
Every single night this happens.
And every single night i am convinced i will V.
Yet every single night, I never V.
But yet i am still scared as hell and have an anxiety attack.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I mean i KNOW it's anxiety, but it never ends. Never.
I cannot remember the last time I have gone to bed feeling WELL.
God its been awhile.
Do other people experience this?

[kaiilyn_23]

Every night. Right now, in fact. I dread going to bed, it's awful for me, I always lay there in complete panic, afraid something will happen.

[olschesky]

maybe try some relaxation methods before going to bed........it sounds like anxiety happening for both of you. i know alot of emets fear the night time........i've learned to love it.......a nice hot shower.....warm pajamas, a cup of tea and good thoughts.....i do a meditation thing where i imangine my feet going to sleep, then my ankles, then my knees and on and on......keeping my mind occupied keeps the scary emet thoughts away.........so chang up your way of thinking about night time......it's a time for rest

[Rebecca85]

Maybe it's because you expect it to happen that it does, so maybe changing your bedtime routine will break the cycle. So if you normally read in bed before you sleep, watch TV downstairs instead. Move your bedroom furniture round so the view is different. Our minds do something called 'cue dependent forgetting', meaning we use cues in the environment to remember things. Like when you lose your train of thought, you retrace your steps and you remember what you were thinking. When you go to bed, your mind is probably making the connection 'last time I was doing this I felt n', so this time you feel n too. By changing the cues at bedtime, you make it harder for your body to remember the n feeling.

[chelz]

i have exactly the same since my last vomiting bug wich had me vomiting badly day and night for a whole week and i get exactly the same as u its been 4 weeks now including the week i was being sick i just want to get over this iv had emetophobia since i was a toddler and i am now 22 xx

[chelz]

i think thats a good idea rebecca85 im currently ill bedbound in my own room in hospital so cant change the room but i guess i can change wot im doing at night thanxs xxx

[coolpk2003]

I love night time but I hate bedtime. I love the hours before bed when I'm in my safe place which in my case is my house. I do my workout and take a bubble bath and watch tv but when it's time to actually go to sleep I freak out. I always say tonights the night I'm going to get sick. I tell my husband over and over that I'm going to wake up and be sick in the middle of the night and I may not make it to the bathroom and ask him what he's going to do and if he will clean it and say if I get sick in this room I may not be able to sleep in here ever again...I get outrageous but I totally freak out as soon as the lights go out and it's time to sleep. I have been turning the tv to a music channel lately and singing songs in my head til i fall asleep just to try and keep my mind off everything. It sucks being us haha.

[ccaassiiee]

We'll as sad as it is that so many of us are struggling, im glad im not alone.
I'm going to try some of this out, thanks for all the advice.

[krisdance83]

I am this way too. This year is especially bad for me - I don't remember this happening EVERY night last sv* season. Something is really bugging me this year (no pun intended!) ... I feel nauseous after virtually every meal and especially before going to bed. Like coolpk said, I love the evenings and being home but I hate when it's actually time to go to sleep. Even if I have a "good" night, I still try to stay awake as long as possible worrying that I will wake up sick in the night. This is HORRIBLE!!! There has got to be a way to fix this awful curse.

[imperfectbirds]

This has been happening to me also. I think be part of whatever mysterious illness I've been battling since October...but it's totally gotten worse since "the season" has arrived. I think it's also because, since my illness started in October, I haven't been able to eat normally, and now I'm eating less and less, so my tummy is very sensitive anyway :/
I have to make myself stay up as late as possible. The only good thing is I'm getting a lot of work done on my novel, ha ha.

[Natiebear]

Maybe it's because you expect it to happen that it does, so maybe changing your bedtime routine will break the cycle. So if you normally read in bed before you sleep, watch TV downstairs instead. Move your bedroom furniture round so the view is different. Our minds do something called 'cue dependent forgetting', meaning we use cues in the environment to remember things. Like when you lose your train of thought, you retrace your steps and you remember what you were thinking. When you go to bed, your mind is probably making the connection 'last time I was doing this I felt n', so this time you feel n too. By changing the cues at bedtime, you make it harder for your body to remember the n feeling.

This is what i was going to tell you she is right.

[ccaassiiee]

I know it happens because i expect it to, and the saddest thing is that i cant stop it.
i think i just need a change, you know?
im tired of this anxiety eating me alive.

[jennnh]

i battle the same thing...i feel its because once i turn the light out and lay there i think too much and am afraid i will wake up and throw up.

[jenna23]

Sweetie, I know how scared you must feel, and you know you can't keep up a distraction. But when you do feel n*, just think, "is there anything at all I feel like eating". Sometimes, and I know I get this, you might just be hungry, if it's even a couple hours between dinner and bed.

[x...RaChE...x]

to be honest with you, I think you're doing this to yourself... like thinking about emet... anything to do with v* and your body automatically starts creating symptoms... gathering yourself into a worry when you could be just enjoying yourself! you should try staying away from this site for a week at the least, take anything sickness or emetophobic related away from your mind... if you keep your hygiene good... theres no way you'll get ill! Not a chance besides I doubt you'll get ill anyway, you're emet aren't you? we never get ill anyway I think you just need to take your mind off the subject and start focusing on other things... good luck <333

[susanwaverly]

Hey, I just joined this site and out of all the posts I've read so far, yours is the one I COMPLETELY relate to. It's crazy how this happens to me just like it happens to you. I'm glad I'm not alone in this
Not a lot of people understand.

[ccaassiiee]

Thanks for the advice and helping me through this guys.
I know I do it to myself, i fully admit to that, but I cant stop it.
I keep my hygiene very good (kind of compulsive good)-i'm trying my best in other words.

And welcome susan! I'm glad this site can help you out, i know it has helped me so much just by finding out that i am not alone.
If you ever need someone to talk to i'm all ears!

[na7aly]

Its almost like self torture.... Not sure i can live like this anymore xx

[wargerbil]

When my brain gets stuck in these ruts I try to do "reality testing" with myself. Like stack up all the evidence in my head why I know I'll be fine. Keep reminding myself that it is DISORDERED THINKING that is talking to me, not my logical and rational brain. I repeat the reasons why I shouldn't be worried, why every other time that I worried nothing happened, that the odds that anything WILL happen are so small stacked against the odds of nothing, etc...

[ccaassiiee]

reality testing, ive never heard of it put that way . I find that that helps me calm down, the reassurance that i am just over reacting to how i am feeling is helpful. I'll have to try and be better at it, because lately, i do admit, ive kind of just been letting myself worry and get worked up.

thank you for the advice

[sophiee]

oh my goodness, same here D: I had to stop eating absolutely anything at night. I know this is tmi, but i sometimes even go diarhea. I get anxiety always at night for some reason, and i get so paranoid and nauseas at night. I wanna be able to start eating dinner again but i can't allow myself to because i dont wanna end up throwing it up. I only eat at 5:00pm or 6:00 pm and count down the hours to make sure its gone out of my stomach by night. We need to get over this fear D: its over ruling my life..

[wargerbil]

reality testing, ive never heard of it put that way . I find that that helps me calm down, the reassurance that i am just over reacting to how i am feeling is helpful. I'll have to try and be better at it, because lately, i do admit, ive kind of just been letting myself worry and get worked up.

thank you for the advice

lol. I'm a social worker. It's a counseling term. You're welcome!

[ccaassiiee]

you know what? as many stomach problems as i have, i RARELY ever get d*.
I often feel like i will- due to indigestion, but come to think of it, i never really get it.
MAYBE twice a year.

[Mann48]

I thought I was the only person with this fear. I can't sleep more than 3 hours a night. I'm so terrified. Its affecting my personal life and work. I am miserable.

[ccaassiiee]

Im sorry you're miserable but you arent alone.
I never seem to be able to get any sleep, my anxiety keeps me up.
Have you tried going to a doctor and seeing if they could give you something to help you sleep?
I take a muscle relaxer every few nights when my anxiety is unbearable, it might really help you out.
If you ever need someone to vent to at night (or anytime) im all ears!

[Mann48]

Thank you. I've been sick since I was little. I went to so many doctors and they couldn't find anything. I was always in pain and crying and I started to fear the illness. I am going back to doctors to find out what's wrong and for the anxiety as well but its hard.

[Galadriel]

I can commiserate. It doesn't happen every night though, I will get good spells, but then go through bad spells where 3-4 nights of the week I will have a stomach ache or gut issues. I've been battling this for years, ever since I was a kid.

What helps me most is propping myself upright, and having ice cold water to sip. Sometimes it turns out its because I have to use the BR, and after it usually sorts out but I hear ya it can get real bad feeling.

[MPMRobin]

I used to listen to the radio at night because I found listening intently to what they were saying meant I wasn't thinking about feeling sick... However, when I went through some of my worst times, I found it didn't really help any more, and now I associated the radio with feeling sick. However, I did find it helped, and something that really got me through some bad times, mostly anxiety, was listening to music. I don't mean just having it on in the background, but lying on my bed listening to one fo my favourite songs and concentrating on EVERY note or lyric. I filled my mind with what I was listening to and didn't allow myself to think of anything else. This really helped, and still does help me to cope with anxiety. Feeling ill is probably due to you thinking about feeling ill. Find something else to think about instead!

[frankieanime]

Every night, almost at the same time, i get hit with anxiety and very bad N*
Every single night this happens.
And every single night i am convinced i will V.
Yet every single night, I never V.
But yet i am still scared as hell and have an anxiety attack.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I mean i KNOW it's anxiety, but it never ends. Never.
I cannot remember the last time I have gone to bed feeling WELL.
God its been awhile.
Do other people experience this?

What I noticed for myself, is I'm ALWAYS taking time to focus on how my stomach feels. I find that by just feeling the carpet on my toes, or the wind blowing, or even the creak and cracks in my house tend to drive the N sensation away. Besides, I figure 99% of the time it's just my mind playing games. One thing you don't EVER wanna do though, is get supersticious about dates... Like the last time you V* and so on. That murdered my childhood, but I learned to cope and forget, but recently I got a SV*, so it's been acting up, but at least now I KNOW i'm not sick, I already was xP

[ccaassiiee]

Music helps me alot too- nice calming music. Theres nothing better.
And i tend to way over think the state my stomach is in every night. I didn't think about concentrating on things such as the carpet or creaks and cracks, i'll have to try that.
And aw no im sorry you got sick....
Thats the best part about being sick, once you're done with it, you feel better because you have a window of time before you can really get ill again.