What happened when you were around 9?

[harmonygirl72]

This is brilliant! I remember I went to a couselor in college and told him I always have stomach aches, especially at night. He asked me how long I'd been having them and I said "forever". He made me pick an age, so I said 8. Then, he asked when my parents got divorced. You guessed it: 8! My mom left! I know that is the root of my fear. Now, just to conquer it!!!

[jenna23]

Parents divorced - it was a really bad time for me, as they were always shouting atone another. I've been emet since I was 3, though, so I doubt it's related. It was, however, the trigger for an ED, which I still suffer with.

[KaydeeJayde]

I think what Sage is asking is what happened to us around that age because she's noticed a trend, and indeed, a LOT of people on here have had events happen when they were around that age. I think it has to do with the fact that it's one of the more impressionable periods in life. Yes, phobias can, and do, develop at any age, but from what I've heard from lots of people on here, other friends, strangers, support groups and from my therapist that a majority of the people I know have developed their phobias or had something trigger when they were between 7 and 10 years of age.

[arora]

ive been emet since i was about 4, but the last time i was sick was when i was 10. i dont think anything happened during that time, except that. i dont like the number 10. and i really dont like the number 9 either bc i was 9 during that year too. i know weird. and i cant have any number settings (tv, stereo) on number 10. haha

[kaiilyn_23]

Hm, well when I was nine... I would have been in grade... three! Ah okay so that would have been when my brother had the worst stomach flu I'd ever seen from someone around me, and my mom woke up next to me, and was vomiting with it. Sooo it was traumatic. I was already afraid of vomiting and vomit but that pretty much intensified it!

[shellbell]

I have been emet forever, i dont know why or how. But i only just today found out that there was actually a name for it and that its as common as one in 10 people having it!!!!! Seriously, people have laughed about this my whole life and the situation is not funny at all. It seriously affected my outlook on life and at times when there are stomach bugs going around faster than i can sneeze, i start to become OCD and start to not wanna leave my house or bedroom. I can remember EVERY single time when v* was involved, whether is was me, someone else or just there somewhere, right back to kindergarten when i was sitting on the swing and v* a feijoa yoghurt. YEP every single detail i can remember and they constantly flash back in my memory to increase my anxiety at times when iv finally lowered it. But sorry i cannot remember it occuring because of anything when i was 9. Although heres a thought - my Aunty suffers the same thing……..

[gumdropper1]

Wow. This thread is incredible! When I was 9, my school got food poisoning from the hot lunch in the cafeteria. I didn't eat it, as I always brought my lunch, but over 150 kids in all different grades started v*

Finlady, what was served for lunch that day?

[grdomzal]

Very fascinating thread!

My parents divorced when I was 8. I also had gotten sick that year. Then, I just felt like crap all the time from being depressed. Then a year later (when I was 9) I got sick again. By this time, the emet had already set in... I remember panicing trying to hold myself back from being ill. Didn't work. Ugh. But everything that happened definitely was between year 8 and 9 for me!

[4077girl]

My dog was hit by a car. Even though it was an awful dog, it bit my friends and peed all over, I still cry when I think about it. I've had had plenty of pets since then, which I cared for a great deal more and have been "closer" to, but for some reason, thinking of that incident ALWAYS makes me cry. It was long and drawn out; the dog was hit by a car and my parents laid her down on the kitchen floor, she wasn't moving, and her nose was bleeding. It's burned in my mind... Interestingly, my dad says that is the first time I had a "panic attack."

[cloughie]

I was about ten when i was badly sick, i wasn't sick again but a few years later when i felt sick i was frightened to death from then on i was an emet and went for 40 years, last year i was sick.

[finlady]

Finlady, what was served for lunch that day?

Ha! I wasn't going to say because I didn't want anyone to then decide to never eat that food again, but since you asked, it was baked ham. I'll never forget.

[kristylee86]

Wow, this is such and interesting topic, and also very sad to read all these traumatic and horrifying stories After reading them i actually just texted my mum to ask her how old i was when her and my dad split up... low and behold she says i was about.. 9! They are together now (I'm 25!), but they kind of went on a "break" for a couple of years and my dad moved to another state to work with his brother and i never got to see him everytime i would speak to him all i would do is cry!

Although i don't really like to recall exact dates or times of when i was sick but I believe i would have been pretty much bang on 9 when i stayed at my mums bestfriends house - i was friends with her 2 daughters, and they were all quite obese/junkfood eaters and i mean BAD junkfood eaters like every single night of the week... And their mum actually cooked a meal this particular night i stayed there and it was like a ham steak we got from the deli at the shops and she served it with like pineapple and something weird.. Not sure if it was already cured/cooked or whether she even cooked it when we got home or not but that next night when i got home i was soooooo sick!! I Was in hysterics!

But! I beleive my phobia actually was produced at the age 6 from the phobic/hysteric girl who i had to walk to the front office because she was my best friend at the time and she v* in class allll over our seedling project we were doing in little egg cartons.... Not that i mean any harm to people but if i ever meet her again... OOOOh! Look what those cruel imprints did to my life! haha

Very intriguing indeed!
Like you say Sage i agree and possibly thats when the mind/brain is more receptive to remember things and burn the memories into itself...

[CandaceTheFrog]

When I was 9, almost 10, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was mainly ill when I was 10 though, and that's also when I last v-ed. My mum recovered and has been fine since.

thats the scariest thing ever because when I was nine near ten my grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer and lung cancer....anyway ya my emetophobe started when i was ten because i had went to a sleepover bday party and had been messing around with my best friend and later that night we decided to toothpaste her face (no whipped cream). Well that was my brilliant idea and im so glad she was awake cause her food she ate didnt agree with her and she v* once (in the toilet THANK GOODNESS!!!!) and i freaked out and was miserable the rest of the night. idk why it struck me so hard because i never cared about v*........ oh! the last time i v* i was eight and my cuz came over and i was sitting with my head in bucket the entire movie. my other cuz when i v* ran over to see what color it was. my mom fixed that quickly. i just remember wearing diapers and watching the nick choice awards.

[emily-jane]

I was sexually abused from age 6 to age 11. I'm sure that has something to do with it but having that knowledge in my head doesn't make what my body's going through any less or any easier. How do you make the brain/body connection?

Avery I feel your pain, I'm exactly the same except my abuse was around age 8 and 9. I feel like there is a connection between my emet and my abuse even though I'm sure my emet was triggered when I was 6, I feel like the pain from the abuse added to severity of my phobia.

[teh folder]

I was phobic before 9. I had massive panic attacks in Kindergarten. 0_o

[drizzle418]

Wow these stories are so incredible I can't believe some of the stff you guys have had to deal with!!

When I was 8-9 years old I was very sick. or months I had a horrible stomach comdition. No doctors could figure out what was wrong with me but I kept getting sicker. I could not eat anything and began losing a ton of weight. One night in the shower the pain in my stomach got so intense I fell like passed out. My mom and dad wrapped me up in a towel and drove me straight to the emergency section of my pediatrician. When the doctor saw how sick I was she sent me to a GI specialist. She ran hundreds of tests on me and I was in the hospital nearly everyday. I almost died. Then, right in the middle of the whole ordeal I caught a horrible sv...the worst I'd ever had, for days I was v*ing non-stop and I cried/panicked the whole time. It was a truly horrible year, I am lucky I survived. Eventually the doctor discovered a bacteria growing in my stomach that can only get there through abdominal surgery. I had never had ANY surgery at that point in my life so te cause of my near fatal illness is still a mystery...

I did have emetophobia before that...I remember my 2 year old todler dance class being afraid of one girl because I thought she would v* on me every day...she never got sick but I was afraid of it even then. But the fear was not NEARLY as bad until I was 9 and got very very sick.

[Peace]

Wow, a couple of these stories have almost made me cry. Some very difficult stories here.

Nothing particularly traumatic happened to me when I was 9, but it was the age when I first began experiencing emet. Before then, honestly, I'd been kind of interested by v*—I was one of those kids who would go and look at someone who was getting sick, for instance (even though I apparently exhibited symptoms of the phobia when I got sick myself... I don't really remember this).

But when I was 9, I suddenly became obsessed with the idea of v*... it was on my mind non-stop, especially when I was in school, in a closed room, or someplace away from home. I left school numerous times because I thought I might v*, even when I didn't feel queasy. I had panic attacks in stores and on trips outdoors with my parents just because the thought of v* began rising up in my head and I couldn't suppress them... a bit like OCD, I suppose.

Come to think of it, actually, one of my parents had a really bad bout of anxiety when I was 9 stopped leaving home for a while. So maybe that was linked to it.

[IceMaiden]

I recall being severely ill with a stomach bug at the age of 8, however I was already an emet at that point :P

[NatalyKay]

When I was 9 I believe, I went to my gramma's house for I guess the new year? My grampa had pneumonia which led him to v*, but he was better by the time we got there. I ended up v*ing non stop the night we got there and had to go to the emergency room. When I think about v*ing, I always think it's going to be like that time. It only lasted 24 hours, but it was still a nightmare. I always think that I'm going to v* non stop again, and that's what freaks me out. I guess that was what made my phobia so extreme...

[Ikari]

SV... remember it clearly. I woke up around 3; the olympics (swimming) was on. I remember smelling the food I had ate for lunch that day. I was shaking uncontrollably. It was a friday night (saturday morning) so I was sad that I would not be missing school. I V* several times that early morning. At least four times. That has always stayed with me. I find it very interesting that I still remember that morning so clearly. I even remember what I had ate for supper and the places I had been that day after school. This was many years ago. That is why I always "freak out" whenever I wake up around that time. I automatically assume that I am going to be sick. Since then I have been sick one other time involving v*. But that was food poisoning. This was in 2009 and so the events are even MORE clear . Me and the family we're on our way to the Smokey Mtns. when all of a sudden my sister got s*. It freaked me out and I was so scared that I would get it! Well I didn't, but I got s* several days later after ingesting an imported Indian drink. I woke up around 1 in the morning with a severe stomach ache about 6 hours after drinking it. I know that's what it was. I felt bad the whole day. We we're on our way home ( state border) when I finally let v*, although luckily it all went into a bag I was holding, since I felt like hell would be nicer at the time, and I had one prepared in advance. It has gotten worse since then. I loose my appetite about every other day due to n*. I stay up late because of my stomach. I really do hate having this condition, although i'm comforted with the words that "this too shall pass..." You are not alone in your struggle.

[sdfl]

9 was when I went into foster care, already emet by then.

[NatalyKay]

SV... remember it clearly. I woke up around 3; the olympics (swimming) was on. I remember smelling the food I had ate for lunch that day. I was shaking uncontrollably. It was a friday night (saturday morning) so I was sad that I would not be missing school. I V* several times that early morning. At least four times. That has always stayed with me. I find it very interesting that I still remember that morning so clearly. I even remember what I had ate for supper and the places I had been that day after school. This was many years ago. That is why I always "freak out" whenever I wake up around that time. I automatically assume that I am going to be sick. Since then I have been sick one other time involving v*. But that was food poisoning. This was in 2009 and so the events are even MORE clear . Me and the family we're on our way to the Smokey Mtns. when all of a sudden my sister got s*. It freaked me out and I was so scared that I would get it! Well I didn't, but I got s* several days later after ingesting an imported Indian drink. I woke up around 1 in the morning with a severe stomach ache about 6 hours after drinking it. I know that's what it was. I felt bad the whole day. We we're on our way home ( state border) when I finally let v*, although luckily it all went into a bag I was holding, since I felt like hell would be nicer at the time, and I had one prepared in advance. It has gotten worse since then. I loose my appetite about every other day due to n*. I stay up late because of my stomach. I really do hate having this condition, although i'm comforted with the words that "this too shall pass..." You are not alone in your struggle.

I remember that night when I was 9 crystal clear, like it happened a few weeks ago. I remember I ate fast food, I remember I went to sleep early so I didn't have to watch a scary movie, I remember what I was wearing, even what I was thinking. That was 11 years ago!

[bittersweetiron]

Wierd i do thihnk i was about 9 when my phobia started. I had some sort of stomach virus and when i was finally s* i ended up choking and finding it hard to breath. it would of been the same year my dog was put down for attacking people to. i never thoaght they could be conncected.

[sandbags]

My phobia started when I was 4 or 5 but only affected me in certain situations and then worsened when I was 12, although I can't think of any possible event that could have triggered it to get worse. It's definitely really interesting to read about how much of an impact what happened to you all when you were 9 had, but for me it was when I was younger but I had a gap when I was okay for most of my childhood. I was a really happy and carefree kid when I was 9.

[canadianreject]

My dad got with my step mom. Downhill spiral after that.

[Elski]

Absolutely fascinating!

I was 9 years old when on Boxing Day I had a horrible sv, v* through the night and next day! This is the episode that I consider to be my trigger to emet.

[Erica1649]

I'm not sure excatly when things started, though as a kid, I had anxiety problems, I remember going to see a therapist because when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, there was this Indian man (he was very nice I imagine) who worked in our cafeteria...he had a horrible odor therefore I was like afraid of him...it was very strange...he never harmed me or anything haha...don't remember what else put me in therapy but a few times where I really freaked out w vomit is when I was a kid, I used to be I think lactose intollorant.

Well, one Easter Sunday, we went to my aunts house and she had tortolleni soup...I had that, and I remember also eating lemon merangue pie...well just as we got home, my dad was parking the car around the corner of our house and I knew I wasn't feeling good, I vomited all over a neighbor's side stoop. Alot, I think that didn't help. Maybe that was about 8-9 years old how about that??

Two years in a row, I got sick on Christmas Eve, not sure if it was full fledge panic attacks that did it back then, but it happened. The year after that, I felt nauseous, but that was it....

One thing that always triggered me once I was a teen/pre teen is my dad when he got sick....he was very loud and that always freaked me out...I would turn on my TV as loud as possible I remember I was listening to Boyz II Men on TV that night I'm Doin Just Fine was the song....weird how we remember such things.

Another time after that where people started to notice it was I was having a sleep over w my friend at my aunt and uncles house where my grandmother lived....we all ate dinner together, she never said anything about her feeling ill, all of a sudden, she started heaving into a plastic bag. Quietly....I said what were you doing? She says, "I was Throwing up" next thing you knew, I ran up the stairs frightened like crazy....since then, I have been peaked!

[PinkP]

When I was nine my granddad and I was playing, and he locked me in a barrel, he put me in-put on the lid and he went away to drink and forgot about me. My grandparents yard is really big so nobody heard me screaming for help, until half an hour later perhaps when my mom came to look for me.
I remember so clearly that i thought I would never be found, and I was bound to die there all alone. It was terrifying.

Later that summer we were driving home from a wedding when we hit a deer really hard, everybody freaked out and my mother was crying cause she was the one driving. And my drunken granddad, the same one as above, went out of the car and sliced the deers neck with a knife to properly kill it, so it wouldn`t suffer.
And I was sitting in the back seat covering my little sisters eyes while singing loudly so she wouldn`t see or hear anything. I cried for days I was so traumatized.

Those two incidents are the only things that stands out from when I was nine. But I didn`t become an emet until I was 20, so I don`t think there`s a connection.

[Curves]

Like you Pink I didn't become emetophobic until I was 21 so I don't know if anything that happened around age 9 has anything to do with it.

The one incident that stands out in my mind from when I was 9 is after my sister got married it was just me and my parents in the house. My dad drank heavily but was never violent. This one night my mom left her bed and came to sleep with me because my dad was talking and singing and she couldn't sleep. He was drunk again. For some reason he got up and came into my room holding his belt in his hand, and was swinging it in an effort to hit my mother with the belt. Well this traumatized me because I had never seen my dad like this before, and I didn't want my mom hurt, and I was the only other person in the house so I felt a responsibility to come between them and stop my dad.

My mom doesn't take any sh*t from anybody lol so she grabbed the belt and pulled it away from him, he was so drunk he didn't have the strength to really fight back, and that was the end of it. He went back to bed and mom and I fell asleep in my room, and it never happened again, but boy was that scary!!! I don't think it has anything to do with then developing emetophobia 12 years later??

[JaneGoodallFan]

yeah i got it when i was 10