Help with treatment please

[Redporti]

I have had this phobia for 30 years now and have been wrongly diagnosed with every other eating disorder going. Last year I decided to go see a CBT therapist who diagnosed me with Emetophobia and Post Traumatic Stress disorder. I am currently having CBT. I also have a problem with my Stomach and Small Intestine. I have gasto paresis and small bowel syndrome due to the removal of 110cm of Small intestine and Bile salt Malabsorption. I am on domperidone for the stomach and imodium for the bowel. I am so scared of being sick that it has ruined my life. I was extremely ill when i was in hospital 12 years ago and repeatedly vomiting did nothing to cure this phobia. I decided to go back to therapy last September and to be honest I don't feel I am getting anywhere with it. My therapist told me yesterday that he does not know how to help me so stop going to pieces and panicking when I get a physical syptom. Mostly my problem is that when my bowel or stomach get upset I totally go to pieces and can't cope and start thinking that I am going to vomit. I will then focus on that thought for hours on end until over time I start to realise that as so many hours have now passed it is very unlikely I will be sick. Are there anyother therapies that people have tried that have been successful? Has anyone tried Hypnotherapy? Maybe I need to try a different therapist. The guy I am seeing now told me that until I accept that if I am going to vomit I have no control over it then I wll never move on. But when I asked how do I get to the stage when I can just accept it, he said he didn't know. If I could just accept it then I guess I wouldn't have this phobia. So no help there really. Any thoughts on this will be appreciated. Due to my bowel problems I have been asked to have a Small bowel MRI done but the fear of vomiting the milky drink up is so great that I can't go through with it. I am possibly in a life threatening situation as until I have the MRI I don't know what is going on in my intestine. Very worrying time and I don't know where to go for help.

[pinogirl3321]

Well that isn't a way to cure a phobia just to accept it, it doesn't work that way.. a big part of this phobia is finding ways to cope with it first, and this guy doesn't seem like he has a clue how to do that. And there are a lot of emets that feel the sameway even though your stomach has been upset many of times and never v* during those times you still can't get your mind to realize that although this doesn't happen to me much anyymore there are times when I feel myself slipping up and getting back into that negative thinking.. I think the reason why things aren't changing for you is cause your therapist doesn't get the phobia or how to treat it. My advice is shop around for a new therapist. I've never tried any other things so I can't help with that but your therapist is obviously not helping you and I'm sure you could find another that would.

[Redporti]

You make a very good point and after 8 sessions with this guy who claims to have done lot of studys on emetophobia I have come to the conclusion that he is not helping me. I will be calling his secretary tomorrow to cancel the remaning appointments I have with him and try to find someone else. Don't know where to start looking for someone who does specialise in this phobia but I live in London and surely there must be some kind of list I can look up. If it was as easy as accepting that I might v* then I guess I would not have a phobia. On a good note I have called the MRI radiologist and had a good talk with her about having the small bowel MRI. She told me that if I can't drink the prep then I can drink water instead. The images might not be as good but good enough. I am taking the next couple of days to decide if I can go through with it and will call the dr's office Monday. I will still have to have the contrast injected in to me and the shot of Buscapan but she assures me that the only side effect is blurred vision for up to an hour after at the worst and a slight cold, tingly feeling when they put the contrast through. I will be scared but they assure me that I can continue to take my tablets that stop me feeling sick. Thanks for your reply.

[pinogirl3321]

Just cause you study doesn't always mean your going to know how a emet feels or that they know how to treat that person. All of us emets think differently and deal with it differently, but we are all scared of the samething, doesnt mean the same approach works for everyone. The best way to help someone with phobia is listen to them and make them feel comfortable in your prescence, and find an approach together. Your therapist is obviously wasn't doing that, like I said just cause you have knowledge on a phobia doesn't mean your approach is going to work. And I think you will be fine with the MRI, I know it is scary but there are plenty of people that has had these tests on this site and I've never seen one saying they v* or had a bad experience and I highly doubt you will either.