Hi,
I'm new in the forum.
I've been emetophobic for 12~13 long years. I haven't experienced nausea or retching for about 11 years. I was often in anxious statuses, but I haven't had any real sympton of vomit. Last 4~5 years it was getting better, I had a normal life (I was anxoius only when I was in contact with someone who felt sick).
This year, after smoking weed (it was not the first time), I experienced some strange symptoms. Tehy was similar to retches, but I didn't vomit in one day of these strange retches. I call them "strange" because I felt a really high pressure in the stomach, which was literally "lifted upwards"; however, even though I tryed to vomit the first time it happened, nothing came out of my mouth. It's like the retches were only in the stomach, but not in the throat, so there wasn't enough "boost". I spend an entire day with this terrible sensation, but I didn't vomit.
A couple of months later, I smoked again (yes, I'm really an idiot)... my body had the same reaction, and I definitely quit smoking. Again, I didn't throw up.
I thought it was simply a bad reaction to the smoke, but when it happened again with apparently no reason (for example while doing sport, or while walking), I fell into an abyss of anxiety. I can't figure out what can it be.
Randomly (about one time per month) I feel a lot of air in my stomach; after that, I experience a high pressure in the stomach, with the diaphragm pushing upwards, and a sense of "void" inside the abdomen, but no vomit. It's all really similar to the sensations I had when I vomited 12 years ago, but now I don't vomit. If I sit down and crouch forwards, I feel better, while if I stand up and walk, these strange retches increase. It also seems like the colon is "locked", as if air couldn't pass through it. After one of these episodes, I also had a bad constipation for about 10 days. It happened always before eating; but once happened, it's almost impossible for me to eat (phisically and psychologically). However, I don't have any sort of pain.
I'm getting more and more anxoius, because now I don't know when it could happen again, neither I can't figure out if it's something REAL, phisical, or if it's jus my mind. Last time it happened while I was driving for a long trip, and it was really, really bad. I'm getting anxious every time I drive.
I'd really want to know what is happening to me. Is our mind strong enough to do this? Or is it possible I have a particular syndrome or something like that?