Night n*

[Radum]

Hello.. I've had problems with this fobia for 5 years now. My whole college life. Unbelievable. I'm not going to write the whole story, just the piece that bothers me at this moment. The hardest time for me is at night. I'm terrified of waking up due to n* and of the need to v*. It doesn't happen to me very often that I wake up in the middle of night, but when I do and when it's not because I need to pee, I always get frightened and don't sleep for few hours. I'm just too afraid of the possibility that I'm awake because I'm going to v* that I actually start to feel n*. I'm able not to sleep the whole night. That mind... so powerfull and we use it to hurt ourselves Do some of you have the same problem?

[MichelleS]

I used to always have this problem until I learned and trusted that its my own mind doing it. All sorts of things can wake you up and you may be unaware of it. A noise..a dream..temps..hunger..thirst. When you start feeling anxiety when you wake up find something that can relax you. Music..TV..a book. Or you can do a relaxation exercise. Deep breathe a count of five. In five out five and repeat something like I am safe I am fine. These types of things wjen practiced do work.

[Claire-]

I don't have this problem too much as I've I v* twice in the night and both times it went somewhat like this.. Woke up, knew I was going to be sick, threw up, wasn't bothered by it in the slightest, went back to sleep because I was tired. xD So basically, you probably wouldn't wake up in the night to v* unless you v* within seconds of waking up. I don't know if that will make you feel better, but it's good to know that a lot of emets don't actually feel any anxiety when they really are unwell (from my experience and reading about others). If you wake up and have the chance to think 'Why have I woken up?' You're gonna be okay. ^-^
(I do apologise if this is unhelpful. I don't like to say things that might encourage the phobia but I do want to help!)

[MichelleS]

I have v in the night and haven't been able to tell if it was the phobia or that I was actually sick. And have anxiety like feelings no matter which way it goes. I have also had my anxiety make me v. Mind you this was years ago and haven't had the problem any more. I have dealt with emet since I was in my early teens. I will be forty in April

[Claire-]

Ahh, sorry Michelle, I wasn't trying to say every emet is the same. I've read stories about people who've been sick and felt anxious about it too, but I have noticed an awful lot of people who don't actually feel scared when they're sick (including me). Hard to explain given that nausea makes me panic. Maybe a certain type of nausea (the one you get when you're actually sick) doesn't scare me because my body just accepts it or something?! Anyway, glad you don't have that problem any more