Welcome to the International Emetophobia Society | The Web's Largest Meeting Place for People With Emetophobia.
Results 1 to 6 of 6

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    42

    Default


    All right, so over the last couple of months I've been dealing with some
    basic nausea that seems to come and go. A few weeks ago, I had a UTI
    (fun!) and I became so persistently queasy that I couldn't eat for about
    two weeks. I was too queasy and convinced I would v* if I ate anything at
    all. I could barely force down water. I lost a LOT of weight, which freaked
    me out and sent me to the doctor.

    A battery of tests, pokes and proddings later and they found nothing
    wrong with me. The only thing my doctor suggested was that I take some
    Zantac for possible acid-reflux. So I did that, and it helped. My appetite
    slowly began to return and before long I was able to eat fun things like
    spinach pizza and chicken fingers, etc.

    This past week, while on penicillin VK for a bad tooth, I flew across the
    country and promptly caught a nasty cold (three days of fever, runny
    nose, sore throat, cough and general feeling of bleah). I had a perfectly
    decent appetite before that, with only a bit of the old queasy feeling, but
    the cold completely obliterated it. Over the last few days all I've been able
    to eat has been chicken soup, crackers and toast.

    The PROBLEM is that I'm starving, I WANT to eat, the thought of food
    doesn't make me feel ill or anything - it's WHEN I eat, and AFTER I eat,
    that the trouble starts. I feel incredibly nauseated, even as my stomach
    growls for more food. I'm hungry right now, but I know that if I tried to
    eat anything more complicated than a Ritz cracker, I'd feel awful.

    Could this be anxiety/the cold? I've been moving, and I just got into
    college and there's a lot going on. But would anxiety last this long? And I
    don't FEEL anxious. I've never felt like this before the beginning of this
    year. I don't get it.

    Any ideas, thoughts? Should I go back to the doctor again?

    Thanks. <3

    - Anna

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    77

    Default

    I went through something similar to this and it turned out to be pure
    anxiety. I lost so much weight from not being able to eat, even
    though I was hungry. I used to have severe anxiety attacks that
    would cause me to have cluster headaches and all sorts of
    miserys. But this sounds EXACTLY like what happened to me.
    I finally had to go to the doctor and he put me on a low dose of Xanax
    so that I could calm down enough to eat. I didn't know I was
    having anxiety or at least that that's what was wrong with me till then.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts
    4,577

    Default



    This could very well be anxiety - in fact, it sounds like it. And many people on here would be able to identify with you and have had the same problems.


    Very VERY often when a young adult moves from home or goes to college then some anxious response ensues. For some, it is as bad as a psychotic episode (schizophrenia begins at this age). For others it is as mild as "homesickness". Often there is no "homesickness" when people don't have a good relationship with their parents, so they don't realize that the anxiety problems are related to the move away from parents.


    Not "feeling" anxious is not relevant. The body "feels" anxiety in many ways. Your body seems to "wait" until you've eaten for the anxiety to arise - and in the form of "nausea". It's a fascinating body response to stress....fascinating, but not very nice to go through if you're in it.


    You have a number of options - sometimes just recognizing it is anxiety helps a lot. You can sort of say to yourself "hey - this is just anxiety" and then perhaps you will calm down. It is an absolutely human, physiological response to stress to "shut down digestion". This is often felt, by emetophobics, as "nausea". The amazing thing is that if you can find a way to relax, then your digestion would begin to function again, and you would feel better. It's sort of a Catch-22, I know.


    If this doesn't help you, then maybe you could talk to someone like a counsellor, and if it gets really bad then perhaps medication for anxiety would help. Zantac, believe it or not, has tranquilizer qualities to it....which is probably why it helped you in the first place.


    Good luck!
    For more info about emetophobia and treatment:

    To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
    DISCLAIMER ~ Any advice I give on this forum is well-intentioned and given as to a peer or friend or for educational purposes. It does not in any way constitute psychotherapeutic or medical advice. Please discuss anything you may learn from my posts with your doctor and psychotherapist prior to making any decisions or changes or taking any actions.



    To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    2,335

    Default

    Anna, I can relate to your story. I think a lot of us on here can. Sage is right about the anxiety. I get n* and feel generally crummy a lot, and worry that I am sick, but then afterwards, I realize that it was anxiety-based, even though I didn't "feel" particularly anxious at the time. This happened to me in a big way last night. I was very queasy, tense, and started to feel tingly in my face. I felt this way most of the night, and didn't sleep until about 4:30 in the morning. It was only after taking a long, hot shower that I was able to calm down enough to consider going to bed.
    It sounds like you have a lot going on in your life, so your symptoms make sense, in that this is the way you are feeling the stress. I don't have any advice, but I wanted to let you know that I can identify with how you feel.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    15

    Default

    I would chalk it up to anxiety too. A few years ago (when my anxiety first started), I dropped weight so fast. People were complimenting me left and right. I had no idea I even had any anxiety, I just thought that I had inherited my dad's prone to heartburn kind of stomach. I had chest pains that I thought was asthma. Besides being nervouse for speech class, I had no idea there was another kind of anxiety. THe sky opened one day and I realized that I didn't have asthma OR stomach problems. I was just a ball of anxious and it came from a guy breaking up with me. Ugh!

    Sometimes, on a good day, I'll look at my situations objectively and tell myself to just calm down and get over and if I had any real problems, I could do something about them rather than just fret. But then there are bad days too when I want to break down and cry. It's nice to be able to talk yourself out of anxiety fits. It makes me feel like I have a least a little</span> control over the thoughts in my head.

    I guess I don't have much advice for you. It's easy to tell someone to calm down and relax but it's much harder actually doing it. I hope college goes well for you! Enjoy it. I'm in college too and I never went away to it...I regret it. Live it up!

    Anger is just <font color=RED>love </font> disappointed
    To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



    To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
    it\'s an addiction.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    42

    Default

    Thanks so much for the replies. It helps to have other people who can
    look at this with empathy, because most people around me seem to think
    I'm just a hypochondriac. :P You're all probably right - Sage, thank for
    being so thorough - in that it's anxiety, and I think I will look up a doctor
    to talk to about it. I can't really afford more weight loss (I'm 5'4" and right
    now, 116lbs, which is completely unhealthy for me) and I really miss
    food. Plus, I'm off to Europe in July where I'm promised a reindeer/
    mashed potatoes/cloudberry dinner, and I simply cannot miss out on
    that! A low dose of an anti-anxiety medication might be just the thing,
    since I've tried nearly everything else.

    Some good news this morning, though! I woke up hungry and before I
    could talk myself out of it, I ordered a pizza and snarfed down half of it.
    It's staying put, and aside from a naggy little headache that's likely from
    the heat/dust/lack of caffiene, I feel fine. Hurray!

    I'm going to work on calming methods, and think about things to help
    relieve my anxiety. Playing video games seems to help so I've reinstalled
    Warcraft on my Mac. We'll see if killing murlocs keeps me from getting
    too worked up about the little things.

    Thanks again. You're all really awesome. &lt;3

    - Anna

 

 

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •