Ruining my life!! Please help :(

[knether]

I am new to this website – and so glad I am came across it. I honestly thought I was the only one who suffered from this phobia.

People around me just tell me to get over it and they just don’t understand. All people say is when you’re going to be ill, you won’t be able to control it, so just accept it. I cannot accept it, its obviously easier said than done. I know I can stop it from happening –if I ever have that ‘feeling’ I just completely eating so I know nothing up come up. I count the hours until I last ate. I have been able to stop myself from being physically ill for 13 years now. It has been such a struggle. I avoid eating any meat in restaurants and I never eat much food when I am abroad.

I have been suffering from this phobia all since I was about 5 years old when I had a horrible experience. Since then the experience has been repeating in mind. My phobia has got so out of control that I honestly don’t know what to do with myself. I wake up from nightmares and have to sit upright in bed until I fall asleep (with the light on).

I have plans to go travelling around the world in 3 weeks and people ask me if I’m nervous. The only thing I am getting worked up about it the fact about being ill. I have actually worried about it so much that I found myself getting into panic attacks which have given me an upset stomach – and then I start to question why I am unwell. I am panicking about a bug being on the plane and that I might catch it. I am worried about being forced to go on a boat and getting sea sickness. The list goes on and on and if any else suffers from this phobia and is reading this, I hope you can understand how long the list is. This phobia is really ruining my life. Please help L

[emmalinda]

hey there. welcome to the forum! a lot of us go through the same thing so your not alone. we all do the same kinds of things. its good to know theres some out there who understand. its hard for other people to understnad the concept of a phobia. its always easier said then done.

[nendre]

hello and welcome! i'm new here too, and also thought that i'm the only one in the world with this phobia...what you said, what others say to you, that's exactly what i've heard over and over again...but that's true, they just can't understand. í have this phobia for almost two years now, so last summer i spent at home, and this summer i really want to make a change and travel. and the only thing i'm worrying about is being sick. so the same thing, you're not alone! besides, since i've been emetophobic, i acctualy v* two times. and the feeling is nowhere near the feeling i get when i freak out about being sick- freaking out is so much worse, and it gives me greater pains and discomfort. when i realised that emetophobia is taking over my life, i got really angry on it and myself, and pushed myself very hard. still doing it- it's work in progress and i'm succesful! maybe that'll work for you too- go and enjoy your trip, i know, if someone said that to me some time ago, i would have thought that it's not that easy, it's just easy for you to say, i can't, etc., and i would just give up and say no to many wonderful things...don't do that! were here for you and you will be fine! you're not alone with this

[barb66]

am new to this site, joined today after thinking i was the only one with this phobia. I am in my forties to and have had it since being a small child. It has branched out into other areas of my life, constantly washing my hands incase of germs, over cooking food! not taking medication which wil make you sick, the list is endless. Cant be around people that are ill incase i catch it too. Feel selfish but cant help it esp having a child and dreading her getting ill to and what she will bring home from school. How do you cope with this phobia on a day to day basis?

[Tasha'93]

Hi there Knether, welcome to the forum and essentially the online world of emet's I guess! You most certainly aren't alone, as the posters above have said, we're all pretty much going through the same thing and have simmilar experiences so we can all sympathise with eachother. I also know how hard it is to have people sneer at this phobia and think i'm being a hypocondriac when really it's serious and not something to be laughed at or just unnoticed.

I am jealous that you're travelling around the world in a couple of week too! That should be such an amazing experience for you. As much as I want to say to you right now "Ignore the phobia whilst travelling, you'll be fine, just enjoy it", I know that is not going to happen, neither would I expect it to, I would be worrying like you exactly the same (even though I love to travel). However with you travelling around the world i'm guessing you'll be away from home for a long time and with the amount of things and places you'll be seeing, you'll be distracted from your phobia a bit. I mean obviously it'll still be there and some days you will struggle with it but at the same time i'm sure you'll be having such an amazing experience you'll be too preoccupied to be that worried about things. Enjoy it and let us know all about it when you get back please!

[bunnykins]

I was that extreme for a while so you are not alone. Although I am not as afraid as I once was but felt just like you. Although I have no clue what caused mine and I still have night mares my self too. Many of them contain images from shows I watched that had that stuff happen in it before I got the phobia. I honestly have no clue why I even watched those shows. Like the worst one that scares me the most was a show called You Can't show that on TV, which was a Nickelodeon version of Saturday Night live. Actually there was and still is a lot of Nick shows I can not watch as they seem to be the worst for showing this sort of thing.

When ever I started feeling ill I would dig my nails into my palm as hard as I could and the feeling of feeling ill would go away as I would start to think of how much my hand hurt. Interestingly enough a doctor told me to do that. He just said make sure you do not cause your self to bleed.

[stopthissong]

Hi Kethner,
I totally understand what you are going through. I have done lots of travelling and have had these same fearful situations in my mind that seem to stay there forever asif they are stuck in concrete. I also find though, that travelling can be a great place for you to start to overcome this fear. Everytime I travel, doesn't matter where it is to.. it can be overseas or in my country travelling by car, there are always lots of fearful situations. Although these are scary, remind yourself that your travelling! You are going somewhere great, a new place full of 100x more exciting things than scary things. I take it this is going to be like a holiday or vacation for you so just enjoy it. Have a good trip. There will be lots of things you'd like to avoid touching or eating out at places and you can do these things and not be worried because you will be so busy doing the next thing on the agenda. Well, this is how it has worked for me. If your going to eat out, you can check with the locals where they like to eat and the best and busiest places in town. This is a way of avoidance but it is not avoiding a restaurant all together so it is actually progress!
I hope you have a wonderful time and realise that trips like these are really good for the emetophobic. All the best and God Bless you.

[Maddie]

I've just joined to hi,lol.
I am going through the same thing, I have had this for 4 years and suffer terrible panic attacks because of it and it is ruining my life, I am getting better slowly and a couple of days ago I went to a McDonlads like 5 mins away from my house and ate a little ice cream. That was a big thing for me to manage, it seems silly to other people but I know what your going through, I know how afraid you are and how much you want it to be over. All I can tell you to do is stay as strong as you can and try and be posative and upbeat even when all you want to do is curl up in a corner and cry. Good luck and try enjoy your holiday, if you forget about your fear on your holiday(as impossible as that sounds) you will be a lot better when you get home again.

[barb66]

I was on those antibitics last week and had no problems with them. They advise you not to take any alcohol with them as these can make you sick but am certain you will also be ok also.

[JessalynV.]

The first time I went on a plane was the summer before I started high school, anyways, I didn't know then that the first time on a plane is horriable! My whole group felt miserable and nauseated and had d* for a whole day! And even partly the next morning. Anyways warning you right now, get some Dramamine, idk if it comes in non-drowsy, but take that 15 min. before you board the plane. You will be thanking me later, and they have these cool little wristbands that help against sea sickness, never had it, but never wanted it so I found those wristbands. I'm pretty sure I got them at a Rite-Aid. Anyways you are lucky duck, for getting to travel the world! I love traveling, can't wait till I get an oppurtunity to leave the country.

[s_uvi]

I'm also a newbie on this site. I just found it accidentally this morning. I have thought until today that I was different than others. I can't even remember how young I was when I first noticed this phobia. I get uncontrolled shivers if someone is sick or I think I might be. I love to travel but I hate it on the plane because I can't get out of there if someone is sick. Then when I get to the destination I'm thinking what I can and can't eat. I haven't ever been sick in a plane or otherwise in a very long time. Now that I know this is a phobia and someones have found a cure I wanna do that too.

[carissa93]

Hello, I am new to this site as well, and im the same way, maybe even worse. My vomiting phobia definitely impacts my life negatively and I would do anything to get rid of this phobia forever. You are not alone

[monkey_puzzle]

Hi guys I too am a newbie as of last night and wrote about this in the "sick on a plane" thread, I'm also going overseas to the US from Australia in a year and I'm trying to gear myself up for the long flight over/numerous flights between cities in a country I've never been in. When I was about 9 I threw up in a plane once we landed (not from motion but from being truly sick) and ever since then it has terrified me beyond belief, not because I will do it (I haven't thrown up since 1998) but because I know other people do. I hadn't flown from fear until 2007 and have coped fine with flights since then but they've only been under 2 hours. Reading this thread/all threads is starting to help, it's great to know I'm not a weirdo

[emmalinda]

im from australia as well and i got offered a free trip to america and declined it because i freaked out. you should go and have a good time. it will be very rare for someone to get sick. will you be going with anyone? you can always take on mints and stuff to distract yourself when you get on