Could be triggering.

I developed emetophobia after a traumatic incident in January 2015, a year ago. Since then, I have been terrified of vomiting.

I got sick every few months since then. The first incident was labyrinthitis, the dizziness and nausea lasted for several months. I also caught several stomach bugs that year (my mom works in a hospital, and most of my friends have several kids who are constantly catching things from school and parks), and vomited more times too because of my diet.

I tried everything to cure myself. Thrive and CBT were what I worked on the most, for months. I decided to try meditation and EFT (emotional therapy technique or, "energy tapping"). That seemed to work a lot! I'd set up times to meditate for around 15-20 minutes per day. I started out with 5, I wasn't good at it at first. I also remembered to tap every time I felt anxious about something, until the feeling went away. Then after it went away, I'd begin meditating again.

This seemed to work! Because this week, a few days ago, I felt really nauseous. Instead of panicking, I just set a towel on my lap, grabbed a box of Kleenex, and grabbed a bag, and sat. Every time a worry entered my mind, I'd tap, then meditate. I was okay. The next day, I felt a lot better. Then the day after that, I felt dreadfully sick. I had a fever of 100, I was dripping sweat down my forehead, I was nauseous, but managed to keep it from happening for about 5 hours. Eventually, the feeling got so bad that I decided to give in. I grabbed my bag and let it happen. I felt such immense stomach pains beforehand that I was screaming in pain. My dad heard me from the basement. But after I was done vomiting, my stomach felt a lot better. But I was shaking like crazy, I couldn't believe what just happened.

I was able to predict when I'd next vomit for some reason for some reason. I said I would around 5. I meditated and tapped for hours before I next vomited, and it wasn't even scary for me the second time! I felt really proud of myself! I didn't vomit more any of that day, but I realize if I did, I wouldn't have gotten so scared.

I went to sleep and woke up multiple times during the night, feeling like I might vomit. I'd sit up, drink a little bit of water, then hold my bag and wait. Nothing came out. I ended up going the rest of the night without vomiting.

I am sure I'm cured, but I still do carry the fear: "what if after a few weeks, my fears come back?"

But of course, I've always been a "what if" person, even before I had emetophobia! Now it's time to practice EFT and meditation to "what if" thoughts I may get throughout the day.