When did it start for you?

[Addy]

Hi everyone. I just joined. I was wondering when everyone's phobia of v**** started? Mine was as long as I can remember...when my dad used to get sick, I would run away...outside and fall asleep. My parents invested in the hunting ear muffs so I wouldn't hear anthing, which worked wonders! Very uncomfortable..anyway, 21 years later, my phobia has not gotten any better and I still shake and cry and run away. I'm not sure if its the sound itself or just the overall process/entire thing.

How do you guys handle it? I came on here to try to be able to handle this problem. I can't seem to talk myself out of freaking out.

Thanks guys for your input!

-Amanda, or Addy--whichever you prefer.

[sage]

Hi Addy and welcome to the site. I think you'll find a variety of responses of when or how people's emetophobia started. I was also phobic for as far back as I could remember.

If you're looking for resources or treatment, check out my website (link below).

I'm sure you'll find lots of support here as well!

[ForensicGirl]

Hey! I just joined too... I'm 17 years old and I've suffered from this phobia ever since I could remember. I have been taking great leaps and bounds in overcoming it though... I even went on a really long plane ride to Mexico, back in September!!! I'm very proud of that fact, haha. I think my phobia started when I was two, and we were at my grandparents because my mother was violently ill... She was v****ing in the toilet && I was rubbing her back and telling her it would be okay (HA! can't believe I did that! well, I was two...) but ever since I've been an emet. I thought things were getting better (I.e I took a plane ride) but then we lost our house & ended up moving in with my grandparents (seven people in a tiny three bedroom house... && the bedroom I'm staying in is plastered against the bathroom wall... you get where I'm going..) Hopefully things will start to look up...

[StaceySGMW]

I'm 19 now.
I know I've never liked v*, but I think I discovered emet back in 2003, me and my sister both caught noro, it was like that scene from the exorcist. I think it was then that I decided to look at why I completely broke down after that. So I'd say I've been an emet for 7 years almost.

[griffdiz]

I have had it for as long as I can remember too. I don't really remember a point where it was triggered. But I do remember that when I was little I hated peas, and one day in preschool they made me eat the peas on my tray and I immediately threw up all over my tray. That is the earliest vomit memory I have.

[griffdiz]

Oh ya, and the time when the doctor stuck a tongue depressor down my throat and I threw up all over my purple cordouroys. I was pretty young then too. I still to this day despise the smell and taste of tongue depressors (we use them at my work). And I hate popsicles with the wooden handles. Just thinking about it is giving me goosebumps!

[paperpaladin]

i'm 20 now. i remember when i was 8 or 9, i had school pizza with ham & pineapple & i woke up in the middle of the night swallowing saliva, changed into a shirt i didn't like (because i hated vomit & i didn't want to get a nice shirt dirty) & V* into the toilet...i don't know what caused me to hate it & i still need to find that out, but since then, i count years & months since i last V*.

when i was 15, i V* outside because i didn't want to ruin my toilet. i freaked out bad and thats when it hit me...i had a fear of vomit.

its taking over my life & i'm too scared to do any treatment. i can't use public bathrooms because i'm scared someone will throwup while i'm in there & i can't get out & covering my ears isn't enough. i can't go near little children in public areas or near elementary schools. & i try to buy all organic foods because i'm scared pesticide will make me sick. if i get a stomach ache, i will cry very hard out of fear. i can't go to E.R. rooms because of other people might be V*. oh & of course i never go near bars & or alcohol.

i'm really glad i found this site. (= i thought i was the 1 out of 1 million people do have this. of all the people i told this too, i was always ridiculed by having this. the comment i remember most was, "how can you be scared of V*? its a natural body reaction. you might as well be scared of blood. air. water. you're a freak."

[3eb]

ive never heard any of this because i have never told anybody, i have carried tic tacs with me for 7 years wherever i go because of this problem, tic tacs somehow calm me down and make the dryness in my mouth go away, but how am i supposed to explain this to anyone? i took all sorts of perscription pills for this and the help a lot, but then my dose was lowered and now its back to normal. im terrified of getting food poisoning, whihch makes me eat just about nothing. i only trust my mothers cooking and certtain other "safe" places. its ridiculous, its annoying, and god it is soothing to know that other people out there are going through this too.

[TwistsofSilver]

Im 23 now and I have never known anything but suffering from emet. My first ever childhood memory is running away from my sister when she v* in public. I dont know how or why this phobia started for me but it has certainly got worse as I have got older. I havent physically been s* myself since I was 9 years old. I have always known I had a phobia of s*, I knew it wasnt just fear because of my reaction compared to that of my brother and sister. I never knew it had a name or that there were other people out there that suffered from it until I googled it when I was 19 years old. I cried because I finally realised I wasnt on my own. I hope your ok xx

[Lorni]

I was 6 maybe 7, at a Christmas dinner party thingy we had once a year at my nans. She cooked for alot of people, and this one particular dinner had some uncooked sausages. I ate 3, my cousin ate 3.. My uncle ate 5, and my sister at 1.
& Oh yeah did we all come down with horrible horrible food poisiong, I felt so ill, and watching my family come down with the same thing, I wanted to see my family who didnt have it, so I wondered down the corridor, past the toilet to see my uncle slumped over the toilet, he looked dead. It literally haunts me, now sick, feeling sick, stomach bugs anything to so with sick, literally scare me to death. I'd much rather be dead than face a bug, its crazy! My cousin has the same phobia along with my sister, but my is so server compared.

[teh folder]

I was emet as far back as I can remember. I am mostly an ex-emet now, not 100% though. I can remember getting panic attacks in kindergarten. (Basically a class, after Pre-School, before grade 1 - for areas that don't have a grade called kindergarten.)

[kaiilyn_23]

When I was three.

I've always been afraid, but this past six months it's worsened 10x. Now I'm living in fear. I used to only freak out when I felt sick or someone was sick, now I just fear of feeling sick and fear of fearing, you know? I want my life back.

[regina]

I was 11 or 12. I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and must of also felt sick and V** in the toilet. After that I just felt fear. I was afraid to go back to bed.

I've been afraid of it ever since. the ironic thing is I have rarely ever gotten sick compared to most people. I can count less than 7 times total that I remember although I'm sure it was more when I was really young.

Now I think about it almost daily.

[Silivrin]

As long as I can remember as well... I only remember v* once on the carpet, once in my plate, on once in my bed while I was asleep... (*shudder*), and then it didn't bother me so much, probably because I was still only about 2 years old and it was normal. I think the first time it actually bothered me was one day that some kid v* in front of me, so I ran away instinctively and then immediately saw some other kid eating sand and spitting it out (looked like v*) and I was so terrified that I ran back into school and huddled in the reading corner crying. I was probably about 6 at the time. That memory is vague so I can't be sure what exactly happened... Now I'm 15 and I haven't gotten sick since I was three years old .

[Potatoescangiggle]

I'm 12 and I've had it for as long as I can remember. I shake, cry and run away covering my ears when someone gets s* too. What I do when I cant get my mind off the subject is envision a balloon and slowly breath in (foucusing just on the balloon) and whatch as my balloon gets bigger. then I slowly breath out and whatch as my balloon gets smaller. it helps me alittle bit.

[Midnight Dream]

Hey
Im new here too, I just joined today! Im 16 and have suffered with Emet for my whole life, as far as I know. When every someone V* I run into my room, cry and shake, cover my ears and rock back and forth on the floor. The last time I yeah you know was I think 2009 in about Febuary I think when I ate too much fish n chips, since then I have never eaten fish and chips since then and there was another time when I was about seven and I ate a chocolate chip cookie, y'know the ones you can buy in the packs of 5 from Sainsburys but yeah I ate one and that night I was s* Since then I have never eaten that cookie EVER! God I hate it so much. . . It has worstened so much over these last few months, due to near *v expierences!

[AndiGirl]

I think I was officially emetophobic by age 16.

I had a harrowing experience with v*ing when I was 6 years old. That was back in October of 1978. I know the month because I remember seeing Halloween decorations in our living room. I ate supper as usual and did my evening routine. Late that night, I felt ill. I remember climbing out of bed and going to the bathroom. I remember v*ing in the sink. I went to get my mom. She didn't yell or get made at me, though she was upset that I didn't throw-up in the toilet. My mother found a coffee can, and my father set up the sofa bed in the living room. My dad spent the night with me on the sofa bed. I'm sure it was hard for him because he is very emetophobic and has seriously not v*ted in about 40 years. My daddy was very loving. He stroked my back and spoke gently to me as I upchucked. It was horrible, I never pk*d so hard in my life. I remember crying and shaking. That was the first pk*ing episode that I can remember.

The next part of the story is kind of humorous. I woke up the next morning. My dad had already left for work. My stomach didn't hurt, but I felt parched. I saw my mother heading outside in her robe. I asked mom where she went and she said, "I gave the garbage man your pk* can." Oh yuck! That must have been quite a scene. I wonder if the garbage man looked inside? My brother felt sorry for me and tried to cheer me up with his Saturday Night Live imitations.

I don't believe that I developed emetophobia at that time, because a year later, at age 7 I had another episode. I felt nauseated off and on throughout the evening. I went to bed and woke up feeling like I needed to burp. I did burp and v* ended up on my bed cover. I called to my mom who helped me to the toilet. I v*ted about six times and then felt okay. I went to sleep shortly after that and has some really weird dreams. That episode didn't scare me, and definitely wasn't as traumatic for me as the one that happened a year earlier.

I guess there are many factors that have probably contributed to my phobia. My parents are both emetophobic. When I was 7 years-old I developed a friendship with a girl my age who was completely against v*ing. I remember her saying, "If your not sick while you're doing it, you will be when you taste, smell, and look at it." She may have had more influence on me than I have realized. I started developing digestive troubles during my junior year of high school. I remember being afraid to v* so I fought it off numerous times. Most of my adult life was mixed with some form of digestive discomfort. When I was 29 years-old I must have caught the Norwalk Virus because I had a pk*ing fit just like the one that I had when I was 6 years-old. I felt too sick to fight it. I also had fever and chills. I was pretty sick for two days. After that episode, I think my phobia was alive and well. At age 32, I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, and have fought many battles with nausea. I am still amazed that I didn't v* while being pregnant with my second child. My son, who is the oldest, was adopted. The doctor gave me some Zofran while I was in labor with my little girl. I was fine. The origins of my fear are complex.

[PearlescentAngel]

I actually remember a time not being afraid of this. It was before I started school. I became an emet after I watched the movie "The Abyss". There was the scene where he was inhaling the fluid so he could breathe underwater, then when he gets to the bottom of the ocean he has to expel it from his lungs and he was just.....ugh it was awful. It didn't look like coughing up fluid. It was very graphic. And it terrified me. I guess it was one of those "DO I LOOK LIKE THAT WHEN I GET SICK?" kind of things, and it scared me because it LOOKED scary.

From then on I was constantly asking my mom "Am I hot? Do you think I'm sick?"

WHY I was allowed to watch movies like this I have no idea.

I got a LOT better in high school, and I totally didn't even think about it more than a handful of times. Then I got into an emotionally abusive relationship with someone who was involved with a lot of drugs (I didn't do any drugs except the occasional joint which just made things worse) so people were sick around me ALL the time. I was constantly afraid someone was going to spike my drink with something and I was going to be ill or go crazy.

Then after that mess finally ended I moved back to my mom's and that was pretty much the last straw. I became agoraphobic. It was a shock. I was somewhere extremely dangerous for several years and suddenly was somewhere safe and all the chaos stopped and I had no idea how to handle it, plus I was isolated. I had NO friends, and my relationship with my mother has always been strained at best. She has no comprehension of what I am going through and tends to yell at me when I have panic attacks. I don't blame her. I'd be mad, too....but I wish there was some understanding there.

AGAIN I am getting better, but it's EXTREMELY slow.

I don't have any idea why I decided to tell my life story. Sorry about that.

[AndiGirl]

Now that you mention it PearlescentAngel, I think a certain movie might have helped to really bring on my phobia. I come from a family with strong religious convictions, and my mother warned all three of her kids not to watch the movie, "The Exorcist." It was originally released in 1973 when I was only a year old. My mother said she watched previews for the movie and heard some pretty terrible things about it. She was adamant that we never watch it, just as she had refused to. When I was alone at age 16 (my mother trusted me to be alone), what do I do, but call my friends to come over and watch it with me. I think I started developing Crohn's Disease at age 16, though I wasn't diagnosed with it until years later. When I felt nauseated after watching that movie, some of the v*ing scenes would enter in my head.

[crd08]

8 is as far back as I can recall. I had it really bad from 8-13. I was still there, but I managed it better 14-18 and then 18-20 it was pretty bad again. I'm almost 21 and it's worse in some aspects but better in others. My phobia is like a yo-yo pretty much.

[Leo StarGazer]

I'm another one for as long as I can remember. I remember when I was 4 I was at daycare and another kid vomited. Needless to say I ran away, hid behind a sofa and covered my ears. I remember my teacher telling me that he was ok now but I still wouldn't move and my mum had to pick me up early...

I'm not sure how it started though.

[Midnight Dream]

I hate Emet so freaking much >_<

[Jan3_Do3]

Hello, all! I'm new to this community, myself.

I have been emetophobic for almost as long as I remember. I remember v*ing one time prior to becoming emetophobic (and I sometimes wonder if it was a trigger of some sort). I was very very young. Maybe around 3 years old and my younger brother and I got into some pills for my dad's asthma. We were licking the coating off of the pills and spitting them out because the coating tasted good. I remember my mom catching us and immediately taking us to the ER, where they decided to induce v*ing to get the medication out of our systems. I remember v*ing and it not affecting me at all. The medicine didn't work on my brother, so I watched as the doctors shot a syringe of water down the back of his throat to make him t*u*. At that time, it was more traumatizing to watch them do that to my brother than the actual act of v*ing.

A year or two down the road is when I had my first emetophobic experience. I remember going to a hockey game and coming home and having a big piece of cherry pie. I didn't even have a belly ache, but for some reason I was convinced that I was going to v*. Looking back on it now, I think I was having a panic attack, which gave me that gaggy feeling. I never did v*, but I remember crying to my mom and telling her I was going to be s*. She layed with me on the couch until I fell asleep. This happened throughout elementary school, and 99.9% of the time I would never v*. I even remember telling my mom to take me to the ER so I wouldn't t*u*.

It's been quite a rollercoaster ride. There have been periods of time when I am almost non-phobic, and other periods of time when I am having panic attacks several times daily.

[bcrnkovich]

I can't even remember. I feel like I have always had this.

[joeylynn]

Around 3rd grade -- My father worked with chemicals that made him s* ALL THE TIME!!! He would literally T*U* at least once a week. I would lie in bed and plug my ears and hum to myself waiting for IT to be over. At one point I actually asked my dad to go to our 1/2 bath that was further from my room (of course he and my mom were both thinking I was a very selfish child -- but he did IT in there from that point on).

Just about the same age I started having panic attacks with n* - my mom would sit in bed with me and sing to me or tell me stories. She would also get a cold wet washcloth for my forehead.

I have been an EMET ever since. I am MORE afraid of others than myself which is just a whole different aspect of this illness.

Several years ago I found out my mom is also an Emet -- but she is afraid of doing it herself (exact opposite of me -- strange hu?).

Thanks for listening and welcome to all our new friends!!!

[mizzy316]

i'm 29 now; i've always been afraid of throwing up and the feelings surrounding it. i can't believe it's taken me so long in finding out that it has a 'name'.

[Rebecca85]

As a child, I was always uncomfortable around v. I remember my older brother would sometimes v without warning. I asked my mum why he didn't know it was going to happen. She told me that he did know, but didn't want to admit when he wasn't well because he didn't like thinking about it. Since then, I took it extremely personally whenever he was ill, since (to my 5-year-old mind at least) he obviously didn't care about my feelings enough to get to the bathroom. So whenever he was ill I would absolutely go nuts.

In fact, it was only very recently when my boyfriend had fp that I learned other 'normal' people don't have that much control or warning over it. I thought everyone was like me- I have very good control- but thought they were choosing not to use it because it wasn't a big deal to them. It's no wonder I freak out whenever someone I care about v's, or someone v's near me!

[frankieanime]

It's been around as long as I can remember. Although only when it comes to the actual ACT of V*. It doesn't tend to keep me from going places to much, i've rode bout 9 planes in my life and i'm 18 now. I LOVE traveling, it's an hour n a half to the nearest town for me, I live on a tiny reservation. I don't get to bad if I SEE it or SMELL it.... Usually only when I get nauseous. Although sometimes I tend to imagine it when I smell it or see it than I make myself anxious. I always tell myself "I'll just force it to help get over it next time i'm sick" but I just end up freaking out and popping gravol and drinking ginger ale... Barely talk as well. But when I actually DO V* which is VERY rare. Maybe once every few years, I look in the mirror cuz i'm usually in the bathroom and laugh at myself saying "That's what i'm afraid of?". Never seemed to get over it, I JUST got back from a 3 week trip a couple cities over to my friends with my girlfriend, the last week I was there, there 3 year old kid caught a real bad stomach virus. There was the smell EVERYWHERE, I pretty much locked myself away in a room for that week :S . But it's been crippling lately... For the past few days i've been SO nauseous, I can sometimes FEEL it about to happen, ALMOST dry heave... But than it passes for a moment and comes back again... I'm so scared all the time lately, it's how I came across this site, googling "Emetophobia" and looking up prevention of vomiting and stuff for the last few days.
Sorry for the ramble, but i've never told ANYONE about this problem, it's so relieving to just SAY something about it. FINALLY though, I worked up the guts to tell my girlfriend about it (Her being the only person who knows now, well... AND my mom but that should be a given, oddly enough, her, my 2 sisters and my little bro all have it too) But like I said, I told my Girlfriend, and she supports and conforts me EVERYTIME I feel real sick now. Even in the middle of a fight i'll just ask her to PLEASE put it aside for a bit cuz i'm feeling REAL sick. Than she'll grab me some ginger ale or gravol and help distract me
Again... Sorry for the ramble... Btw, how do I post my own thread..?

[gmm682]

Like many of you, I have had the symptoms of emetophobia for as long as I can remember. Though, it wasn't until recently that I realized there was a name for what was happening to me every time I encountered v* (myself or others). Not knowing how to explain it for years and years has made it hard to make others understand what I was experiencing. I am very glad to have found this wonderful sight because my phobia has made me feel incredibly alone and isolated at times, as I'm sure most of you have felt before at some time or another.

[Tamandua]

My phobia started to develop when I was approximately three years old. I was just about to go to bed, when I suddenly started to have a coughing fit. Out of nowhere, the floodgates open. I threw up all night, hunched over the toilet in my dehydrated glory (or should I say gory).

When I was about five years old, I heard (but didn't see) my brother being violently ill in our living room.

Later on, when I was seven, I developed a nasty flu. I was sitting on the toilet in abject misery, and then I suddenly hurled on the bathroom floor, and the sound resonated in my ears for several days. I remember that in horrible vividity. That's what triggered it, I guess.