Quote Originally Posted by Healed View Post
I was 21. I didn't know it at the time but I was having my first ever panic attack and I was so nauseous and gagging like crazy. I thought I had a stomach bug and WANTED to vomit because I knew I'd feel better if I did and that horrible nausea and retching would finally stop! But even though I had a full stomach my body just would not vomit; I just kept gagging. Weird. I believe it was in that moment when my brain connected feeling sick to my stomach to panic because it was after that incident that I developed both emetophobia and panic disorder which led to agoraphobia. IT WAS AWFUL!!! However, I was healed of it all very quickly too ― thanks to God. So it can leave almost as quickly as it came.
Are you a cured emetophobe? Interestingly, I had the same experience recently as you and it helped my emetophobia. I was panicking and gagging over and over with food in my stomach but no vomit. Then a few weeks later I caught a mild bug and handled it quite well. I realized it isn't the gagging or vomit that scared me but the nausea and helplessness.