Cured!

[alex.j]

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.

[redastrid]

To anyone reading this, I want to warn that there is no scientific evidence that EFT works, so don't waste your money. Remember that to "cure" emetophobia, you must learn how to be okay with v*. This is the only approach that has been scientifically proven to work on severe cases, though if anyone has any sources that say otherwise I would be interested in looking at them. Please, please be careful of people that try to profit on your fears by selling you fad treatments that don't work. And if your stomach hurts so much that you are screaming, you need to go to the hospital immediately. All that said, alex.j, I'm glad you're feeling better.

[alex.j]

I did EFT on my own at home I read a lot of tutorials and guides on how to do it, never got an EFT therapist. I just read a lot about it, practiced "telling the story" and "the movie" and a lot of other EFT techniques (all which are available for free online, that's how I did it)

I had norovirus (my cousin had it before I caught it) and she had the same symptoms as me. We are both feeling better with no stomach pain.

I promise, I wasn't trying to sell anyone anything or profit from anyones' fears, sorry if I came across like that! I always worked on EFT at home on my own, never saw a therapist for it. I only saw a CBT therapist for a few sessions but didn't go in again after she insulted me and called me a "baby" for my phobia. So that drove me away from going back to her office, and I never saw her again. I'm in no way saying EFT and meditation is "the cure", I was just sharing what worked for me
Thrive works for some people (didn't for me), CBT works for some people (didn't for me), and exposure therapy works for some people (didn't for me). I suggest people try any form of treatment for a while and see if they have successes. Doesn't even have to be EFT and meditation, was just sharing what worked for me. That way maybe someone will try it too, and if it works for them, awesome! If not, they can try something else, as there are a lot of treatment options.

To anyone reading this, I want to warn that there is no scientific evidence that EFT works, so don't waste your money. Remember that to "cure" emetophobia, you must learn how to be okay with v*. This is the only approach that has been scientifically proven to work on severe cases, though if anyone has any sources that say otherwise I would be interested in looking at them. Please, please be careful of people that try to profit on your fears by selling you fad treatments that don't work. And if your stomach hurts so much that you are screaming, you need to go to the hospital immediately. All that said, alex.j, I'm glad you're feeling better.

[Colleen01]

Thanks alex.j for sharing your story.I have been wanting to do EFT I will give it a try.

[pogopig]

That's fantastic. I'm so happy it worked for you. I've heard of EFT. Info about it is pretty widely available on the internet and in books so anyone can teach themselves (like Alex did). I agree that people shouldn't pay a load of money for this. Anyway, it's great that it's worked for Alex, thanks for telling us about it. We definitely need more success stories on this forum.

[alex.j]

Thanks! If others choose to try it, it may work for them
I agree too, EFT is something someone could easily do at home themselves. Honestly I'd never go out and pay money for EFT. All the techniques are available for free and there are video tutorials to follow.

That's fantastic. I'm so happy it worked for you. I've heard of EFT. Info about it is pretty widely available on the internet and in books so anyone can teach themselves (like Alex did). I agree that people shouldn't pay a load of money for this. Anyway, it's great that it's worked for Alex, thanks for telling us about it. We definitely need more success stories on this forum.

[yesIamabadger]

Hi Alex.j, how are you doing?
Your post on the forum 'Cured' really resonated with me, because I see that you have overconme your phobia and are one of the rare people who were sick during their process of getting healed. So you know what was going through your mind as an emetophobe about to b sick.
I wanted to ask your advice on something: it's going to be a little icky, but I hope you are ok to answer it.

I have a nasty cold- could be the flu, and I have a lot of phlegm building up in my chest and is causing me immense indigestion- styled pain. I have needed to cough all day but supressed it because I am afrid I'll be sick.
I am thinking of setting a time to do it, and having all the necessary things around me, but I am afraid of being spontaneousy sick during my coughing.

I wanted to ask you what was going through your head when you knew you were to be sick, and what you were thinking after (as an emetophobe). Because as you stated: it was a relief but frightening.

Thank you so much

[luannf]

I want to say that I am a big believer/practiioner of eft. My daughter, who was about 10 at the time, (now 21) developed emetophobia. She had a terrible virus/bug that was going around and you would just vomit so suddenly that there wasn't really any way to get to the bathroom or a bush. She threw up right outside the restaurant on the patio. I started to notice that she was very anxious about it and started carrying a plastic zip lock bag all the time. After reading up on emetophobia online, I talked to our pediatrician who recommended we see a child therapist. We did, and this therapist didn't even know what emetophobia was wanted to put her on drugs, perhaps for life and wanted us to come in for family counseling every week. I said forget that. Started to search the web and was quite depressed that I couldn't find any positive news/cures. Hypnosis, drugs and therapy didn't seem to work. Saw this thing on EFT and figured I had to try it. Went to an EFT practitioner in our town and after one session, my daughter was functional again. She had been having anxiety because she is a very intelligent child and she knew there was no way she really needed to throw up 24/7. She was actually begging me to put her on drugs or something. But your subconscious is stronger than your logical self. I liken it to someone telling you that you are fat when you are 5 and fast forward to 20. Someone tells you you are fat, but you are actually the hottest thing on 2 legs these days, but for some reason, you still feel like the fat 5 year old. I was so impressed with the results that I took an eft course and everyone at the course was either a medical professional/therapist. Only 2 layman. You can get Continuing Education Units for taking eft and it is a legitimate therapy that some therapists use these days. We've had great success with many other issues. I guess the best explanation for how it works is that it takes the power out of negative thoughts/words. For us, we tapped on phrases like I'm going to throw up, I hate throwing up, people make me sick (fear of getting germs that would then make you sick.....) whatever thoughts that get you going, plus we tapped on the time that she threw up in public that started it all. So after tapping, those thoughts no longer cause you anxiety. It was a lifesaver for us. It's much more mainstream these days and used more often now. Hope this helps someone. Don't knock it till you've tried it.:-)