Hello Emetophobes 8)

[Tempest]

Hi, my name is Tempest. I'm new to this site. I'm don't really have emetophobia per se, but I REALLY don't like vomiting.
Quick question: Why do you guys say V* OR v? Or S*?? Why not just spell the whole word out?
Anyway, The last time I threw up, I was about 7 or 8 and it was because I didn't want to eat dinner so I went to sleep without dinner and payed for it... Recently, as in a couple of years ago, I had a really bad stomach problem, the doctors didn't really know what was wrong. And I still don't exactly know what was wrong either. I had this extreme burning sensation in my stomach. Everytime I drank something, I would feel like throwing up, so I would drink as little water as possible, which only worstened my condition. All in all, in the end we ended up with a rediculous hospital bill and they prescribed acid reducers. Most recently, I haven't felt a strong urge to throw up or anything, except that one time when I spent a half an hour watching youtube videos of people throwing up.
The reason I joined this site was because I found this community fascinating. I found it by accident when I was googling "why do kids throw up more than adults".
Some time ago, I learned that in order for the body to throw up, it produces large amounts of saliva so that the acid of the vomit doesn't burn your mouth or teeth, which means that if that excess saliva isn't there moments before upchucking, the body won't do it. When I was at the hospital, I would feel like throwing up every 2 or 3 minutes, so I would have a napkin ready, spit as much saliva as I could, and the stomachache would subside. I just thought I'd share this, It's worked for me. Since I prefer having diarrhea than puking, I would just spit spit and spit until the stomach gave up and would just give me diarrhea instead.
A list of phobias a definitely have:
Fear of heights (major one, I can't even look out of a window close up from a tall building without feeling like i'm gonna fall, I can't even climb the third step on a ladder. )
The occassional panic attack from a fear of the dark that I've had since childhood. If I'm walking down a dark hallway and I'm in front of a doorway to a dark empty room, sometimes I'll sense a presence (even though I know nobody's there) and I'll immediately have a short panic attack until I turn on the lights.
When I was very small I had a fear of loud noises, but not anymore.

Just wanted to introduce myself and share some stories. And a quick tip that may or may not work.

[gumdropper1]

Hi Tempest. You do have emetophobia. Welcome. You're just like the rest of us.

It is not correct that by draining your mouth of saliva you can prevent vomiting. Some scientists think the reason the mouth hypersalivates right before vomiting is because the salivation center is right next to the vomiting center in the brain, and when the vomiting center gives the command to vomit, some of the excess energy goes to the salivation center and causes a burst of saliva. If that theory is correct, then it wouldn't matter if the saliva supply was low. Other scientists believe the hypersalivation is to protect the teeth from vomit, but vomit is already neutralized by matter from the small intestine refluxing back into the stomach before vomiting. So saliva would only do a little to protect the teeth, and most people who are about to puke don't have the presence of mind to swish that excess saliva through their teeth. They either swallow it or spit or drool it out. (Lovely, huh?)

Please read my Vomiting FAQ for information on how to prevent vomiting: http://emetophobia.byethost15.com/vomiting.html

Doug

[KaydeeJayde]

Quick question: Why do you guys say V* OR v? Or S*?? Why not just spell the whole word out?

Doug answered most of your questions in his post, but this one really caught my eye. People here abbreviate because seeing the words can be triggering. When I first came here, I abbreviated mostly, I think. But then I found myself starting to become afraid of the words, and I never had been at all before. So I stopped abbreviating, and now I do use the whole word. Do what is best for YOU, it's not a rule or anything

When I was a little kid, I had a phobia of loud noises too. We used to have a bonfire night which took place just around the corner for my house, and the fireworks would send me into a HUGE panic attack, it was awful.

Welcome to the site