Emetophobia (fear of vomiting) Support

[tiink3rbella]

Brooke - I saw your ticker - when in March are you going & where are you staying? I'll be there 3/12-16.

HEy! I will be there staying at POP! (for my first time) March 5-11th (Just missing you by one day!)


Bad news everyone. I had gotten a stomach bug on Saturday! Woke up at 4am threw up all over my bedspread( Washed the darn thing twice and I still am not using it, instead I will probably go out and buy a new one so bad memories wont come back!) and my boyfriend kinda just hopped out of the bed and ran away! (later on he said he was half asleep and didnt realizeGee thanks!) I got sick a few more times that day and then the rest of my family got the bug. I am usually prone to stomach bugs but not this time. I was not TOO scared so happy to say because after I got sick I felt so much better everytime, and I knew that when I felt it coming Id soon be feeling better. Still a bit scared to eat anything heavy even though it has been a few days, I did have pancakes though which were amazingly delicious after being on the good old cracker and gingerale diet for a few days. This bug is going around alot of places so everyone should take good precaution, washing their hands often and if you have visitors over who were sick lysol will be your best friend!

 

[TaraPA]

Oh no Brooke!!!!!!!!!!! That's awful that you all had the bug. That would be a nightmare to me. But you survived it & all that goes with it - yay!!!

The rest of my group is heading down on the 11th. I don't go more than 4 nights without the kids, so I'm just going the 12th-16th. But then I'm turning around & going back with the kids 3/22-28. DH has a conference at The Dolphin from the 20th-25th so we're staying in his room & then just extending the stay after the conference.

My biggest fear while I'm gone is....yes, you guessed it, that my kids will throw up during the night! DH does NOT do vomit - AT ALL - so I stress about how he'd handle the clean-up. Once one of my boys threw up on the bathroom floor while I was out of town for a few hours - he just put a towel over it & closed the door til I got home. Um, he can't do that for 5 days! I have so much anxiety over this that the night before I leave I will be up all night thinking I'm going to cancel the trip. DS13 DID throw up once when I was in Disney with DS10 - DH called me at 10pm to tell me- but thankfully 99% of it was in the toilet. He made DS13 clean the rest up - argh! I will go as far as to put an old blanket over their pillow & bedding while I'm gone so that if it does happen, DH can just throw out the bedding. OMG reading this back just sounds so NUTS!

 

[lukenick1]

Oh NO
I'm sorry you were sick but i'm glad you got thru it ok. Ugh, my worst nightmare! I hate winter!

 

[lukenick1]

Oh no Brooke!!!!!!!!!!! That's awful that you all had the bug. That would be a nightmare to me. But you survived it & all that goes with it - yay!!!

The rest of my group is heading down on the 11th. I don't go more than 4 nights without the kids, so I'm just going the 12th-16th. But then I'm turning around & going back with the kids 3/22-28. DH has a conference at The Dolphin from the 20th-25th so we're staying in his room & then just extending the stay after the conference.

My biggest fear while I'm gone is....yes, you guessed it, that my kids will throw up during the night! DH does NOT do vomit - AT ALL - so I stress about how he'd handle the clean-up. Once one of my boys threw up on the bathroom floor while I was out of town for a few hours - he just put a towel over it & closed the door til I got home. Um, he can't do that for 5 days! I have so much anxiety over this that the night before I leave I will be up all night thinking I'm going to cancel the trip. DS13 DID throw up once when I was in Disney with DS10 - DH called me at 10pm to tell me- but thankfully 99% of it was in the toilet. He made DS13 clean the rest up - argh! I will go as far as to put an old blanket over their pillow & bedding while I'm gone so that if it does happen, DH can just throw out the bedding. OMG reading this back just sounds so NUTS!

Your not NUTS! Its a real disease! Stop feeling bad about it, you are not alone. I feel for you and don't think you should have to live this way. Is there a counselor you can talk to, they can teach you ways of training your mind to think more positive and worry/obsess less. I know I need one!

 

[TaraPA]

Is there a counselor you can talk to, they can teach you ways of training your mind to think more positive and worry/obsess less. I know I need one!

I was kinda hoping venting here all the time would be all the counseling I need!! LOL!! I does help to come here & type this crazy stuff & have people understand. It really does. We're all a bunch of very normal adults but our brains just have crossed wires over vomit issues!

 

[lukenick1]

I was kinda hoping venting here all the time would be all the counseling I need!! LOL!! I does help to come here & type this crazy stuff & have people understand. It really does. We're all a bunch of very normal adults but our brains just have crossed wires over vomit issues!

This is true Tara...I hope I didn't offend you.

 

[TaraPA]

Good Lord NO you didn't offend me!! It feels good to come here & type it all out. My BFF knows I have some emet issues, but not to the extent that it is. She makes jokes about the bowl by the bed & when I tried to explain my anxiety when we go to WDW (she goes with me) she just laughed & "ok so what's the worst case scenario - your kid pukes all over the house & DH just puts towels over it til you get home - no one will die from that." So I stopped talking to her about it.

I'm off work today & surfing The DIS - ahhhh life is good!

 

[lukenick1]

Good Lord NO you didn't offend me!! It feels good to come here & type it all out. My BFF knows I have some emet issues, but not to the extent that it is. She makes jokes about the bowl by the bed & when I tried to explain my anxiety when we go to WDW (she goes with me) she just laughed & "ok so what's the worst case scenario - your kid pukes all over the house & DH just puts towels over it til you get home - no one will die from that." So I stopped talking to her about it.

I'm off work today & surfing The DIS - ahhhh life is good!

As much as it seems like she is discounting your fear she is right. She is trying to help you see that nothing bad will come out of it so you should try to focus on the fact that you are away from your sleepless nights at home and on vacation! I know its easier said than done beleive me, I try to remind myself that I won't die if I get sick but the fear is always there.
I get what your feeling...my son was invited to a Celtics game in Boston last weekend and its about 1.5 hours drive from home. I was so worried he would feel car sick and panic without me. I worried so much I gave the kid dramamine before he left so he wouldnt be car sick.

 

[tiink3rbella]

Thank you everyone I feel so much better!! phew!

by the way It's a form of OCD. We all have our little ways that we think will prevent throwing up and tricks that it becomes a ritual. So nobody is "Crazy" or "nuts" we all worry about it. For me I always need to carry a bottle of fresh water if I am going somewhere new, in case I get nauseas at least I can slowly sip my water and feel better. I watched a special on OCD I think it was on MTV and one of the girls at emet she always was washing her hands and stuff so she wouldn't get sick.

PS, Tara OMG I cant believe your husband would just put a towel over it! Thts so unfair to you

 

[TaraPA]

FYI - I couldn't find the old thread (vomit warnings on TV shows) - but I'm watching an old rerun of Sex And the City & Carrie just threw up (after finding the engagement ring in Aiden's bag) - and they showed it all!

I have such a nervous stomach tonight - my 13-yr old has been begging to be dropped off, unsupervised, with his friends at the local ice skating rink. I've always said no but the other moms all seem to let their kids do it, so DH said let him. I'm a nervous wreck! I did talk to the mom that took them & is picking them up & she said she drops her kids off there all the time & seemed like it was no big deal. And you know what the crazy thing is that I'm most nervous about?? Yep - that he will somehow get into some alcohol & throw up. He's a level-headed kid, and he is almost 14, and I've taught him well - BUT - he's also an impressionable kid that will do anything to impress his friends to try & act cool! He should be home around 10:30, I am literally pacing the floor & will be til he comes home!

 

[lukenick1]

FYI - I couldn't find the old thread (vomit warnings on TV shows) - but I'm watching an old rerun of Sex And the City & Carrie just threw up (after finding the engagement ring in Aiden's bag) - and they showed it all!

I have such a nervous stomach tonight - my 13-yr old has been begging to be dropped off, unsupervised, with his friends at the local ice skating rink. I've always said no but the other moms all seem to let their kids do it, so DH said let him. I'm a nervous wreck! I did talk to the mom that took them & is picking them up & she said she drops her kids off there all the time & seemed like it was no big deal. And you know what the crazy thing is that I'm most nervous about?? Yep - that he will somehow get into some alcohol & throw up. He's a level-headed kid, and he is almost 14, and I've taught him well - BUT - he's also an impressionable kid that will do anything to impress his friends to try & act cool! He should be home around 10:30, I am literally pacing the floor & will be til he comes home!

Tara..... How in the world will they have alcohol at the skating rink??? OMG at 13?? Ugh! Mine are only 10 and 7 is this what I have to look forward to?

 

[TaraPA]

I'm sure there's none at the rink but anyone can go to this open skate from 8-10pm - I'm sure some teenager could sneak some in!!! I know, my mind is in OVERDRIVE! He's probably sitting there making burping & farting noises with his friends, totally oblivious to the sex, drugs & rock & roll going on around him LOL!!!!!!

 

[ColoradoK]

Hi all...I'm so glad I stumbled across this thread last night. I'm so glad there are at least a few others who get it...who get what this is like.

All my life I was never a fan of puking (who is, really?) but I managed. I even got to the point where I could work in a hospital and be around it all the time (laboring women puke a bunch).

Anyway, fairly recently this turned into a real phobia for me...more like what Tara is describing. On 12/1 my oldest son (now 6) suddenly threw up all over me and the booth at a restaurant. He was so sick and throwing up every 20 minutes complaining of bad stomach pain. So I took him in to urgent care hoping they could rule out appendicitis and send us home. Unfortunately, ruling it out was not as easy as I had hoped and we were there overnight. My husband was home with our other two including the baby who still liked to nurse at night...and there I was stuck at the hospital with the oldest in the car with the car seats. Traumatic. It ended up that my son had strep causing "mesenteric adenitis" which mimics appendicitis. He wasn't contagious (well, except for the strep) and he didn't need surgery. Whew...but starting that next day, I myself was getting nauseated every afternoon. I was finding myself terrified that at any moment, one of my three would get sick, or worse...all at the same time. And that I'd be sick too...as a stay at home mom who doesn't get to have sick days.

I have lost 18 pounds since that day: December 1st. Just from my anxiety over it all. I'm constantly watching them for signs of illness. Constantly checking their foreheads for fevers. I use a baby monitor even though the oldest two are now 6 and almost 4...I need to be able to hear them call me if they feel sick or hear them throwing up. I was always "cautious" about germs but now I try not to go anywhere like playing at the McD's playland and I even find myself avoiding the grocery store if I can. When we get in the car after school or shopping I make everyone use hand sanitizer and then we wash when we get home.

Hearing about everyone getting the stomach bug lately has made this horrible. I had to stop going to Facebook for awhile because I could not handle the status updates of FB friends reporting their own or their kids' stomach bugs. If I see that one of my son's preschool classmates isn't there I start to fret about them being absent for a stomach bug and when the last time we were around them was. I don't live in fear of them getting colds, or cancer, but I do that they'll suddenly have a contagious stomach bug. The surprise element of it all is what gets me. And like many of you, I'm also a "control freak".

My husband would never "allow" me to make the kids sleep with bowls by their beds...just because of what it would do to them making them fearful freaks like me LOL. But as they are so young to NEVER make it to a toilet, I do have their beds double-made in the hopes I can just peel off the top puked-on layers.

I recently began seeing a therapist who helped me realize the control part of all of this is huge for me...funny, if I had found this thread when it started I would've realized that for a lot less money. Anyway, we're at the point now where I'm doing EMDR and seeing how that goes.

So, I'm sorry this is long but wanted to introduce myself and my own version of emetophobia. Thanks for listening!

 

[TaraPA]

Hi Kristin!

I think I could have written your thread myself. Our emet sound idenitcal! The part about doubling up on the bedding - yep - I do that too. I have waterproof mattress pads doubled up too. Anytime I think the kids look pale or have a headache at night I put a beach towel over their pillow. DS13 has bunk beds & recently built a fort covering it all up so he's enclosed - of course I worry every night that he will be sick & not be able to get out of his fort fast enough to get to the bathroom!

Kristin it sounds like you have some post traumatic stress after your Dec. 1 incident. My emet got so much worse after a stomach bug incident, which ironically, was also Dec. 1st (but in 2006). I woke up around midnight to DS10 (6 at the time) crying & calling me - and I could hear him throwing up. I ran over & had to walk through it (it was dark), he was projectile vomiting everywhere. We're talking walls, floors, bed, nightstand, toys, all over him, I was standing in it, etc. I grabbed his trash can & tried to comfort him. At that very moment I hear DS 13 (9 at the time) call me - "mom - I just threw up in my bed!" I had no idea what to do, DS10 was still throwing up & was sobbing & I didn't want to leave him. So I call out to DH that I needed some towels & some help - he calls back - 'I can't - I'm in the bathroom throwing up." It was a NIGHTMARE. My first thought was food poisoning - I mean what are the chances that 3 out of the 4 of us all start vomiting within 5 min. of each other??

My adrenaline must have kicked in. I calmed the little one down & led him to the bathroom where I started the tub (he was covered in puke). I went to the older one's room, and of course he slept in the top bunk that night, and it was all over him, the bedding & he must have put his head out over the edge of the bed because it was all over the floor & bottom bunk too. I helped him down & to another bathroom (thank GOD we have 5 bathrooms because DH was in ours still sick!) Clean up was horrible. It took all night to wash & re-wash everything. Once the kids were out of the tubs I put the really bad bedding in them & rinsed them in there, before putting them in the washer. I cleaned the rugs & other things as best I could for the night. The older one never threw up again, but the younger one kept it up til 6am, along with DH. I never got sick. It was my 1st week at my new job, and I called & left a message around 6am that I hadn't been to bed yet & had 3 sick family members & couldn't make it in. By 8 DH said just go to work, he was obviously not going to work either & would look after the boys since they had stopped throwing up. I ended up going in to work 30 min. late & got written up for it. I was so mad. I know rules are rules but I was a ZOMBIE & exhausted & started to cry!

After that is when my night time emet really kicked into overdrive. Every single night I am watching the kids, asking how they feel, and have trouble falling asleep because I'm listening for them to call me or be sick. If they even look a little ill or say they have a headache or act tired I'm a nervous wreck. Kristin I see you use baby monitor to listen for your kids - I don't see that as strange at all. I'd do it too but DH would have a cow (like yours & the bowls!)

Ok rambling as usual...Kristin welcome & I'm so glad you joined us. If you can share anything helpful from your therapy sessions please do!

 

[lukenick1]

Welcome Kristen...
All I can say Is WOW! I cannot imagine what you went thru and Tara, your scene from 12/1/06 sounds like a scene from a horror movie! I would have DIED! I am glad to say that although my emet is the fear of me vomiting or someone else vomiting it doesn't keep me up at night worrying. I do other things to avoid it like not bringing my kids to many public places in the winter months and making them constantly wash their hands. The only way to catch the stomach bug is by swallowing it. So keeping hands out of your mouth is best! I cringe when I see people lick their fingers at a restaurant or when handling money.....eeewww. I NEVER put my hands in my mouth EVER! Im so sorry you are dealing with this because although my case is a little different I do suffer as well. Tara, sounds to me that your family had stomach poisoning for sure. Very coincidential. They also could have contracted Norovirus from food. All it takes is someone sick handling their food without gloves. Someone who has been ill with Norovirus is contagious for up to 5 days after they become well again. It remains in their feces. n To think people are handling food without washing their hands after using the bathroom is disturbing!

 

[ColoradoK]

Wow, Tara...that does sound like a nightmare! On my 29th birthday a few years back me, my oldest, and my husband were all puking all day. My other son was only 5 months old at the time and we had to call my mom who lives about an hour away to come take care of the baby...and us!

I think a huge part of my fear getting worse as the day goes on has to do with the surprise of it happening when I'm asleep, you know? And that my husband does not hear the kids in the night so very much. So I feel like I'm on my own, that I won't sleep, and that he'll still go to work the next day.

When my son was sick recently I found myself not wanting to comfort him much and snuggle him, etc because I was so afraid I'd somehow pass the germs on either to myself or to the other kids, especially the baby, when she was nursing. I have a lot of guilt over being a bit sterile in his "time of need". When we were in the hospital it was better because I knew I wouldn't be going back and forth between the kids and I could lay next to him and hold him and such. When we got home even though I was leaking milk all down the front of my shirt from not pumping or nursing for so long, my son and I hopped in the shower before I would even greet my other children.

I feel so glad to have stumbled across this thread, I can't even tell you. Especially since Tara and I sound so much alike in this particular phobia and the attitudes of our husbands towards it all. It's like Tara is my lost soul sista.

I also wanted to add that, again like Tara, my boys are both "pukers" as well. My oldest has a very sensitive gag reflex and so if he's coughing a bunch he'll gag and throw up...if he is jumping on the couch and chokes on his spit...he'll throw up. As a toddler when he'd tantrum he'd scream from so far back in his throat that he'd gag and throw up (on purpose, I think because he'd get attention). My middle kid seems to have a few sensory issues...well, with touch only. Like he'll gag if he's touching something he isn't expecting or finds unpleasant....examples: our friends didn't have a towel in their guest bathroom so my husband had him use the linen shower curtain to dry his hands and it made him gag because it wasn't the texture he was expecting. Or he had some breastmilk on his finger once and gagged till it was gone. We made butter at home around Thanksgiving and we wanted to sample it so the boys and I all stuck our fingers in the jar...but because it didn't feel like butter we buy at the store it made him gag. I had him run to the bathroom to wash his hands but he ended up throwing up on the way there. It's quite strange. He doesn't have any other sensory issues and he could've touched the shower curtain without gagging IF he wasn't expecting a terry cloth towel. It's so weird but not weird enough that he needs therapy. Till I screw him up that is. LOL

 

[TaraPA]

LOL Kristin - Sista!!!

DS10 is back from the wrestling tournament & looks tired & pale & just picked at the Pizza Hut pizza that he begged for. That's 3 red flags in my book! Ok anyone else would say he's exhausted from being up at 6am & wrestling all day - but my OCD brain is going into panic mode thinking - he must be getting sick, he's going to throw up. Now I'll be watching him like a hawk all afternoon.

 

[ColoradoK]

Oh no, Tara!!! I'd be doing the same thing as you! Totally.

Let me ask you this...do you try any "techniques" to help your anxiety when this stuff happens? I have a few things I try but even if I'm not running through all the "what ifs" in my head, I still feel tense when days like you're having come up. I first contacted my therapist right around Christmas and she couldn't see me till the new year but took the time on the phone to tell me a few things like the obvious deep breathing a few times a day even when not feeling anxious...didn't help ME much (I don't think) but still thought I'd mention it on the off chance you haven't tried anything in the last 4 years LOL. She also mentioned "thought stopping" which you could probably Google and it total common sense. Like you, the scenarios I could run through in my head would drive me mad. I was so terrified the week before Christmas that we'd all be sick for the holiday. My husband was like, "whats the big deal? so we're sick" He doesn't get it! Anyway, none of these techniques are a total cure, of course, but I am doing a lot better than I was when I'd be moaning in bed every evening not able to eat dinner or bathe my children and who knows why. Could be that stuff in combination with the EMDR adn the talking to a therapist...and now you guys! I'll take whatever I can get!

 

[tiink3rbella]

Kristin-

Not sure how old your son is but you guys might have problems once hes ready to visit the dentist! I'm a dental assistant for the hygienists so I take the kids xrays and such and some of the kids (and even adults) who have bad gag reflex get really freaked out about the xrays. Also every visit the kids get fluoride treatment which is a paste they place in a foam tray and it has to sit in their mouth for one minute. Alot of kids get sick because they dont like the texture or may swallow it (which hurts their tummys). Our dentist office allows parents to request if they want flouride 1x a year instead of 2, and you can even ask for xrays every 2 years instead of every year. Just thought I'd let you know what to expect if you have not yet been to the dentist with your son.

 

[tiink3rbella]

FYI - I couldn't find the old thread (vomit warnings on TV shows) - but I'm watching an old rerun of Sex And the City & Carrie just threw up (after finding the engagement ring in Aiden's bag) - and they showed it all!

I dont know the one for TV shows but I use IMDB.com and check out if theres a movie I want to see most of the time they write if someone throws up in the Parental Guide on that certain movie