Emetephobia and Norovirus.. Please help!

[toast122]

I am so miserable right now. So, I have emetephobia (irrational fear of vomiting or seeing/hearing other people vomit). Just the v* word itself makes me panic. It's really bad; I've been taking zofran (strongest prescription anti nausea medication) twice daily for about 2 months now! I feel like if I don't take it, I am risking getting sick at any moment. If i take it, I feel somewhat relaxed because its my "safety blanket" and almost guarantees I won't be sick. I'm deathly terrified of vomiting. I would rather chop off my own hand than vomit, I'd rather die than vomit. I'm scared to be in public in case I start to feel sick and incase someone around me vomits. Once when I was at the mall, a kid vomited beside me and I started cringing, shaking, and ran away while plugging my ears-it was a terrible experience. Anyway, getting to the point: as you can see I have a VERY bad fear of it and guess what... the worst thing possible just happened... I just got the stomach flu (or what they call the '24 hour flu'). Atleast I hope its only 24 hours because I am freaking out. I rarely get stomach bugs and I can count on one hand the amount of times I've vomited in my life (and can remember exactly where I was, what I was doing at the time, and EVERY detail). Anyway, it started about a day ago when I began to feel dizzy, lightheaded, off, and a little queezy but I thought I might just be hungry or something so I forced myself to eat... My nausea was still there and I tried EVERY remedy but nothing helped- zofran (strong anti nausea prescription), gravol, ginger gravol, pepto bismol, peppermint tea, flat gingerale, boiled potatoes, plain rice, a banana.. nothing worked. My nausea got increasingly worse throughout the day and especially worse at night. Once the night approached, I layed there until 4am with chills, and the most severe nausea I've felt in a very long time. As you can imagine, this is extremely disturbing for an emetephobe. So, I was absolutely hysterical, freaking out, crying, shaking, and doing everything in my power to NOT vomit. I took zofran (the prescription that stops vomiting), and eventually after alot of crying and begging my mom to take me to emerg (which I did not end up going because they cant do anything anyway), I fell asleep. I woke up this morning at 9 30 still feeling nauseous but not nearly as bad as last night. I feel exactly like right before you vomit, but constantly and I havent vomited yet (which I believe is thanks to the zofran). But I'm too scared to eat, drink, MOVE because of my fear of being sick. I honestly cant handle it, I really would rather die than deal with it... Its just something about the uncertainty of it, the loss of control, and fear that it will never stop take over and I can't handle it. Im also having stomach pain/cramping in addition to the nausea and chills but strangely I haven't had diarrhea (sorry, TMI) which normally comes along with norovirus. Although zofran does cause REALLY BAD constipation so maybe thats why... I don't know what this is, if its the 24 hour flu, or what if its food poisoning??- then that means I'll forsure vomit, oh god. Can I get through this without vomiting or does it HAVE to happen? I'm so scared and don't know what to do anymore. Out of ALL people to get this virus, it had to be me-an emetephobe, sigh. Please help!

[the_girl_who_waited]

Gosh, my heart goes out to you. That sounds like a really hard place to be in. I don't have emetephobia, but I know that when you're confronted with something terrifying anxiety can kill you. Know that you are not alone, and that there are people who care for you

[toast122 in reply to the_girl_who_waited]

Thank you so much. Last night was pretty rough.. I was crying and gagging over the sink, freaking out but nothing would come out. I managed to fall asleep without vomiting and just woke up this morning feeling alot better! I think it was the '24 hour flu/stomach bug' and I survived! Again, thank you for the kind reply

[Hidden]

Hypnotherapy can definately help. I have helped people in the past to overcome this. This is a reaction from the subconscious mind to make you aviod the situation . And as you know, it will do this quite firmly. The subconscious will overrule conscious thoughts and that`s why you cannot seem to have any power over your reactions. Conscious part of the mind is logical, but subconscious acts on past events and matches up what you did last time, so will engrain this. Hypnotherapy will get the emotional content out of the memory and so you can reacyt consciously , without all that emotion. ivertherapy.wordpress.com/2...

Hope this helps you, as you really shouldn`t suffer anymore. Welcome to conntact me for advice.

[toast122 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much. Last night was pretty rough.. I was crying and gagging over the sink, freaking out but nothing would come out. I managed to fall asleep without vomiting and just woke up this morning feeling alot better! I think it was the '24 hour flu/stomach bug' and I survived! I will look into the hypotherapy. Again, thank you for the kind reply

[Erburns001 in reply to Hidden]

Hi I have emetophobi as well and am trying to overcome it. Have you had good success with this therapy?

[Juliec2507]

Please listen. I understand you completely. I was a sufferer myself years ago and believe me, you CAN recover from this. And answering the question regarding not being sick, then yes the answer is I think. As a few months ago our whole family had 'the stomach bug' but my other half stopped himself being sick just like you did. I still don't like being sick (doesn't happen so often) but the actual fear has now gone. Xx

[toast122 in reply to Juliec2507]

Thank you so much. Last night was pretty rough.. I was crying and gagging over the sink, freaking out but nothing would come out. I managed to fall asleep without vomiting and just woke up this morning feeling alot better! I think it was the '24 hour flu/stomach bug' and I survived! Again, thank you for the kind reply

[Hidden]

Good afternoon,

I have helped various people overcome emetophobia. Like any phobia, it becomes irrational and seems that you have control over that fear. ...you do .

Without an indepth consultation , I can`t comment too much. However, there are many techniques and I would find one that suited you personally . The root cause can be helpful, as this is your trigger. Unbeknown to you, the mind will keep this memory alive, as at that moment in time , the subconscious mind would have been in total panic and programmed you to avoid any further occurences by avoiding that and any similar situations at all costs. This i sbecause your mind remembers and logs this into your memory banks as a constant reference point, as it is unprocessed memory. This means you relive this just as if it is the very first time. It will possibly be worse over time, as the neurons in your mind as they keep connecting up to the initial memory will strenghten. So the message is even louder and clearer " avoid as this at any cost, as it is dangerous " The subconscious minds main job is for survival.

Hypnotherapy connects to that memory and dilutes this memory, so allowing you to reprocess the trigger as being non- threatening - this isn`t scarey but a calm kind method I use to dilute that reaction to " v." Bingo the job is done, as it normalises that memory to a memory - nothing else, no fear, dread, no emotions, no reaction .

If you are local, I welcome you to book a free consultation. If that`s not the case, look up a Hypnotherapist near you that deals with phobias. Many give free consultations, so choose one that suits you and you feel you can trust and are comfortable with. Hope this helps !