I have an intense fear of vomiting.
I've had it ever since I heard my Dad throw up when I was a teen.
I haven't been sick to my stomach in about 15 years..thank God, but I think about it every day.
I cannot eat a meal without wondering if I'm going to be sick.
I know it's crazy...but the actual process of throwing up your food is repulsive. I feel sick just thinking about it!!
Anyone else out there ???
I don't think that anyone really "likes" to throw up, but if you are thinking about this everyday, maybe you should get help for it, because that is not normal. Alot of people have things that they constantly worry/think about. So you are not alone!
Hi Susanne
i don't really know what to say for you. i mean...i throw up everyday...if i eat...i can't wait til it comes up because of the pain food makes in my stomach and the weight i know i'll gain if i don't. my suggestion...although i'm not an expert...would be to face the fear. i mean..i have a phobia of people and everyone tries to "help" by actually placing me in a situation where there is so many people...and i end up in an anxiety attack. anyway...maybe you should make yourself throw up just once (by sticking your finger down your throat),...just to show yourself that it's not so bad. i mean..when i do it...it doesn't hurt. it was probably just traumatizing that you heard your father (a parent) throwing up...and ever since then it's been in your mind. hope i'm of help.
First of all, do not make yourself throw up. One day you probably will throw up for one reason or another and it will not be a pleasant experience, but you will get through it. I guarantee that if you delve into your past a little, and see what that whole experience with your father throwing up is about - specifically how you felt about it at that time, or what it meant to you in the context of your childhood - you can get through this. There is probably an unfelt, unfinished feeling about that experience inside of you that is getting triggered everytime you see, hear, or think about puking (thought I'd use a different word there). The reason you obsess about it is because the repressed feeling is surging upward into concious awareness, and your mind is trying to clamp down on it feverishly. Believe it or not it's not the throwing up that makes you feel sick, it's the feeling attached to it from your childhood - trust me, I know about these things.
And to the person who posted that 'throwing up is no big deal, I do it all the time, etc.' It seems you need to do a little digging yourself.
Hope this helped shed some light.
[This message has been edited by Jimmy (edited 03-07-2001).]
I know it is unpleasant for everyone. I'm sure no one really "enjoys" the experience. I have to learn to relax on that topic. It's funny because I have a younger sister who is bulemic/anorexic and she throws up everyday. She can do it without using her fingers....what a natural, eh? That is a whole new problem in itself, but talk about extremes. She doesn't understand me, I don't understand her!!
Location: Indiana (temporarily living in WA state)
Posts: 13
Susanne~ I am *somewhat* like you! Although I do not think about vomiting everyday. I am *scared* to throw up!!! Not only does it disgust me, but the whole 'act' itself freaks me out! When I was a child I *had* to have my mother or father with me whenever I'd throw up...it's like I was afraid of it or thought something bad would happen to me or something! lol
Because of this I NEVER drink alcohol for fear of getting drunk and vomiting! No roller coasters either!
I absolutely hate people puking...its the sound and the smell and the mess. I know what u are talking about. I have stopped getting really wasted so I will not vomit, and I run very fast if I suspect someone is going to! Its ever since my brother vomited right next to my bed, and I woke up beside a big pile of spaghetti, saying "What the hell is this??" So you are not alone
I feel really nauseous reading these posts! Don't worry, your not alone, my sister is scared to throw up, and so are a lot of people I know. I am not really scared, but I hate doing it. I usually avoid it all together. IF you ever feel like throwing up, eat crackers
I know a young girl who has this phobia. She had stomach flu a number of times, and now is so afraid of throwing up that she refuses to eat. Her family has had to put her on a feeding tube, and they consider it a success just to get her to use chapstick on her lips because she won't let anything near them.
The doctors are saddened and confused. The one time she finally DID start eating again, she came down with the stomach flu and threw it back up. She has regressed since.
She is only a few years old, but the doctors think that she will have eating problems her whole life. Hopefully she will be able to start eating on her own soon, because right now she is incredibly weak and thinks about food constantly.
I guess what I'm saying is that you aren't alone! It sounds like you at least have some control over yours, which is a positive sign.
I have the same phobia!!! I absolutely HATE throwing up. The whole idea of throwing up is making me nauseas right now! I have this memory of a few years back. I was at my grandparents house and I had just had dinner. I wasn't expecting to get sick but I did! I was scared and all alone too. My parents were in California while I was up in Nevada with my grandparents. Whenever I stomach aches I remeber how awful that experience was at my grandparents and I get scared. I get scared Im gonna throw up!!!! I start obsessing on it and making myself incredablly nervous!!I miss alot of school because of this too! I would much rather have diarrea than throw up...any day. I havent gotten sick for awhile. Boy o boy am I praying to stay healthy. Being sick is no fun at all. SOmetimes i can stop myself from thinking about being sick if I am distracted by something. Usually when I get a stomach ache its from lke air in my stomach. Oh yeah, I also swallow so much air I get tummy aches alot!! Well, to anyone who hates throwing up, I totally understand you and I'll pray for you too not to get sick and throw up for the rest of your life!!!!!Ahhhh!!!
Ha how scary is this - You have all described my phobia, well one of them anyway - I am also claustrophobic and terrified of heights (but flying doesn't bother me http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/confused.gif ) In each case I know exactly where it came from, and what triggers the panic attack.
I developed an intense phobia of vomiting a few years ago when I got a candida infection from antibiotics. Every night for 6 months I was in the ER getting injections to stop me vomiting. I was an antacid addict - It was the only thing that would reduce the nausea. That and half a glass of milk. I could do nothing after the evening meal - which I hardly ate any of, but lie on my side and cry. If I thought I was going to be sick, I would have a full scale panic attack, hyperventilate, cry my eyes out, and many nights I found myself sitting in the bottom of the shower bawling because I felt so terrible. My new BF at the time had a lot to deal with. Many times I would have to go home to my mum's so she could help me.
I haven't been sick for 4-5 years or so, but every now and again, if I get that nauseus feeling again, the panic attack return just as bad as before. I am pretty careful with how my food is prepared, I won't eat certain things that I know will set me off - I am allergic to mulberries - haven't had one for years, and certain brands of coffee have associated bad memories.
If it's been on the table longer than half an hour I won't eat it - longer than 2 days in the fridge, in the bin it goes. That is how I have been coping with it. I am also asthmatic, and if I have a bad attack, sometimes a panic attack can be the result, which just makes the asthma worse.
I find that the best thing for me when I am having a panic attack, is to have someone I love (like my mum) just sit by me, patting me on the back. It makes my breathing slow down and calms me down so that I can function again. The panic is worse than what sets it off in the first place!!!!
Hi Suzanne,
Man o live can I ever understand what you are going through. I too have the same Phobia. I myself haven't thrown up in 42 yrs. I think I just have it totally blocked out of my mind. All I have to hear is that someone is sick, and I freak right out. I can't even explain the fear.... almost like someone that is afraid of spiders and they would take a box of them and dump them on this persons head, telling them not to move. I get the shakes inside and out, my heart rate goes totally out of control, and I just want to run till I can't run any further. I have tried counciling, hypnosis and therepy and with no effect.
My daughter got GED and was vomiting for 13 days, I got so bad I ended up in the hospital myself. When I got home in July, I was so scared she was going to get sick again that I slept in my car until the end of November. There was frost on the windows already. It has stopped me from going to some social events (espically where drinking or eating is involved) for fear that someone is going to get sick. This is awful to have to live with.... and so many people think that it's so funny....when indeed it is FAR from funny.
As my doctor always says.... I get and A+ in the escape catagory. Good luck with your phobia, mine has gotten so far out of hand that I myself now have GED,gastoritis, duodenitis and a hiatel hurnia. When my nerves get all up in a bundle, i actually feel sick myself. My doctor told me that it is caused from the nerves making to much stomach acid and he put me on prilosec or previcid for it, and it really helps. Zantac is an over the counter that works pretty good as well. If you want to talk, email me ok???
Hi, I sort of have the same problem. About two years ago I went camping and wasnt able to eat for 2 days, and I got really sick to my stomach,(you know that nauseated feeling when you havent eaten in a long time), well it was awful. I didnt actually throw up, I was dry heiving because I didnt have anything in me. So after that happen, I was so afraid of feeling like that again, I avoided anything where I wouldnt be able to eat when I needed to, becaues I didnt want to get sick. So whenever Id eat,Id over eat and it would make me so sick to my stomach. Now, I feel sick all the time because I fear it so much, if I'm not eating I fear that I'm going to get sick to my stomach, and when I am eating, I feel sick beacuse I fear that If I eat it, then I'll get sick, so I'm always thinking about. It debilitating, I cant go out to eat, I cant eat around people, I can barly eat as it is. I thought I was the only one that feared throwing up..
I used to have that phobia to some degree when I was younger, around 6 or 7. My mom and I would go to her boyfriend's house to stay for the weekends. Every night when it was time for me to go to bed, I would get completely freaked out thinking that I was going to throw up. I used to cry and make my mom come upstairs and sit with me. After a while she would get to the point where she would be like " Jennifer, you are NOT going to throw up! You are not sick!" The whole idea of throwing up literally made me sick! I also remember a time when my parents were still married, I was about 2 years old, my mom was at work and my dad was supposed to be taking care of me. Well, I woke up at some point in the night, and my mom wasn't home yet, and my dad had run to the neighbors. Well, what did I do? I threw up. I don't know if that's what caused my fear of throwing up or what, but that fear lasted for quite a few years. Well now, being 28, I have thrown up enough to not be afraid of it. (ok, how dumb does that sound?) But really, I NOW know that Iam not going to die from it. I do have other phobias though, and I think they stem from SOMETHING in my childhood, just not sure what. So, hang in there. Puke happens! ~~~ how gross!
Susanne,
I have had that exact phobia for about 8 years. Mine started because I got really bad food poisoning. It progressed to the point where I refused to eat. I went into a deep depression with severe anxiety and panic attacks. I stopped travelling, going out, having friends, etc. It ruined my life. I tried doctor's and meds and group therapy, but I know I was never ready to change. About a year and a half ago, I sunk even deeper. I went from 120 lbs to 75 lbs. I was very sick and miserable. I went for help again, and this time I was ready. I attended a group program for anxiety and learned a lot of really important skills. I am also on meds (Paxil). Both of these combined have given me my life back. I am really a new woman. Oh and I love to eat. I no longer stress about getting sick. I eat and enjoy my food. I don't know why this time I am healing, but I honestly think I was angry enough to change. If you want to talk more, post again. Because like you, I know what it is like. It is a fear/phobia not many people understand.
Take Care
Deb
I was EXACTLY the same. I stopped it by just thinking "I'm not going to throw up" and taking deep breaths. That was a few years ago and I get the odd time now when i feel it, but then i just remember how much mroe I enjoy food now!
Staigirl you got problems. Go to a therapist and stop worrying about weight!! You are probably gorgous and all the guys love you and if not DON'T WORRY!! I'm worried about you. Please stop.
i have this same problem too...for about a year, i was nauseaos constantly cuz i was so afraid of throwing up. i still ate and everything tho. i constantly ate peppermints cuz they settel your tummy, and since it was in my head, and i believed that peppermints setteld me, then it would stop. eventually, my teeth started to go bad and i had to stop. i finally realized that it was in my head and stopped eating nearly as many peppermints. i did a lot better for about a year. about 2 weeks ago i threw up. i paniked and freaked out for about an hour, siping coke, eating mints...shaking.. and then i stood up and said to my boyfriend "im going to puke" and i did, adn guess what?? it made my tummy stop hurting!! im still afraid of it, but it isn't nearly as bad as it used to be! i lost my health insurance 3 weeks ago, so that has been making me nauseaus, cuz i know i can't go to a dr, but i'm fighting it, and getting better!
Fear of vomiting o:( 
Don't worry, your not alone, my sister is scared to throw up, and so are a lot of people I know. I am not really scared, but I hate doing it. I usually avoid it all together. IF you ever feel like throwing up, eat crackers 
