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19th July 2022
09:00am BST
"Hi everyone I've seen a lot written on here about emetophobia, and I thought I'd like to start another new thread about it, offering support and help. I have been emetophobic since I was about 7. It effects everything I do and my relationships everything, what I eat, when I eat, if I go out literally everything. I have been self-helping myself for about a year and although progress is slow I am getting there. I can now look at pictures etc, and watch videos without sound (literally just if I'm feeling brave and only one if I do) I'm doing this because we are looking at starting a family next year and I want to be able to deal with the m/s if I get it this time (the doctors did state that they think there might have been something wrong with the baby last time and my body was trying to reject it hence the vomiting which might not happen again in the future but still I want to be prepared) I just wanted to know about or maybe help others who suffer etc?"
Her post on popular parenting forum Netmums garnered a lot of attention and soon the responses came flooding in
"I can relate to that ! I'm more scared of being sick in labour than the actual labour itself ! I also don't want any pain relief incase that makes me sick too! " "I have this! Oh it's terrible people look at you like your mad and says oh no one likes sick but I literally have panick attacks about it! I'm 22 week pregnant and have been very fortunate in having no m/s !"This is something I dealt with myself during pregnancy. I've had emetophobia my whole life and often forced myself not to vomit when I had illnesses like the flu. During both of my pregnancies, I had horrible morning sickness and there was no way to prevent it. My first pregnancy was particularly bad and my throat began to bleed at one point because I was throwing up so much. It's still something I struggle with, but like the original poster, I'm trying to work on getting rid of it little by little.
One person suggested carrying a drink which I do actually find works for me
"Do you have a certain way of dealing with it when you feel sick? Mine is strange but I can't go anywhere without a drink! If I don't have a drink with me I panic."No one had a clear-cut way to get rid of the fear but many suggested looking into support groups that could help her gently like go of her phobia. Have you or anyone you know experienced emetophobia and if so how did you deal with it?
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