Well everyday i worry that im going to be sick or that others around me are going to be sick or have been near people who are sick.
I cant eat certain foods incase i feel ill,its difficult travelling in the car because of car sickness.
I cant seem to see a way out as i have lived with this for years now and im ready to just about give up.
I really need some help but all my doctors do is up my dose of anti depressants which isnt the answer, Other then paying for therapy which isnt an option because i am unemployed and have been for some time due to this problem.
If there is anyone out there who can help me i would appreciate it no end.
I want a happy life where im not constantly worrying about what if such happens and controlling everything i do depending on how i feel at the time.
I just cant cope anymore with worrying,its wearing me out and everyday i dread what might happen...

Please help

Hi bathgal,

From what you wrote it sounds pretty tough for you. There are ways to overcome your problems and people who can help you to achieve that. Anti-depressants can help to resolve the feelings that come with being anxious - but they don't usually solve the problem itself.

You're already seeing a doctor - (is this a GP or psychiatrist?) - and they should be able to refer you for extra support with a mental health nurse or psychologist or counselor. The services may differ depending where you are in the world so whether this is available for free where you are.

Have you tried any other therapies like CBT or hypnotism?

Hey, I only have a GP,I was sent off for a course in OCD but that didnt seem to have any effect.
I so desperatly want to get back to work and start having a proper life confused1
They dont seem to want to refer me to any other help,they only deal with my depression and nothing else.
Im really not sure what to do to convince them that this isnt in my mind.this is something real that im faced with every waking moment of my life,but if i was to say that then they would just put my antidepressants up another dosage.I dont want to be a walking zombie but i just cant face feeling this way anymore.
At the moment im reading a book about Anxiety,Phobias,Panic attacks etc and how to over come them plus im also reading Coping with Emetophobia.Just hope they have some effect.

Hi BG,

Are you in the UK? If you're stateside then I am limited in what advise I can give you as I don't know their systems too well.

If you're in the UK then there's plenty of NHS options and wouldn't be too hard to get you in to one (I have a few sneaky tricks to throw at stubborn GPs .. shh! ;] )

The depression is most likely secondary to the phobia/anxiety. It's a bit of a catch-22 situation because psychological therapies need the person to be motivated - which is hard when you're depressed about being phobic!
So they give you anti-depressants to help lift the mood and feel more motivated to change. But if you don't get the therapy to help the change - they may as well give you M&Ms which are just as good and less side effects (tho weight gain is reported if taken in high doses!).

Are you still on the prozac? Or something else now? And what dose?

The previous OCD help you got - who was that with (what profession) and for how long?

What useful things and useless things do you remember about the OCD therapy?

Is there anything you've done (either for yourself or with someone else's help) in the past that's been helpful?

The book is a good thing - and it's important to realise that no matter how many therapists or tablets you get - change eventually only comes from within. Getting the within to change is where therapists and medication is meant to help.

Hey again,
Yeah im in the uk
Yeah im still on prozac i was on 20mg first then they put it up to 40mg, The OCD Course i went to was in Bath and was ran by BANES,It was called CBT for OCD, Im not sure the names of the people running it though.
Im reading the book to try and learn some new skills to help cope with my problems instead of having a panic attacks everytime i dont feel right.
The reason i didnt find the OCD course very good was because it did focus on what i find really scary,It just focused on people who worry about hurting other people and that a member of there family will come to harm if they dont do their rituals..
I wanted something that focuses on Emetophobia,Ocd with mention to catching germs etc.PIus the anxiety and depression that surrounds that.
Im only 24 and i kinda want to start having a laugh and going out without the constant worry that i will catch a sickness bug or be near someone who has been near someone with it..
Im terrified if i see someone who looks like there are going to be sick,i cant be around drunk people either just in case they are sick near me.
Im going back to the doctors soon for a review on my prozac so i might try again and get them to refer me somewhere that i can sort these problems out and start to live a normal life,But i have a feeling i will get a more higher dosage of prozac instead :?
I originally went on the prozac for my depression and anxieties,Also i had started to self harm,I still think about that now when i feel sick ,its like if i do it then i wont worry anymore about the sick because ill be focusing on the cutting :?

Any help that you can give me would be excellent,Im sorry if it seems as though im a bit mad,Just desperatly need some help

Hi bg,

Quote:Im sorry if it seems as though im a bit mad,

Don't apologise. And yes, the good news is you're only *a bit* mad. ssmile

The CBT for OCD was almost a good idea - but it wasn't quite right. Your OCD is not based on cognitive distortions (such as 'if I don't flick the switch 9 times my cousin will have 9 children') - it's based directly on the fear of someone being physically sick - and without addressing that the OCD behaviour is not likely to go away. In fact, I'd even suggest that your behaviour is not a true OCD in the sense that it makes no sense. Your fear is emetophobia and your behaviours are based on avoiding that fear so it's a perfectly normal response to an abnormal belief.

Put it like this - I am OCD: I get up every morning and have a coffee and a smoke and get dressed before I go to work. That's my ritual. I am OCD about getting to work on time with my clothes on or I will be embarrassed!
Yours, from what I understand, is about avoiding catching germs specifically from people being sick.
Stopping you from doing the avoidant behaviours doesn't solve the underlying fear -
so if I had CBT for my ritualistic behaviour - they could teach me not to get dressed to go to work - but it wouldn't stop me from feeling embarrassed when I got there - which is what my fear is all about! So I'll keep my ritual behaviours.

CBT can help the avoidant behaviours but only if it also addresses the underlying emetophobia.

The prozac is top dose already and shouldn't be increased. It depends on how long you've been on it as to whether it will have any effect. I'm not a believer in giving anti-depressants alone, tho it can have a positive effect in some - it's much more common for people to respond better to medication AND therapy.

We can discuss your actual fears here if you wanted to. All you need do is to write in here what happens - use a recent event (the fresher the better) - in fact why not write a daily diary of events in here for one day; and describe how your thoughts and actions were determined by your emetophobia.

bathgal24 Wrote:Hi everyone, im new to this site but i would just like to say that i understanding what everyone is going through as i also suffer with emetophobia and its been taking over my life for years.
If anyone has any advice please let me know because i just cant feel like this anymore. :cry:

hi,im new too.im looking for someone to talk to about this and for some support and ideas on how other people cope and what they do to get through the bad times.

bathgal24 Wrote:My doctor just put me on prozac and that was that.. :? :cry:

hi i have been taking prozac too,do you think it helps at all?dont think it helping me much im taking 40mg

MIRIC Wrote:Hiya All

I have suffered with Emetophobia for as long as I can remember, im 24 & since I 'did the deed' in 2002 the 'curse' has ruled my life totally! Ive always had a 'fear' of it but nows its a full blown phobia that controls ME!!

My sister & Brother -in-law recently had a bad BAD bug & was *v ALOT, so my mind is in total overdrive & the OCD hand washing & cleaning is at a maximum!

Ive been refered to a pschologist who, after initial assesment' decided my phobia stemmed from jealousy of my nephew who *v alot has a child, basically she wanted to 'desensitize' me to it by slowly exposing myself to *V

Needless to say just 'thinking' about exposing myself made me nauseus & her plan went into the 'forget it' file!

Im 24 & have 1 daughter, 2 who had a violent tummy bug in Feb 08, I felt like such a failure has a mother when she was being *S into the toilet & crying for her mummy, every motherly fibre in my body screamed 'help her' but my legs froze & I sat down staires crying my heart out with my fingers in my ears!

Ive not tried hypnotism etc to deal with my phobia but am still waiting for the 'elusive cure' to my curse

hi i am so like you,i cant believe there are other people like me.i have been in therapy since i was 16 and im 36 now.i was told there no cure i had to learn how to live with this!! i tried hypnotherapy too,it didnt work at all but felt wonderful very relaxing.recently read a book on emetophobia which said you never overcome this,i was devestsated.i live in hope

Hi greenturnip and welcome to the forum

Quote:i was told there no cure i had to learn how to live with this!!

In a way this is right. To "cure" is to say the problem will never bother you again and that's difficult to guarantee. However, it is much more practical to think of the problem in ways of "how to cope" with it.

Life is full of a whole range of traumas and difficulties that we have to learn to cope with - as a "problem-to-solve"; coping with emetophobia is no different to having to fix a broken car when you have no clue or plan for Xmas when you hate to shop or live with a physical disability that limits your choices in life.
Emetophobia is it's own identifiable problem but don't single it out in a way that makes it more important or difficult than the rest of things lifde throws at us.
The way of coping with problems is no different from anything in life - tho it may be a little more difficult because it's a more difficult problem (ie it bothers you more than perhaps a broken down car or shopping or other things)
We learn ways that are good for us on how to cope with life, but not everyone copes the same; not every method has the same effect and so it is impossible to say that emetophobia (or anything) can't be resolved.

You will know the ways that are best for you for coping with life's difficulties - but the emetophobia is obviously a greater problem than your powers to overcome at this stage.
So what might you normally do to cope with any other problem?
How do you normally cope with other things in life when they are problems?

My appologize for not checking in lately.

If those on this thread have specific questions please let me have them and I'll do my best answer them.

Thanks,
Rick

I also have this problem at age 19. It started only a few months ago but it has already got in the way of school and my relationships. I don't like to go anywhere at all. I cling to my mom whenever I feel sick in hopes she'll give me something to take away the pain.
I learned a way to go to school, when I have to take the bus I take a book to keep my mind on reading and not the my fears. But I have a panic attack at least once every 2 weeks. Sometimes they are small enough when I have them in class no one knows.

Hiya Hilaryy and a very warm welcome to Ofear

I hope we all can be of some help to you.

John

Thanks John, I could get some help too.

I want to know if anyone has any good tips to cope with this problem until I can see my therapist again.

Please and thanks for the help any advice would be much appreciated!!

hilaryy Wrote:Thanks John, I could get some help too.

You're more than welcome, that's what we're here for _cheesygrin::

hilaryy Wrote:I want to know if anyone has any good tips to cope with this problem until I can see my therapist again.

Have you tried any anti-emetics such as metoclopadamine, mollitum, buccastem and stemtil? I don't have experience with them but I'm sure others on here could tell you what worked for them plus there is a thread here explaining all about them