Becca95 Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hello, I have an intense fear of being sick, this has triggered my horrible Food Avoidance Emotional Disorder. I also suffer from anxiety due to the fear of being sick and food. I have got myself into a vicious cycle. I'm afraid to be sick or feel sick so I don't want to eat, obviously I have to eat but this causes anxiety attacks. My anxiety attacks consist of feeling on the verge of being sick and retching repeatedly. It's uncontrollable and I quite often hyperventilate and get dizzy and numb hands etc. These attacks, make me feel too ill to eat and if I try to eat it sometimes triggers these attacks as well. Sometimes even just going out somewhere, or meeting my boyfriend can set these attacks off because I'm somehow over thinking the excitement and making it much worse. It's got to the point where I have no appetite, I now hate food and have no interest whatsoever. I now have an eating disorder and I have had to pull out of college for two weeks at the moment. I'm not allowed to see my boyfriend because I have anxiety attacks and then that obviously makes me not want to eat even more. I just don't know what to do anymore, I wake up with anxiety every morning now, which makes breakfast a dreaded time of the day. It will take me up to a couple of hours to eat my meals. I feel like I have been separated from everything, I don't know what I can do to get my life back on track. I am currently seeing a councellor at CAMHS eating disorder unit and will hopefully be receiving treatment for my anxiety shortly. Can anyone give me any ideas of how to firstly, overcome or deal with my anxiety? Thank you in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily-Bee Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi, I have the same phobia! So I know the fear on a very personal level.For me its still an issue but somehow has gotten better over the years. In general what I know is that anxiety only gets worse by avoiding things so somehow youll have to find a way to eat and such,get used to it again,experience that eating doesnt make you sick. The help youre going to get with the anxiety should help you there. Youve already done the most important thing;getting help! Good on you. Lily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becca95 Posted February 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hey Lily! Ahh it's great to have found someone with the same phobia, well it's not but you know what I mean! haha I agree, this morning I was on the edge of an anxiety attack but I was forced to eat and then I actually felt a bit better and then everything calmed down. For some reason, however, its taking a while to sink in! I wish it would just get easier, not harder! Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxsta Posted February 13, 2013 Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 My sister had this phobia, when she was little she would only eat "safe" foods, ones she knew hadnt made her sick, all she would eat was bacon and eggs, maybe toast every now and then... she got quite ill, she then developed a fear of choking also, which ment she would cut things very tiny and chew the food to death. I'm not at all recommending you do this, but the way she got over it was she went through her teenage years and started drinking, eventually she got sick so many times that she got used to it, i guess what im trying to say is, exposure is the best way to come through a fear, and like i say im not saying you should get drunk, or make yourself sick, but expose yourself to the anxiety surrounding puking, gradually, so u need to push yourself out your comfort zone and feel the fear... it will be horrible at first, but once you reach the peak of anxiety there is only one way you can go, down, there is only so far up your anxiety can go... and always remember it cannot kill you. xx xx xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagleheart Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 Hello Becca. I have emetophobia too. It's really bad atm,it always is at this time of year with all the talk of the winter vomiting bug. I even feel ill just saying words for vomiting. If i get word that someone i know is ill,my anxiety levels shoot off the grid. I will stop eating altogether if a "bug" is doing the rounds. Restricting my food intake is my way of controling it.However,this is not good for me at all. I have lost 7 teeth as a direct result of starving myself. The ED has made my actual jaw BONE recede,and that's not reversible. I also developed fibromyalgia. Look hun,i am not trying to scare you.I totally understand your phobia. It affects me on a daily basis. For example,i've got a doc appt later today,and i am already getting very anxious at the thought of sitting in the waiting room with people breathing their germs all over me. I hate that. I hope you're feeling ok. xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threemoons Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 Hi. I've a fear to vomit, started during a bad depression episode mixed with gastro-enteritis during my childhood. It was so brutal I spent at least a month struggling everyday to eat a yogourt and three or four small pieces of meat. Don't even remember things clearly, was in a numb due to weakness. It was a very shocking experience, I lost a lot of weight, got carences and people were talking about ambulances and death around me. Now with time it's better, I'm back to a normal feeding and I can force myself to care about my sister when she's ill. But the vomit stays something I've difficulty dealing with. When stressed or in moral pain, I now tend to get compulsive food intake, and I eat too fast, which can make me feel nauseous and there goes back the old anxiety. I've no better advice than to get helped by professionals, it's hard to do it all by oneself. Try to set small goals on the beginning. Maybe you can force yourself to eat a piece of the meal, then observe that you don't vomit, then eat another, etc. I believe what helped myself is knowing and repeating that it was all psychological and my stomach was fine, that it was just a feeling but everything would go fine despite it. My passion for knowing how the body works may have help too. But I recognize that the pain and fear in the eyes of my loved ones were the things that saved me at my worse, I would have let me die if they weren't crying. What I mean is yes, it's hard. But you can beat it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becca95 Posted February 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 Hey everyone, thank you for posting. I think I am finding it really hard because I just dont want to eat full stop. I hate food and have no appetite, I just want to give up and stop eating. I know I cant though. I realised the other day just how bad I got, my boyfriend came round and I was refusing to eat, he had to actually feed me himself. This was embarrassing but I never really noticed just how bad I had got. I think I am going to have some hypnotherapy sessions, hopefully this helps a lot, and I will keep you all posted about how it goes? :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threemoons Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 Yes, please give us news time to time. I never had hypnotherapy but I know it works for some problems. I'm sending positive energy to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanachan Posted February 16, 2013 Report Share Posted February 16, 2013 I never knew the name of the way I used to feel. Since I was a child I've been afraid of vomiting. I would only eat when I knew I was going to be home and I was near a toilet just in case. I would only pick at my food when I went out and would always have to know exactly where the restroom was and how far away it was. This happened for years and years. I always was so skinny and embarrassed to eat around people because they wouldn't understand why I couldn't eat unless I was at home. I was also so scared to be in a car because what if I had to get sick, I was trapped. I've been so anxious. I had no idea others felt this way. I finally got better because an ex boyfriend said he would refuse to take me out to eat if I didn't eat there (I would always get it to go) and I enjoyed going out to "eat" in restaurants usually making excuses as to why I wasn't eating much. So I started out very slow, eating a small amount more then I usually would. Over time it got a lot better. Now for the most part I'm able to go out to eat and actually eat, be in a car feeling full (still get anxious, but not as bad), and eat at home and go somewhere else after. I don't remember what finally made me get over the actual fear of vomiting, probably from drinking and getting sick from it so often several years ago and proof that I wasn't getting sick after I ate. Every now and then I still get nervous and just fear getting sick especially if I eat something I really enjoy eating and I feel a bit nauseous. I finally have even gotten to the point where I sometimes make myself sick if I think I will get sick anyways, like my stomach hurting really bad or if I'm drunk and feel ill. I don't know why or how that developed, even though it is still contradicting to the fear of getting sick that is still there at times. There is always hope to getting better and I really do hope you find what works for you. Just small steps at a time just barely pushing your limits and when that gets comfortable, make another step up. That is what helped me. Thinking about all the fellow people that suffer from this. It can get better xxx Hannah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becca95 Posted February 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Thank you both, I will keep you all updated as I know different things work for different people. :-) Hanachan, what you went through sounds extremely hard but I'm so glad that you found a way out and you're a lot better than you was. xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threemoons Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 I'm happy too for Hanachan that she gets better, it's true that her story sounds frightening. I feel proud of you too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanachan Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Thank you Becca, I really hope you find a way to get through this I know you can, just stay as positive as you can about things. Hannah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanachan Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Threemoons thank you I appreciate both of yalls comments. It was extremely difficult, but I try to stay positive and want to help others if I can in any way! Hannah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabulousmrsfox Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 I have the same phobia although I used to restrict food years ago I'm a lot better now. I find having little and often rather than large meals helps during periods of anxiety, and I find using anti-emetics and natural anti-emetics(ginger tea, wearing sea-bands) reassuring and calms me down. I've tried making myself sick but it made me worse, it was totally an act of self-harm as I was angry at myself for having this phobia, and it isn't always helpful for everyone although it can help some (like hanachan obviously found it useful) so I'd be very careful going about this. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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