What if she's sick?

[Guest Annabel]

Hey,

So one of my flatmates went to the loo earlier several times and I think I heard her being sick and I'm emetophobic but this has been happening a lot recently, this time (not like some other times) I really think she was sick, what should I do?

xx

[Mad4choco]

Hi Annabel

I can only reply as non emetophobic and if I thought someone had been sick I would clean the loo as well as I could so I know I wouldn't get any viruses etc off it Dettol sprays are brilliant for that I use them all the time around the house what with having the kids and if they are sick I do the same.

Don't know if that helps but I felt I had to reply and say hi to you as well :hug:

Tracy

xxxxx

[Rosie]

Hello Annabel!

As a fellow emetophobic I can imagine how stressed this is making you! But it could be that there is something else making your flatmate ill that isn't contagious like food poisoning, nerves (some people can be sick from that which has made things difficult for me!), period pain and that kinda thing.

Are you more worried about yourself or others being sick (or both)?

All the best,

Rosie x

Edited October 12, 2010 by Rosie

[Guest Annabel]

Thanks Mad4chocco and Rosie!

I'm not sure if she was ill or not because she could have been because she was nervous, I use dettol quite a lot and freak out generally! I'm worried about other people being sick and about catching infections which involve vomitting- sometimes I feel selfish because I am a lot less anxious if it is something that is not contagious e.g. too much alcohol that is making someone sick! What about you Rosie?

xx

[Rosie]

No problem!

For me it is almost completely centered around myself vomiting - I am only worried about others vomiting if there is a chance it will make me sick (either it's infectious or will make me sick because it is disgusting). I do feel a lot better when I know it is because of alcohol or something like that, it makes me feel guilty too! And now that it is cmoing towards winter I am already getting jumpy about stomach bugs and so on.....ARGH! :doh:

There have been many occasions where I have convinced myself that I just heard someone vomit - my bedroom is right next to the bathroom...! - but it turned out that they were fine.

Emetophobia is such a pain, but it's something I find too scary to stand up to sometimes!

How is your flatmate now?

Rosie x

[Guest Annabel]

Hi Rosie,

She was okay so maybe I just thought I heard her being sick! Also today I had an OCD-based emetophobia worry that I shouldn't go to the cinema because somebody might be sick there- it was a bit more magical than this though- I was kinda worried that God was maybe telling me not to go!! but I just went as exposure and because I wanted to and it was fine Have you had emetophobia for very long? how well do you cope with it usually? I have times where it almost disappears and times where I find it impossible to sit squished in between people anywhere (e.g. the car, the cinema, lecture theatres, buses, trains) without panicking and moving!

xx

[Rosie]

I'm glad to hear she is okay!

Oh my goodness that sounds so similar to myself, at the moment I am coping well - I just ate some cheese that was opened on monday night and some tinned tomatoes that I opened yesterday in a pasta which was tough, but something I would never have done before! The cinema is still a tricky area for me, I always watch the people leaving to go to the loo very very carefully!

But like yourself, it can vary wildly! And I am a lot better now that I have been taking fluoxetine for a few months. I would never have gone back to college otherwise :blushing:

I've had emetophobia lurking in the background since about the age of 6, but it really kicked off early last year which has left me (until fairly recentely) completely housebound, which was awful!

How about yourself?

Rosie x

[Guest Annabel]

Yeah I do the same thing in the cinema! people must think I'm strange by the way I stare sometimes! That must have been so nasty being housebound but I can see how it could happen to me too. Do you get on okay at college with emetophobia? do you have other OCD too? Annie x

[Rosie]

College is okay at the moment, but with winter coming, I'm starting to get quite jumpy about all the bugs going around!

I have other bits of OCD like magical thinking and so on, but it's mainly just vomit-related!

Rosie x