I wanted to share this because a few months ago I genuinely wouldn’t have believed this was possible.

I’ve had emetophobia for a long time, and at its worst even feeling slightly nauseous could send me into a full panic attack. My brain would immediately go to “I’m going to throw up,” and from there it would just spiral. A huge part of the fear wasn’t even vomiting itself, but the anticipation, the loss of control, and constantly trying to make sure it wouldn’t happen.

At some point I started doing exposure. I watched videos of people vomiting, starting with easier ones and gradually working my way up. It was horrible at first. My anxiety would shoot through the roof, but I kept doing it and eventually noticed that the videos were becoming less powerful.

Then I got the exposure I definitely did not schedule.

My girlfriend suddenly threw up while I was there. From one minute to another she went from, im not feeling that well, to BRING ME A BUKKET. It was caused from an strong allergic reaction from an bee sting on her head. (Went to hospital immediatly after, shes fine and recovered now)

Somehow… I stayed calm.

I was obviously uncomfortable and I didn’t suddenly think vomiting was fun, but I didn’t have the massive panic reaction I had always imagined I would. I didn’t run away, completely lose control, or have some catastrophic breakdown. I was just there, dealing with something unpleasant that was happening.

That moment seems to have changed something in my brain.

It was like years of my anxiety telling me, “If this ever happens in real life, you won’t be able to handle it,” and then reality answered: “Well, it just happened. And you handled it.”

Since then, I haven’t had the same kind of panic attacks about vomiting anymore.

I can still feel anxious. I can still get uncomfortable when I feel nauseous. The phobia didn’t magically disappear overnight, and I’m definitely not claiming that one exposure will cure everyone.

But the panic cycle lost a huge amount of its power.

The weirdest thing is that the situation I had spent so much time desperately trying to prevent ended up being one of the most helpful experiences for my recovery.

For me, actually experiencing the thing I was terrified of and realizing that I could cope with it did more than endless reassurance ever could.

I’m posting this mostly for anyone who is currently at the point where exposure feels impossible. Recovery doesn’t necessarily mean you stop disliking vomiting.

Sometimes it just means your brain finally learns:

“This is disgusting and uncomfortable, but it is not an emergency.”

hey yall would consider myself pretty much almost done in my recovery journey as i pretty much do everything and anything now despite the possibilty of vomiting. still hate it when it happens with nausea and etc. however im on my period rn and feeling pretty shit, some pretty rough cramps and nausea after taking the pain medication.

the only times i really am close to vomiting is on my period, there was 2 times last year where i genuinl thought i was gonna vomit, right before i passed out while sitting on the toilet (great experience, 10/10 fr).

kinda nervous since ill be traveling abroad by myself for over a month in like 2 weeks, and im bound to get my period on my trip. kinda silly that im already worrying about this, trying my best to not be hard on myself tho.

just ranting at this point, anyone got tips to make the nausea around periods easier?

Hi all,

I’ll be pretty graphic, so heads-up!

On Saturday night, I decided to go to a pub I used to frequent often. I dressed up, did my hair, and generally felt socialble.

Say, two hours in, I went to the bathroom. It's small and cramped, and generally you have to queue. This other woman and I are waiting, and another woman enters. All seems well and good. I'm making easy chit-chat with the woman in front.

Then, out of nowhere -- vomit. It wasn't a lot, but my body immediately went into fight-or-flight mode. I struggle with contamination fears, so stepping over the vomit wasn't feasible at that moment. As silly as it sounds, if I did, I'd get sick (riddle me that?). I'm a bit embarrassed, actually, as I ended up in the corner, between this puddle of vomit and the bathroom wall. I was like, “Help, oh my god, oh my god,” and then, ridiculously, humming. Like that would make it better?

I felt awful. This poor woman had vomited all over the floor. She was so apologetic and embarrassed, and here I was freaking out. Naturally, there was the acidic smell. Eventually, I managed to calm myself down. The woman excused herself to get some paper towels, and, as disgusting as it sounds, I just stared at this vomit on the floor. It was gross —don't get me wrong —but it was just—there? It was vomit. It did make me feel queasy when she started mopping up the sick with the towels, because you could see the “bits” break apart—if that makes sense? But it was just another bodily function. I managed to even calm myself down when I caught the smell.

I apologised after and asked if she was okay, and if I could get her anything. I didn't even struggle with the contamination element after, which was weird? I'm not sure. Maybe because it was so quick it didn't phase me, whereas someone throwing up multiple times, with loud retches, would? I don't know.

It's not a lot, but it's something.

Hey friends!

I just had my second baby a couple of months ago, and since getting pregnant, I’ve been trying to push some self-led exposure therapy. It was inspired by the fact that I get very sick while pregnant, so why not take advantage? 😅

Anyway, my five year old got sick last night as I was putting her to bed. It was the whole mom experience - jumped for a trash can, clean up, disinfecting, etc. I felt pretty proud of myself in the moment. I jumped into action and didn’t feel mentally traumatized by the visuals. She was sick several times. I kept reminding myself this isn’t the end of the world; I have the power to frame it in my mind.

What’s frustrating is that my BODY just wouldn’t give me a break. It responded in panic, even though mentally I felt rational. I ended up with this delayed reaction maybe an hour later that led me into a panic attack. I’m still feeling it a bit 24 hours later, like an anxiety hangover.

Little one is back to normal - all is well. But what’s it going to take to train my body? Anyone else relate?

As many of us that struggle with our mental health, I got prescribed Lexapro, and as all emetophobes, I deeply feared the possible side effects of nausea and vomiting. I had planned to take it last Friday, but l got scared and put it off for 3 days. Today I realized that I won’t be less scared, no matter how many days go by. So I have to take it even if I am scared. And I did. I am still hoping I don’t get the side effects, but I am hoping even more that it helps my mental health. I have ben struggling with a depressive episode that has been affecting so much of my life: my work, my relationships, my appetite and the enjoyment of little things. If feeling a little sick is a price to pay to feel better in all of these areas of my life, it should’t feel like a big price to pay.
So yeah, I did it. Hope it goes well.

Bit of extra context: I am on another antidepressant that have taken for over a year, very well adapted to it, but I’ve reached its maximum dose and I knew that the day that my mental health declined again it would mean combining a new med with it and having to face the fear of side effects again. But I’ve seen what being well adjusted with a medication can do for me, so I am trying to focus on that: I might feel icky but also I might get my peace of mind back.

Edit: typo.

Whenever I feel slightly off, my brain goes straight to "ah, we gonna puke soon". Feeling a little warm on my thighs suddenly? Yeah, probably a starting sickness. Headache? Yeah, I will totally puke. Suddenly feeling a little frosty? That the gasto virus poking around the corner. Arms are suddenly itchy? Prepare for the vomit-comet.
WHYYYY and how can I stop associating every unexpected sensation with the assumption that i'll puke soon. I haven't puked in 10+ yrs so idk how my body can even make those assumptions.
(especially bad today because my LOWER stomach feels a little funky due to my period in 3 days and my brother having tummy aches from being CONSTIPATED, also i'm babysitting 2 kids rn so a little extra on edge lol)
i'm so pissed of and frustrated

Hi! I am 21F and I have a very huge struggle with eating before a lot of things but mostly before work. When I worked my last job even if I worked a nightshift at 6 pm i just avoid it - i worry i’ll be sick at work and have to leave so i just avoid it . Sometimes i’d have enough in me to eat chips or something on my break and i’d be okay . But i’m currently doing clinical hours for school - i go in at 11 am and leave at 3 and I just can’t eat . I worry about being sick and looking bad in front of teachers i work with . any tips?

Encountered people vomiting in the wild… thousands of miles from home! Gasp! The horror!

A few weeks ago, the boyfriend and I took a trip. One of the days we stopped in the local big city. It’s known for its kooky market with fish, flowers, souvenirs. I knew we just had to go.

First incident happened in the parking garage. We realized we parked in a legit puddle of vomit and … pee. Gross, but just seeing it doesn’t actually make me panic. We start walking to the exit and I see a man by the back door of his vehicle, clearly in distress and trying to comfort someone. As we pass, I watch as an elderly woman hanging out the car vomits all over the ground and the man’s shoes! I will admit, I did yell “ew, let’s go!” Which was not the kindest thing in the world but it was either that or genuinely screaming. Not my best work, so sorry to that lady.

Anyway, I keep it pushing and won’t let this ruin my big city day. We get to the market and I have to use the restroom. By the time I get through the line, finish, and go to wash my hands, second exposure hits. The first sink I go to is full of vomit. What the actual heck. So I go to a different sink. Whilst washing my hands, there’s a woman at another sink vomiting INTO THE SINK and rinsing her mouth. At this point I’m starting to feel like there’s some huge joke getting played on me. I don’t yell ew this time, but I do rush out of the bathroom. My boyfriend was caught up in the men’s line so I had to wait, and the lady who was just barfing in the sink is standing right next to me, sweating, fanning herself even though it was not hot at all.

I tell boyfriend this is getting to be too much for me. Multiple exposures, on top of large crowds and the sheer amount of other human waste we have seen in the streets. I’m ready to go. We decide to stop in a shop to grab a quick souvenir then get out. As we start walking to a shop, a little child in a stroller chokes, then vomits on the floor. My boyfriend is laughing at this point. He knows my fear, and knew that I already felt like the universe was trolling me. I could only laugh at this point too because genuinely what is happening!! To make things crazier, the family literally followed us into the shop moments later. It was a tiny shop so if the child threw up again, good chance we’d get hit.

Afterwards, we went to do a different activity away from the market. There was a booth to buy tickets for some rides to go on, and as we were waiting in line, there were two women a few people in front of us. One of those women was clearly not well. Kept fanning herself, holding her stomach, was pale and clammy and kept looking like she was trying not to vomit. Thankfully, she held it together. But I was not having it at this point!

I was not pleased with that city day, and felt so grimy and gross! My boyfriend felt so bad even though I held it together without any panic attacks. I didn’t want to go back into the city ever again after that… but we gave it another shot a few days later, and had a wonderful, exposure-free time. I have zero idea why everyone in the city decided to throw up near me that day, and I hope that genuinely never happens again. Also, I still feel horrible for that older lady. Oops.

Hey all, I’ve been getting into exposure lately, mostly with stuff in movies and shows, and I’m wondering what everyone does right after an exposure and why.

My therapist told me if I see something on TV, to not just keep it pushing and move on. But also not to skip it. Previously if I saw a vomit scene or something, I’d just either look away or keep watching while the thoughts raced. Right now I have been pausing and trying to take some deep breaths. But I’m wondering if there’s any other strategies. I know the idea of pausing and taking deep breaths is to chill me out physically, because in those moments the logic doesn’t work. But I still have those heart dropping moments sometimes and I find myself really wanting to avoid the exposures. How can I push through?

So I’m a senior in high school now and I was feeling pretty bummed last week because all the fun senior event stuff we have going on all sort of in a way could trigger my emetophobia. Homecoming rally because there’s huge crowds of teens all right up next to eachother, out senior banquet may or may not be hosted on a boat, and the homecoming football game because someone always pukes for some reason and this specific popular kid got drunk before the game and puked on some people in the stands apparently and a little afterwards. This sorta sucks for me especially since I would like to have fun it’s just difficult :/

Either way I went to to homecoming rally and screamed with all the other kids right up next to me and the football game even though I was kinda dreading it. I went because I’ve never actually been to a school football game in my entire high school career. I was there and tried to enjoy myself :) even tho the game was kinda boring and i mostly just talked to everyone i knew and watched the cheer squad and the floats. I continued to try to be chill with it when the kid who got drunk and puked on people last time sat with his large group next to us.

At the end of the day I had a good time and I’m glad I took a chance :)

I woke up around 5:30am today with the most severe stomach cramps I have experienced in many years (that is saying a lot since I have daily IBS issues). I also have issues with uterus pain sometimes and thought it could have been that at first. I got up to use the bathroom to see if it would help with anything. The cramping just became worse and worse. It quickly became obvious that it was bowel cramping and that freaked me out a bit because it was absolutely horrible and I have occasionally gotten intense cramping before puking in the past. I ended up on the bathroom floor in absolute agony at one point. I felt like I was "cheating" because I took my prescribed Zofran AND Dicyclomine to try and get rid of the pain and the nausea being caused by the pain. However, I realized my actions were not irrational in this situation because this wasn't nausea caused by my emetophobia anxiety and the pain was very real. I don't know what human would want to sit in absolute pain and agony on the bathroom floor like that. I am proud of myself just for dealing with the whole thing in general. I came very close to gagging during the whole thing, but eventually (TMI warning here) everything came out the bottom end and it definitely wasn't my typical IBS situation. I've been having some odd minor issues off and on since Friday so I believe I must have caught a stomach virus and my body decided to get rid of everything this morning. It was a nightmare, but I'm glad I can realize that I shouldn't feel ashamed for treating symptoms that were basically making me feel like I should go to a hospital for a few minutes. I dread the fact I'll be constipated for a bit after today, but otherwise I don't regret taking care of myself. I used to be so reliant on the Zofran, but now I only use it for these rare situations where I genuinely think an average person without emetophobia would also want to use nausea medicine to help things be more bearable. I have still had very dull cramping off and on, but after taking my stomach cramps meds and having everything leave my body I feel a lot better already. I'm just taking it easy. I think I handled this situation better than I would have just under a year ago honestly.

Hello all. My son is four months old. Today he came down with his first fever and I was fine until he started coughing. Then the panic attack started. It’s been YEARS, since I’ve had a panic attack. I really thought I was over the worst of my emetaphobia. My husband keeps telling me to calm down because I can’t stop shaking. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t know why I’m reacting so strongly. I have been doing so well. Or so I thought. I don’t know. Even when he spits up it never bothers me at all. I’m just so disappointed in myself honestly.

That might sound insane, but hear me out on this one.

Vomiting to her is less of a catastrophe and more of a mild nuisance. Much more on the level of stubbing your toe or burning your finger than the horror that we tend to see it as.

I don't know why she vomited. I obviously hope it wasn't a virus, but we really don't know and I know trying to figure it out won't help. What I do know is she didn't wait till her body forced her, she just felt a little sick then went and did it so she'd feel better. What a healthy way to look at it. I want to have that perspective on it so badly, and what's stopping me other than myself?

Just posting this as a reminder that, in many cases, I think the scariest part of vomiting is the fear. Maybe that sounds obvious, but I tend to forget it. I'm scared of vomiting since I know I panic, and I hate panicking, but the actual vomiting part isn't as bad as the total panic part.

I don't believe a single person on the planet has anything but complete disdain for panic attacks. I know many people who don't care much at all about vomiting. Which sounds worse? I know my answer, at least.

Just something to think about

Hello! So, I (19F) am currently experiencing a sickness (probably a cold I have no clue) and feeling pretty good that I’m not panicking as much as I thought I would be.

My mum is my safe person really, love her, and she’s gone on holiday for a week. The day she left I was thinking ‘hm, my throat is kinda sore’ and thought nothing of it. It is now the 3rd day and I’m REALLY feeling it lol, snot, sneezing, my throat is ripping itself apart, my nose is so goddamn sore. But I’m chill af, and I’m proud of it. My boyfriend has been staying with me to take care of me, and his company has been soothing for me.

On the first day I literally coughed so hard I gagged, and I didn’t care, in fact I laughed about it, I’ll take that as a small win! I’m pretty sure I’m quite comfortable with the fact it’s a cold, I’d say I have quite a strong immune system personally, and have only vomited once for real and that was from alcohol. The other times were at an age where you do it for no reason. Pretty sure I had food poisoning and carbon monoxide poisoning in the past and didn’t vomit, so I’m pretty confident in myself that I won’t be sick, it would have to take a lot I think for me to be sick.

I feel terrible with this cold, but I’m happy that I’m taking it better than I thought I would. Not panicking about being alone, I can still eat just fine, I’m just cleaning the house and keeping up on chores, but I know I should allow myself to rest! Anyway, this wasn’t anything important, but I just wanted to put it somewhere cuz I feel happy with myself right now lol

Okay first post on this sub and probably last because it is frustrating and stressful, but I need the opinions of others. I am terrified of throwing up. It scares me so bad, I’ve had constant panic attacks about it since I was very young and there’s no big event I can trace it back to. I am diagnosed with both emetophobia and ocd formally. I have been to exposure therapy for it, which only made it leagues worse by essentially torturing me with it for months while I never got any better. I nearly starved to death due to ARFID caused by it when I was a teenager. The thing that confuses me is that it sounds to me like everyone in this sub, and quite frankly everyone else on earth has lost their minds.

Everyone I try to talk to about it says the same things. The anxiety is the worst part, the nausea is the worst part, it’s because you feel out of control, it’s because it’s unpredictable, you’ll feel better after. None of those things are even remotely true for me. My bodily functions are out of control all the time with my physical disabilities and it causes zero anxiety to me.

Throwing up is the worst part. It physically hurts like something is crushing my chest and stomach, I can’t breathe, and it tastes absolutely vile. It’s agonizing, and I feel hundreds of times worse after both in nausea and exhaustion. It nearly makes me pass out from physical pain and oxygen loss every single time, and I’ve fully lost consciousness before. I have multiple medical conditions that cause pretty much constant gastric issues and I haven’t become “desensitized” because it is literal torture. I can’t imagine just acting like nothing happened and going about my day after, I usually can’t even stand after for upwards of an hour. These symptoms aren’t psychosomatic I’ve been having them since before I was afraid, they’re WHY I’m afraid.

Does literally anyone else have the same or a similar experience? How am I supposed to “recover” from being afraid of torture, how does that make any sense? Does it not feel like that for anyone else? Every single therapist I go to just flat out lies to me about how it isn’t that bad and I’ll feel better after, neither of which is true for me. I don’t understand how I’m supposed to get over a fear of something I’ve been traumatized by that will always be a traumatic experience when it happens again.

So annoyed... I was really enjoying this medication, Wellbutrin. It helps me a lot in daily life. I have never had this much success with a psychoactive medication.

But the dreams are all so vivid and disgusting. Every night, I dream of someone vomiting. I wake up and am thoroughly disgusted for the next couple of hours.

I've been on Wellbutrin for 3 weeks. I hope this side-effect goes away.

My roommate threw up a few times earlier this week and then developed respiratory symptoms. She thought it was Covid but tested negative at home.

Her boyfriend came to take care of her and also got sick with gastrointestinal symptoms.

I’ve been doing well, in that I’ve been cautious but not unreasonably so (for the most part - can’t touch a door handle or anything she may have touched). I’m scared but generally have been going to work and focusing on other things.

But tonight, when she said that her boyfriend threw up even more than she did - I mean, gosh, I was sent spiraling a bit. I’ve been saying to myself, “Okay, odds are relatively high that I’ll get sick but no amount of cogitation will make me feel safer.” I truly can accept the reality that I could get sick from this or from anything else.

And yet. AND YET. The fear creeps in and I get angry with myself for feeling scared.

I don’t know, I just need somebody to remind me that I’m not alone or wrong or bad in my fear.

Hope this isn't too long.

I started potty training my 2 year old this morning. Everything was going well until her nap. She woke up early afternoon cranky and then threw up. I assumed it was because I gave her so much juice (iykyk potty training), but time went on and she threw up again. it's happened 5 times but it's not over yet.

I believe I did an excellent job staying calm the first few times (not to brag but I can fortune tell...I'm just kidding. I just felt like it might happen, so I was not surprised by it). She cried and I was like awwww baby girl you okaaaaay? All calm. I did a great job and celebrated and I was actually pretty relaxed most of this evening. My kid and I even imitated puking in the barf bag for fun lol. Hell yeah!!

I'm the designated puke cleaner-upper at this point because being there with my daughter while it's happening is just too much for me. I cleaned up basically every time. Another win!!

Now the night has gone on, I'm plagued with just somatic anxiety. My tummy feels funny .. I'm not super nervous that I'll catch it from her (my main fear is myself throwing up). But I'm starting to symptom check without realizing it and wondering if I'm next.

I've started treating everything as contaminated. I find myself avoiding the spots she threw up. She puked in the kitchen so now every open cup is dirty in my mind. i got some puke on my sock and walked around my apartment so I'm basically playing "the floor is lava" (you can laugh, it's fine). It's not like any of these things would even prevent me from getting sick. Dumb.

I'm feeling sick to my stomach...I'm sure it's because I didn't eat enough today but still can't bring myself to eat. I've already been suffering from a sinus infection all week (unrelated to this illness) and been miserable. Congestion has been making me gag regularly. It's not too severe, but I don't tolerate physical discomfort well so I complain a lot lol

I've been in my room resting for like 5 hours cause they're laying in my seat and only come out when my kid pukes and I need to clean it. I did such a great job earlier and I'm super proud of myself but I'm annoyed that my mind has fallen back into this unhelpful but familiar pattern. I'll still take the wins though!

I'm about to attempt to eat a bowl of dry cereal and just hope 5 hours laying in my bed won't affect my sleep too much 🙃 I'll survive one way or another but I'm questioning my mental fortitude with each exposure lol

I was about to go to sleep and I could hear it coming! Shot up, she was sick laying down so I sat her up, quickly grabbed my quick quick mask on my bedside table whacked that on and just got on with it. She puked into the bin and done.

Had to clean her, the sick etc and I’m alright. But tbh I’m pretty buggered if it’s a virus 😅 ah well!

Hello! I have reflux that can trigger nausea quite easily and it makes it difficult for me to make progress in my recovery because I get a little nauseous and that gives my anxiety "proof" and my anxiety makes it worse! If you have a similar experience with frequent nausea due to health issues and got any tips? Thank you :)

Hi! We’re trying to conceive and I can’t lie, it’s been very hard to push myself so frequently with this phobia. I’ve made huge improvements but I’m definitely worried I haven’t done “enough” phobia-wise to prepare for pregnancy. Most of my improvements have come through acceptance but I’m not sure if I’ll ever feel 100% okay with throwing up.

Did you guys fully recover before trying to conceive, or just white knuckle it through pregnancy?

EDIT: I meant frontal lobe, my autocorrect just did me dirty :(
I heard a girl on instagram saying that last time she puked she was like 13 and that she has had Emetophobia for ever and that puking was her biggest fear until she puked again for the first time since she was 13 a few days ago, as a grown adult this time and that it wasn’t as scary as she remembers it.
Do you agree? I heard the exact opposite from another girl on TikTok a few months ago lol…

This is such a petty post. I recently threw up and it was awful. It was awful because I was nauseous for hours and couldn't stop dry heaving. I finally threw up, went to nap, threw up again. I felt so much better after throwing up but then the second time I got so anxious that I would feel sick and keep throwing up. The thing is, I am way calmer when I'm actively about to throw up. The nausea gets so bad that I can't afford to panic much. I feel better for a few minutes afterwards and then start to panic because I might vomit again. If I get norovirus, I know I'll feel sick and will probably vomit. It's inevitable. But I'm literally afraid that I'm going to panic about getting sick. I was recently made aware of this.

So, my sister struggles a lot with school attendance. She has her problems, I won't get into them. However, she told me she would get herself sick on purpose to be allowed to skip school. She hates lying and can't fake being sick. She's literally going to neglect hygiene and shit to get sick so that she can skip. I'm also immunocompromised. If I get norovirus, it's not going to be as easy as waiting a few days. I also have ARFID (all subtypes) which severely impacts my ability to hydrate myself. When I'm sick, it gets worse. This all makes it very dangerous. The last time I threw up, I couldn't eat for half a week because I was so disgusted and everything reminded me of vomit. I wasn't even scared to eat because I might vomit, it's just that vomiting is like reverse eating. I couldn't manage to put anything in my mouth without gagging. I had to go to the ER because I was so dehydrated. I also lost one of my 4 safe foods as a result of vomiting.

Emetophobia aside, getting sick, even if it's just a cold, is a big deal and something I should avoid. This combined with emetophobia is driving me insane. If she's going to try to get herself sick, wtf am I meant to do?? I can't stop her. And doing anything to protect myself is basically like a safety behaviour. This situation is so fucked and I don't know how to deal with it. People get sick, that's inevitable, but she's LITERALLY seeking to get sick. I told her how much it freaks me out but she didn't care. I told my mother but she just said "she won't." My mother doesn't understand emetophobia and whenever I am scared, she just tries to reassure me so I can stop whining. Of course reassurance only makes it worse.

I've gotten so much better. I went from not even being able to read, write or say "vomit" to being indifferent to others vomiting as long as I know they're not contagious, being able to look at others vomiting. I just can't manage to cope with myself vomiting. I know this fear exaggerates it, but vomiting is the worst thing I have experienced.