Topic : 09/05 Phobias

I have hope for you. There is a product that your doctor can prescribe called EMLA Cream. You put a blob of it on before bloodwork & it numbs the area. This has saved my life. I also used to faint when approached with a needle & laying down was not possible for me due to previous abuse issues.  

I will reserve Judgement on your husband. Thank goodness my husband is supportive no matter if he thinks I am being silly or not.  

I never actually got a shot with the EMLA cream but I know I can walk right into a lab sit down & walk out by myself after blood work which is a major accomplishment from when it would take 6 people to hold me down or I would just go straight to passing out. 

Hope this helps & let me know if you try it. email redhotdynamite2001@yahoo.com 

I am a 36 year old single mom of two boys.  I have had emetophobia for as long as I can remember.  I have never actually done "it", although I have felt like I was going to several times.  I'd rather die than to throw up or feel nausea.  I've tried therapy, hypnosis, I even went to see Sylvia Browne (the psychic) to see if it was some kind of past life thing (LOL).  Obviously, nothing has helped me.  The only way I get through the day is by taking meds and being careful.  I have an anti-emetic medication (promethazine) that I take if I even THINK I am starting to feel sick and thank God it has worked so far.  If I feel hot or cold I panic because I think I'm getting the flu.  I have gained almost 90 pounds over the last eight years because my diet consists of mostly carbs because meat and vegetables and even dairy can give you food poisoning.  My teenager thinks my fear is silly but he is understanding.  My 8 year old is now acting like he is afraid of it too.  I hate that I could be passing on this irrational fear to my son!  If my kids get sick with a stomach bug (they rarely do), I call my mother to come take care of them. I'm afraid for them to breathe in my face or to share their  "School germs" with me.  I panic when school starts every year.  I panic when I fly because I'm stuck in a confined place with everyone's germs floating around in the air, I hate crowded places because of germs (stomach flu germs anyway).  Because of this phobia, I'm on disability and cannot work outside of my home which limits my income.  I don't date because there is no way I could explain this to a sane human being(lol).   

I could go on and on about how this phobia ruins my chances at a happy life but you get the idea.  I started a support group several years ago but left because talking about it with people everyday made me even more obsessed with it and if someone actually got sick and told me about it, I panicked because I felt like my "good luck" with the vomit gods may run out and it may happen to me.  lol 

Wow, it felt good to write all of that!  Thanks for reading. 

Hello,

I have suffered with this for  a long 25 years and have had it much longer I am sure,,,re: looking back on my life. Am hoping that Dr Phil or Robin or someone can get some more information out to so many of us that are suffering this way,,,,we all need some real help.

I have been to counselors,,,am on small doses of meds xanax for it, being I am highly sensitive to medications and have suffered my share of allergic reactions. Am at pretty much of a loss,,and am trying to start something up here in the Las Vegas Area to help so many of us here who are suffering. Thanks to the internet I have joined two different forums to where we can voice ourselves and get some help and understanding. This has gone on too long for way too many of us. Am at wits end as to where is it a "physical or emotional" condition. All I know is it can be pure torture.

Hopefully there are more programs on this from Dr Phil or some more information. Barbara who I have spoken with,,,,is hoping to keep in touch with me. And we all need to let Dr Phil know how much we need his intervention with this problem. It is hard for anyone that has never suffered with it to understand it,,,but it is good to know we are not alone,,if anyone has any suggestions,,or any information they want to share I am more then willing to listen.

If you want to contact me feel free to at the following email addy: Just let me know it is in re: Dr Phil show. If anyone is out there in the Vegas area,,,,,and looking for some support etc,,,email me.

VegasGull@aol.com

Here is hoping that someday sometime real soon that they will find something to help us all......

God Bless~

Winged Hugs~

Seagull

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Did you ever get well after the show.  I have been emetophic for 30 years tried just about everything to control it.  Just wondering if dr phil ever help you?

thanks

jenn

I saw this show when it originally aired, and I was thinking, "Wow, this is the first time that I've even seen someone with emetophobia on television!" I, too, an am emetophobe, and while I've gotten a little better over the years, there are times when the phobia really gets on my nerves. I wish I could just blink and make it all go away. I am waiting for an update on the show, even another show about phobias.

For me, this phobia is so embarrassing because people get sick all the time. I myself hadn't been sick in over 20 years until I got on a medication that made me extremely nauseous. When I got sick at someone's house (I wasn't even home! I might have felt a little bit better if I was), I was so embarrassed about the loss of control and making a mess that I stayed in the bathroom for the rest of the night..that and the fact that I still felt a little sick. I've been dealing with this phobia since I was about 7. I remember there were classmates getting sick in class and I was driving the nurse crazy with visits for her to check my temperature, I was so afraid of getting what was going around.  Not only that, but my father, before he was diagnosed with cancer, would come home every day and get sick. We thought it was the flu, but it turned out to be worse. I would always be eating at the kitchen table he came home ill.

For people who don't understand the phobia, it's not like the "common" fears of heights, the dark, or even clowns. Sometimes I wish I was more afraid of clowns than vomiting, but...this is something I have to deal with. I'm married to a diabetic, who can get sick if his sugar is too high. The first time he did it, I left the apartment. I tried not to, but the irrationality took over and I was out the door. He knows about my phobia and he's been understanding, he has a fear of heights himself, but...I still ge embarrassed, and I remember crying in frustration to him one night because of it.

I wish they would repeat this show, because it really stood out to me and helped me see that I'm not alone.