Stress Center Peer Support

Ever since I was a little girl I have had the biggest fear of throwing up. If I get a upset stomach I will start freaking out. I have only thrown up a few times my whole life and the last time I threw up it was 12 years ago. I will fight it till the end. If there is anyone around me that feels like they are going to throw up I will start panicing and worry myself into being sick. I have a 6 month old daughter and I'm terrified she is going to get the stomach flu and I won't be able to take care of her. This is not healthy for her or I. In the past year in a half it has gotten very bad. It started with having morning sickness all day and night with my daughter for 5 months. I never did vomit but I def could of but I just really fought it everyday. A month and a half after I had my daughter I got very sick. For 2 months I was very sick. I also nurse my daughter so she was taking everything from me. Might I add I'm not a very big person. Before I was pregnant I was 104, after I was 113 and was very happy with my weight. I ended up going to the emergency room 4 times when they finally told me I had to get my gall bladder taken out. Ever since then I've been terrified of getting sick like that again that I worry about it day in and day out. I don't know what to do anymore. I also have IBS. Well, I thought something was still wrong with me after I got my gall bladder out because I was so nauseated and loss of appetite. I got CT scans, all the above and the doctor finally told me that she thinks its just anxiety. She put me on paxil but it isn't helping. I keep loosing so much weight and I can't afford to lose anymore. I am down to 90 lbs. So unhealthy. I want to be normal and live a normal healthy life for my daughter and husband without living in fear everyday. If anyone has gone through this please help me or give me suggestions to get over this. I just started this program and I pray it helps me. The relaxation techniques have taught me how to breathe and relax when I start to feel anxious. It is getting so bad that I can't leave my house without being scared of where i'll be when I have another attack or if i'll pick the stomach flu up while in town. I feel the safest at home and that isn't right. I am a fun, loving, outgoing person. I can't live in fear any longer. Please help. Thank you.

Yay, I'm not the only one! I had my first panic attack when I was 7 years old. In a restaurant, at the table, I got nauseated. My aunt took me outside for fresh air, which made me feel immediately better, but when I walked back in the restaurant, I felt horrible again. Since that moment, I always was afraid of throwing up. Fast forward many years, when I felt an anxiety attack cooming on, I didnt know how to stop it. My mind would race, I was so hot, like a heat wave coming over me, I would feel so sick to my stomach, and then I would vomit. But then I would feel better, cause it was like a release of energy. But in the last couple years, my anxiety changed a bit. Now its not so much a fear of throwing up, but if I feel full after an evening meal, I started associating it to a feeling of nausea, then a panic attack would come on. But the last few times, I haven't vomited, so I feel completely sick for anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. The panic episode may have passed, but the sick feeling doesnt. So I stopped eating supper alltogether. I eat my last meal around 5:30 pm the latest, and it's usually a small meal. I have lost 37 lbs in the last 2.5 years. Mind you, I needed to lose that weight anyway, I am now at a healthy 135lbs, and 28 years old. I am week 2 into the program, and am feeling better, and more confident. I can now snack a bit later, and feel okay. In the last 6 months-1 year, I have been able to identify the source of my anxiety. I get anxious as soon as the sun goes down and its dark out. During the day I can go out, go to restaurants, pig out, do whatever. As soon as night falls, I feel uneasy and just want to be at home with my husband. I wish I could give you advice, but I feel I'm in a 'similar' boat...

Thank you so much for replying. I hope this program fixes this for you. I'm praying for the same for myself, though i'm afraid the only way to get over my fear is to just throw up when i am feeling sick. If that is the case than I think it is going to take awhile. It is easier said than done!

yes same here since 13 yrs old awful!! avoiding foods and places that I think I can get sick, best idea: trowing up is a normal function of the body some people are more prone to it than others at the end of the day is watch your diet ( without what ifs ) and relax most of the time is stress and anxiety.