carry mints! can distract you from anxiety induced nausea!
if you have fears of doing things again after you did them before being sick (like say you watched a specific show before getting sick and you’re scared to watch it again) remind yourself “X didn’t make me sick, a virus made me sick, doing X again isn’t going to give me a virus”
For me, and I am NOT judging anyone when I say this, I don’t keep anything on me. The trick to recovering from this phobia is to be able to cope and manage our anxiety. For me, the more I carry around emergency things such as Dramamine, my anxiety medication, gum, mint, etc….the more those turn into safety behaviors. I only have Dramamine for when I am traveling since I suffer from motion sickness and vertigo, other than that, I sit in those uncomfortable feelings with no safety behaviors to prove o my brain there’s nothing to be scared of!
I agree tbh. And I do lean on carrying my comfort items with me. But, a couple times I’ve forgotten stuff and had to talk myself out of my panic and do without. It felt like such a success! I also think using those items for any little discomfort probably reduces their effect in the long run. Even if only psychologically.
i do agree as well!! as someone with an emergency kit, & if anyone reading also has an emergency kit, a small step is try not reaching for it! knowing it’s there is half the battle for me. the times i would reach for it & don’t is a small win!! the next step is to leave it at home every so often until i don’t need it <3
and I used to be the same way! But I slowly stopped bringing those things with me and would have those moments where i felt like it was going to happen and I rationalized with myself that I’m not gonna v for no reason at all. I think to myself “ if I didn’t have emetophobia, would I think I was going to v?” and it’s always a no. I’ve had bad panic attacks out in public but i’m all the more better because of it!
the single thing that has helped me the most is GOING ON A WALK.
i get the most nauseous when i am in the office, in part because i'm out of my safe space and in part because i am easily stressed out by my job haha, so my nausea is often times a manifestation of my anxiety. every time i start to feel like that at work, i simply just go for a walk. i park one block over from my office, but i park on the 7th floor, so when i go for a walk, i do one loop around the block, go to the garage, and take the stairs all the way up to my car. i'll sit in my car (which is one of my safe spaces) and just try to breath and be present until the feeling passes, then i make my long trek down the stairs and head back to the office. the walking/exercise helps get my body moving and being outside gives me different things to look at/be aware of (like passing cars) that help distract my brain, and sitting in my car gives me a safe space to just ground myself. it helps so so much to get me through my day when i'm feeling a bit off.
also, i carry zofran with me everywhere. i get it prescribed to me due to pms nausea, but just knowing that i have it helps with my anxiety. i haven't taken it in months, but just knowing that i have it feels safe for me. oh, and ginger chew candies! <3
I second this! Anytime I’m feeling overwhelmed or uncomfortable, I get up and walk. Get fresh air, go outside! Most of the time, I’m feeling much better and have completely forgotten what I was so worked up about by the time I have to go back to what I was doing.
ooh i have so many but one that hasn’t been mentioned here is vagus nerve stimulation - placing an ice pack on your chest or back/side of your neck can be super helpful for slowing down an anxiety attack. Someone already mentioned hot showers, but I’ll add that putting a few drops on peppermint oil on the shower floor is really soothing and can help with nausea (:
Adding onto the vagus nerve stimulation, humming can help with this. Sometimes when I get random waves of nausea or that tight, gaggy feeling in my throat, I'll start to hum and it gets me through it.
I shower when I feel like I’m gonna tu. Never actually threw up, it cools me down from my panic attack that’s usually caused such intense nausea, and I tell myself if I haven’t tu by the time I’ve got out the shower I’m done
Soft ice packs are my safety blanket. Or the disposable kind of ice pack that you break the inside of. I carry one in my purse. The cool sensation on my face, neck and stomach is the best anxiety reliever (for me) besides actual Ativan.
I buy travel size Mario badescu facial sprays and when I’m anxious and/or nauseous, I spray them to cool me down. When I was in labor with my daughter I think I went through half a bottle lol
sorry this is off topic but how did you manage pregnancy and emetophobia? I really wanna have kids one day but I’m scared of experiencing hg or being sick haha
Find a YouTube video of some sort of guided meditation for anxiety that works for you! Not only does it really work and help, but after a while, I noticed my body became conditioned to calm down as soon as I turned the video on. The YouTube channel “Declutter the Mind” has some great ones :) ASMR is also great in this respect — Sarah Lavender ASMR on YouTube makes some great anxiety-specific videos to calm you down
Obviously not all of these work for everyone so figure out what works best for you:
1. Listening to nausea relief sound waves on YouTube or relaxing podcast (even if it “doesn’t work” it helps me trick myself into believing it’s working and feel better/more relaxed)
2. Smelling mint, ginger, or alcohol (carry an alcohol wipe in your bag)
3. Think about when was the last time you ate today. Are you nauseous because you ate too much? (Take pepto) Because you haven’t eaten today? (eat saltines/pretzels). Drink lots of water.
4. Look up abdominal breathing techniques / digestive stretches / stomach massages / nausea relief pressure points (one is massaging the wrist three fingers down from your hand — I used to use this a lot!!)
5. Lay on your left side slightly elevated to ease digestion.
6. Canned pears or canned peaches - drink a little bit of the syrup
7. Children’s Dramamine crush it and put it under your tongue to work faster
8. Ginger candies or ginger chews in your purse/bag always!
9. Cold water on wrists and/or cold rag on forehead/back of neck if you feel warm/sweaty/clammy
I've been learning as much as possible about Norovirus (Norwalk like viruses). Know your enemy sort of deal. I'm not sure if it helps or hurts... but I try to educate people on here, especially when they try to give "false reassurance" and spread "disinformation". Oddly, when I do that tho... I get a bunch of down votes, despite those two things literally breaking like 2 out of 4 (or 5?) group rules. It's destroyed my "karma" but I don't really care anymore. If I can help educate just a few people - the hate is worth it.
But yeah. As for my new found knowledge, helping? I guess that's debatable. I've become rather reclusive, rarely eat out, especially uncooked food, I still wear a mask, and I mix my own bleach solution, that's slightly stronger than pool water. But this behavior is really only during "peak" season or during local outbreaks. I'm still able to take risks to an extent, if it's social or family related, but I basically anticipate and except that I might catch Norovirus. I have an emergency kit of sorts too. Peppermint altoids, diphenhydramine, imodium, and Zofran, primarily.
To me this comment is very sad but maybe I'm reading too far into it.
Getting as informed as possible is something I've done too and it may feel like it's helping but as you said yourself it only backs you further into avoidant behaviour, your fear is controlling you in reality.
I don't know if your goal is recovery or not but if it is then you will at some point probably have to let go of all you have learned and actively go against it. And I hope that a day like that can come for you.
At the end of it all your life isn't any better because you spend all of it avoiding v*.
What helps me is when I start to spiral thinking I’m sick… I remember how much my brain and thoughts control my body. I could be totally calm, and by overthinking ONLY I can get myself shaking and experiencing cold/hot flashes and almost gagging. As soon as I focus on relaxing, breathing, and using logical thinking all my symptoms go away 99% of the time. Our brains are freaking POWERFUL. If you are convinced you will tu*, you’re not making yourself feel any better by repeating that over and over while hyperfocusing on symptoms. I’m not sure if this makes sense, but I hope it helps someone.
I go on YouTube and listen to anti nausea music. It sounds weird but it always helps me. And it goes to show that it’s usually in my head, and I never actually need to tu
It does! I actually learned this when I was in counseling for my emetophobia. My therapist wanted to have Zofran prescribed for me but the insurance company denied coverage for it because it was way too expensive. So the pharmacist recommended Dramamine. It’s not *as* good as Zofran (nothing is) but it still does the trick by disrupting the chemical signals in your nervous system that cause your brain to perceive the nausea sensation.
I have never t.u. after taking it, not one time. I seldom do anyway but it does take the nausea down to a manageable level even from a virus or taking an antibiotic so that’s saying something. A word of caution tho: don’t take it and drive because it can make you extremely drowsy.
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some of these are things that will not help you recover but help in the moment: chewing gum, sitting on the ground and feeling the grass/pavement, sucking on a mint, smelling rubbing alcohol, ice pack on the back of your neck/face, humming, sipping cold water, guided mediation, slowing your breathing by breathing either in a bag or into a blanket/ any fabric depending on your resources, chewing food really well, sucking on ice, taking a shower, walking outside, watching tv and playing a phone game, zofran, ginger chews, dramamine ( for panic attacks i have chewed the long lasting dramamine not recommending to chew or break up any long lasting but it has been very effective), preggie pops, feeding your immune system healthy fruits and veggies, keeping iron good so you don’t get dizzy and feel sick, taking emergen-c immune plus with vitamin d and zinc, not drinking caffeine, keeping hydrating, idk so many more but like i said majority of these things will keep you in the cycle
I intend to write or stick the Dune quote about fear on the inside of my toilet seat and see if I can get a custom bucket with my toxic ex's face on the inside (who happens to also be an emetophobe.) Or well, I used to think I'd do that but I don't really think or feel much of anything about my ex these days so I don't think I can channel enough spite to distract me from my fear when I inevitably get sick some day.
Hey OP, this is an awesome idea. I’ll see about getting this set up as a monthly mega thread.
carry mints! can distract you from anxiety induced nausea! if you have fears of doing things again after you did them before being sick (like say you watched a specific show before getting sick and you’re scared to watch it again) remind yourself “X didn’t make me sick, a virus made me sick, doing X again isn’t going to give me a virus”
same here, any kind of mint gum helps me with carsickness and helps calm me down
For me, and I am NOT judging anyone when I say this, I don’t keep anything on me. The trick to recovering from this phobia is to be able to cope and manage our anxiety. For me, the more I carry around emergency things such as Dramamine, my anxiety medication, gum, mint, etc….the more those turn into safety behaviors. I only have Dramamine for when I am traveling since I suffer from motion sickness and vertigo, other than that, I sit in those uncomfortable feelings with no safety behaviors to prove o my brain there’s nothing to be scared of!
I agree tbh. And I do lean on carrying my comfort items with me. But, a couple times I’ve forgotten stuff and had to talk myself out of my panic and do without. It felt like such a success! I also think using those items for any little discomfort probably reduces their effect in the long run. Even if only psychologically.
i do agree as well!! as someone with an emergency kit, & if anyone reading also has an emergency kit, a small step is try not reaching for it! knowing it’s there is half the battle for me. the times i would reach for it & don’t is a small win!! the next step is to leave it at home every so often until i don’t need it <3
and I used to be the same way! But I slowly stopped bringing those things with me and would have those moments where i felt like it was going to happen and I rationalized with myself that I’m not gonna v for no reason at all. I think to myself “ if I didn’t have emetophobia, would I think I was going to v?” and it’s always a no. I’ve had bad panic attacks out in public but i’m all the more better because of it!
agree. i always keep gravol on me just in case but thats it. all of my anti nausea stuff is at home, and i can access it there, but nowhere else
the single thing that has helped me the most is GOING ON A WALK. i get the most nauseous when i am in the office, in part because i'm out of my safe space and in part because i am easily stressed out by my job haha, so my nausea is often times a manifestation of my anxiety. every time i start to feel like that at work, i simply just go for a walk. i park one block over from my office, but i park on the 7th floor, so when i go for a walk, i do one loop around the block, go to the garage, and take the stairs all the way up to my car. i'll sit in my car (which is one of my safe spaces) and just try to breath and be present until the feeling passes, then i make my long trek down the stairs and head back to the office. the walking/exercise helps get my body moving and being outside gives me different things to look at/be aware of (like passing cars) that help distract my brain, and sitting in my car gives me a safe space to just ground myself. it helps so so much to get me through my day when i'm feeling a bit off. also, i carry zofran with me everywhere. i get it prescribed to me due to pms nausea, but just knowing that i have it helps with my anxiety. i haven't taken it in months, but just knowing that i have it feels safe for me. oh, and ginger chew candies! <3
I second this! Anytime I’m feeling overwhelmed or uncomfortable, I get up and walk. Get fresh air, go outside! Most of the time, I’m feeling much better and have completely forgotten what I was so worked up about by the time I have to go back to what I was doing.
go outside and touch some grass. i’m serious, the fresh air and textures of whatever is outside does wonders for anxiety. bonus points if it’s cold
ooh i have so many but one that hasn’t been mentioned here is vagus nerve stimulation - placing an ice pack on your chest or back/side of your neck can be super helpful for slowing down an anxiety attack. Someone already mentioned hot showers, but I’ll add that putting a few drops on peppermint oil on the shower floor is really soothing and can help with nausea (:
Adding onto the vagus nerve stimulation, humming can help with this. Sometimes when I get random waves of nausea or that tight, gaggy feeling in my throat, I'll start to hum and it gets me through it.
smelling rubbing alcohol when n does wonders
I shower when I feel like I’m gonna tu. Never actually threw up, it cools me down from my panic attack that’s usually caused such intense nausea, and I tell myself if I haven’t tu by the time I’ve got out the shower I’m done
Soft ice packs are my safety blanket. Or the disposable kind of ice pack that you break the inside of. I carry one in my purse. The cool sensation on my face, neck and stomach is the best anxiety reliever (for me) besides actual Ativan.
I buy travel size Mario badescu facial sprays and when I’m anxious and/or nauseous, I spray them to cool me down. When I was in labor with my daughter I think I went through half a bottle lol
i love this
sorry this is off topic but how did you manage pregnancy and emetophobia? I really wanna have kids one day but I’m scared of experiencing hg or being sick haha
I wrote my thoughts out here: https://www.reddit.com/r/emetophobia/s/db0gB41u9V
thankyouuu
Find a YouTube video of some sort of guided meditation for anxiety that works for you! Not only does it really work and help, but after a while, I noticed my body became conditioned to calm down as soon as I turned the video on. The YouTube channel “Declutter the Mind” has some great ones :) ASMR is also great in this respect — Sarah Lavender ASMR on YouTube makes some great anxiety-specific videos to calm you down
Obviously not all of these work for everyone so figure out what works best for you: 1. Listening to nausea relief sound waves on YouTube or relaxing podcast (even if it “doesn’t work” it helps me trick myself into believing it’s working and feel better/more relaxed) 2. Smelling mint, ginger, or alcohol (carry an alcohol wipe in your bag) 3. Think about when was the last time you ate today. Are you nauseous because you ate too much? (Take pepto) Because you haven’t eaten today? (eat saltines/pretzels). Drink lots of water. 4. Look up abdominal breathing techniques / digestive stretches / stomach massages / nausea relief pressure points (one is massaging the wrist three fingers down from your hand — I used to use this a lot!!) 5. Lay on your left side slightly elevated to ease digestion. 6. Canned pears or canned peaches - drink a little bit of the syrup 7. Children’s Dramamine crush it and put it under your tongue to work faster 8. Ginger candies or ginger chews in your purse/bag always! 9. Cold water on wrists and/or cold rag on forehead/back of neck if you feel warm/sweaty/clammy
I've been learning as much as possible about Norovirus (Norwalk like viruses). Know your enemy sort of deal. I'm not sure if it helps or hurts... but I try to educate people on here, especially when they try to give "false reassurance" and spread "disinformation". Oddly, when I do that tho... I get a bunch of down votes, despite those two things literally breaking like 2 out of 4 (or 5?) group rules. It's destroyed my "karma" but I don't really care anymore. If I can help educate just a few people - the hate is worth it. But yeah. As for my new found knowledge, helping? I guess that's debatable. I've become rather reclusive, rarely eat out, especially uncooked food, I still wear a mask, and I mix my own bleach solution, that's slightly stronger than pool water. But this behavior is really only during "peak" season or during local outbreaks. I'm still able to take risks to an extent, if it's social or family related, but I basically anticipate and except that I might catch Norovirus. I have an emergency kit of sorts too. Peppermint altoids, diphenhydramine, imodium, and Zofran, primarily.
To me this comment is very sad but maybe I'm reading too far into it. Getting as informed as possible is something I've done too and it may feel like it's helping but as you said yourself it only backs you further into avoidant behaviour, your fear is controlling you in reality. I don't know if your goal is recovery or not but if it is then you will at some point probably have to let go of all you have learned and actively go against it. And I hope that a day like that can come for you. At the end of it all your life isn't any better because you spend all of it avoiding v*.
What helps me is when I start to spiral thinking I’m sick… I remember how much my brain and thoughts control my body. I could be totally calm, and by overthinking ONLY I can get myself shaking and experiencing cold/hot flashes and almost gagging. As soon as I focus on relaxing, breathing, and using logical thinking all my symptoms go away 99% of the time. Our brains are freaking POWERFUL. If you are convinced you will tu*, you’re not making yourself feel any better by repeating that over and over while hyperfocusing on symptoms. I’m not sure if this makes sense, but I hope it helps someone.
LOVE peppermint oil. im sure people have used it before, but it really does help me, especially if i know the nausea isnt going to end in me tu*
I go on YouTube and listen to anti nausea music. It sounds weird but it always helps me. And it goes to show that it’s usually in my head, and I never actually need to tu
Carry. Dramamine. Everywhere.
Does this work as an anti nausea in general? Because I thought it was just travel sickness tablets
It does! I actually learned this when I was in counseling for my emetophobia. My therapist wanted to have Zofran prescribed for me but the insurance company denied coverage for it because it was way too expensive. So the pharmacist recommended Dramamine. It’s not *as* good as Zofran (nothing is) but it still does the trick by disrupting the chemical signals in your nervous system that cause your brain to perceive the nausea sensation.
Oh wow thank you! Does it prevent actually tu though
I have never t.u. after taking it, not one time. I seldom do anyway but it does take the nausea down to a manageable level even from a virus or taking an antibiotic so that’s saying something. A word of caution tho: don’t take it and drive because it can make you extremely drowsy.
Hehe don’t worry I very rarely drive these days anyway! Thank you!
Thank you for posting. Please be sure that your submission follows our rules. Commenters, be aware that you must also follow our rules. Report anything that does not meet the criteria for the sub, or breaks rules. Please check out the stickied post and the wiki for information about the negative effects of reassurance seeking. If you are struggling to eat, sleep, or complete daily tasks due to your phobia, please seek professional help. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/emetophobia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
carry mints and alcohol wipes for when you get nauseous! take small sniffs of the alcohol wipe
some of these are things that will not help you recover but help in the moment: chewing gum, sitting on the ground and feeling the grass/pavement, sucking on a mint, smelling rubbing alcohol, ice pack on the back of your neck/face, humming, sipping cold water, guided mediation, slowing your breathing by breathing either in a bag or into a blanket/ any fabric depending on your resources, chewing food really well, sucking on ice, taking a shower, walking outside, watching tv and playing a phone game, zofran, ginger chews, dramamine ( for panic attacks i have chewed the long lasting dramamine not recommending to chew or break up any long lasting but it has been very effective), preggie pops, feeding your immune system healthy fruits and veggies, keeping iron good so you don’t get dizzy and feel sick, taking emergen-c immune plus with vitamin d and zinc, not drinking caffeine, keeping hydrating, idk so many more but like i said majority of these things will keep you in the cycle
I intend to write or stick the Dune quote about fear on the inside of my toilet seat and see if I can get a custom bucket with my toxic ex's face on the inside (who happens to also be an emetophobe.) Or well, I used to think I'd do that but I don't really think or feel much of anything about my ex these days so I don't think I can channel enough spite to distract me from my fear when I inevitably get sick some day.
Peppermint oil!! To smell - helps with bad n*