First time blogger

Hi~

This is my very 1st time blogging, how exciting!!

The purpose of this blog is to have a place to vent and hopefully find some other people out there who share some of my crazy quirks.

I very recently learned that I suffer from emetophobia. In fact, I just learned that it is a real condition. I've always known I was afraid of vomit but I didn't realize other people were too. I'm finding that it is effecting me more and more each day. For example......


I've been battling a terrible sore throat for a week, the worst one that I've ever had. My husband kept trying to get me to go to the Dr. but it's not that simple when you have emetophobia. First of all there, tons of sick people are waiting, coughing and sneezing all over everything. Then, there is the possibility that one of them might have a stomach bug and throw up in front of me. And finally, sore throat = throat swab!!! A test that will almost certainly make me gag. Gagging is unpleasant for anyone, but for an emet, it's one of the worst things that can happen.

So, I finally gave in and made an appointment. I went this morning and faced the germy waiting room. Believe me, right now with this new swine flu floating around, it was even more nerve wracking than usual. I kept my distance, as I always do, from other patients. using hand sanitizer every 2 seconds. After obsessively scanning the room to watch everyones expression, looking for people who "look nauseous", I successfully made it to an exam room without seeing anyone vomit. Then, the biggie, the tech says "I'm just gonna do a quick throat swab". HAHA as if it's that simple right?? After 3 attempts , and yes she had to use a tongue depressor, she got the sample. After she left the room, I saw that my hands were trembling and I was sweating. For a few minutes, I thought I might even faint. Then, back to the waiting area to wait for my RX for a sinus infection. I was given a Zpack and wouldn't you know......side effects are nausea and vomitting. And I just LOVE how they write, if these side effects persist or become bothersome, please consult Dr.
Seriously, are there really people out there that wouldn't consider nausea and vomitting bothersome???

As you can see from just this simple task, emetophobia makes every day life so much harder. It invades your thoughts just doing every day tasks. People who don't suffer from this have no idea how life altering it really is.


So, that's my 1st post. I hope you'll come back and visit me soon. I would love to hear comments, the crazier the better!!!