Any tips?

This is my first time posting - I have a fear of throw up and I’ve been told it is cause from my OCD (repetitive thoughts) which makes sense because if someone gets sick it replays over and over again and I can’t get it out of my head. It’s gotten a lot worse in the past maybe two years. I’m always on edge that someone is going to get sick around me. I’ve heard the “best or most common” way to help with this is exposure therapy and OBVIOUSLY I don’t want to do that. Anyone have any tips or anything for this (or maybe have done the exposure therapy)?

Rissaroo

Date posted: 21w

Hey I know that your first post and just talking about your fears can be hard. I use to struggle with the same thing and still do. I can’t say I completely understand your feelings and fears cuz all of ours are different but I experienced being very fearful of people throwing up around me and me getting sick especially. I couldn’t even say the word without obsessing and compulsively doing weird things to make me feel less anxious. It was about 25 years ago that I was diagnosed with OCD. Back then they didn’t even have ERP therapy. And let me tell you I struggled so bad I had to go into impatient treatment. My life was turned upside down by this disorder. I can imagine it has done the same for you. And it will continue to until you get the right help. I had been through many therapist and many different treatments. They unfortunately didn’t work for me but ever since I have found NOCD I have been able to reclaim my life back. I know the struggle with OCD can be very difficult. It’s a mean bully telling you to do things a certain way for you to feel better, that your anxiety will go away. It’s a lie! You might feel better in that one moment but the next trigger that anxiety is back right where it left off maybe even stronger. You obsess and compulsively rely on this false notion. It’s not until you then realize that you have been digging yourself into a deep hole. That you cannot get out of on your own. I was scared just like you of doing exposure therapy. I didn’t like the fact that I was going to have to face and deal with my anxiety which felt almost crippling. I felt there was no way I could handle it. But to be honest that is what the OCD wants you to believe. It’s another lie. I can guarantee that ERP is the best therapy. NOCD provided me with a therapist that best suit my needs. You go over your triggers and rate them with your therapist from the least anxiety to the worst on a scale from 1 being the least and 10 being the worst. Then you start at the least working your way up to cope with the anxiety. As you then work your way up to coping with more difficult triggers, and when you feel comfortable you will do some on your own as homework. Idk if this has helped you or I just babbled on nonsense. But I really do hope you know that you are not alone struggling with this awful disorder. And I will tell you that it is going to be something that you will unfortunately have to battle with your whole life. But trust me it is going to get better. Believe in it!!!! Believe in yourself!!! You sound like a strong person that can get through anything if you have already been struggling with this for two years. I honestly believe in you. You can do this! Fight that ass hole OCD cuz you are worth far more than it ever will! I hope this helps😊

taylorrpaigee

Date posted: 21w

@Rissaroo This is very helpful! The way you explained how the therapy works is seems a little less scary to start so thank you for that!

Rissaroo

Date posted: 21w

@taylorrpaigee Your welcome! I know it was lengthy but I’m glad it helped😁

ynnej

Date posted: 19w

Any advice please??

This is a repost, only because the last post had no responses lol. Please if you have any advice share. I’ve been trying hard to sit with the feeling of anxiety. Actually that’s the problem, recently I’ve been trying to sit with the thought (and I’m able to for a few hours or until the next morning) and then my anxiety comes back so strong and it’s like I need to clean everything off. I see images of gross laundry getting on everything or my hand and then I need to clean everything off to un contaminate it. Sometimes the thought happens later at night so I just sleep through and the next morning I will wake up with intense anxiety about contamination. That happened yesterday and I had to clean everything off and since then I’ve been traumatized so I’ve been doing compulsions like avoiding the bathroom and being around people so I know I couldn’t have done anything wrong. Actually recently my biggest compulsion has been recording every time I get up to go eat, etc so that I know I couldn’t have done anything. Any advice or help???

lilss

Date posted: 8w

any tips on how to get rid of terrible thoughts?

hi im a fifteen year old girl with really bad ocd and emetaphobia nobody knows my fear except for my best friend and my sister. its so hard to even say the word or even type the word so i just say “sick” even typing this out makes my heart race and my hands sweaty. ive been really struggling with ocd for almost a year its gotten worst about every month. its always on my mind. i have a therapist but i cant even tell them about my anxiety and thoughts that go on in my head. my whole family is watching me fall deeper and deeper into this dark whole that i dont know how to get out of. its feels awful to see everyone around you watch you fail over and over again. please forgive me if this was graphic thank you

suzie90

Date posted: 8w

Emetophobia

So I’m severely emetophobic but these past few weeks have gotten SO bad. I had a bad reaction to an SSRI that made me feel like I was gonna throwup, I stopped taking them over two weeks ago but ever since then the fear has got even worse. I haven’t left the house properly in weeks because I’ve convinced myself I’ll be sick. I feel nauseous even indoors a lot of the time (there are hours when I don’t, like for example this afternoon I was fine). But I challenged myself to go for a short walk this evening and omg it was so hard I really thought I might throwup. The thing is I KNOW it’s anxiety and not real nausea because it feels completely different to when I was actually nauseous from the medication. This feeling is more like a tight throat/sensation of a lump in my throat that makes me feel like I’m gonna gag. I also have RCPD (I can’t burp basically lol) so I just feel like I have trapped air in my throat that’s gonna make me puke. The phobia has gotten really really bad. I have started therapy recently but I’ve been scared of throwing up since I was a kid and I’m now 31 lol wtf. I remember last Christmas my mum said someone at her work had been sick and I was so scared my mum had caught it and would pass it on to me that I refused to leave my bedroom without wearing gloves and a mask and wiping everything with anti-germ wipes. But right now it’s so so bad because I have literally gotten to the point where I’ve convinced myself I feel nauseous pretty much 24/7 and I am taking anti-nausea meds almost every day. Has anyone else dealt with/has tips for this??? I’m literally desperate 😭

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