Right now I’m experiencing one of the worst panic attacks I’ve had in a long while.My legs are still shaking with chills and fear.My arms were clutching a copy of The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook, which is my security blanket in times like this, until I dropped it to write this account.
I’m feeling really horrible right now.I was starting to doze off when I popped up with bloating, gas and burning in my stomach.I immediately took a ginger capsule and a Unisom and then went to the bathroom.Along with diarrhea I had gas, plenty of it.It’s been 5 hours since I ate but what scares me is what I ate and not when.
Rarely do I eat heavy foods for dinner.Tonight was the exception.I had vegetarian hot and sour soup from the Chinese restaurant and a greasy vegetarian egg roll.Now I’m paying the price and I’m burping up the taste.I’m scared to death and hope the Unisom kicks in very soon.
There are many germophobes who are also emetophobes and vice versa. Germophobia is an irrational fear of all dirt that can cause contamination or germs, therefore making them ill. Emetophobia is an irrational fear of vomit or vomiting.
While germophobes fear ALL germs and fear catching all germ related illnesses, emetophobes only fear germs that cause vomiting. If this doesn’t make much sense I’ll explain my experience as an emetophobe.
I keep a very clean home and wash my hands frequently. Socially, it bothers me to shake hands or high five someone I don’t know well or someone I do know well who is recovering from any illness. Germophobes generally have the same social trait. The difference though is that I’m not scared of the germs that cause a common cold or a regular flu bug. To me, these germs are disgusting but I won’t panic over them.
The germs that scare me shitless are the ones that cause the stomach flu (norovirus), food poisoning, or gastroenteritis.
All phobias are irrational, persistent, unreasonable fears of one thing or another. I know several people who consider themselves germophobes because they are very clean and hate germs but they don’t exhibit any symptoms of a phobia such as fear, panic attacks, etc. So in my opinion, they are not germophobes, instead they germ haters.
(You may be asking what the title has to do with the dentist, but read to the end and you’ll see)
It never ceases to amaze me how my everyday life in some way is influenced partly by emetophobia.
My bad teeth have plagued me since I was a child and I’ve spent many hours of my life in the dentist’s chair having some work done. Just this past week I sat in that cozy chair with my head back glaring at the TV monitor on the ceiling. As I lay there with the suction contraption, drill, and hands poking and prodding inside my mouth, the same thought crossed my mind as always. What if I have to vomit right then and there? My early morning appointment didn’t give me time to eat anything which led to stomach gurgle and us emetophobes equate that with getting sick.
I remember times in the past when fear would hit me thinking I was going to vomit while sitting there and my inner voice would repetitiously repeat “I’m not nauseous and I’m not going to be sick”.
Next month, I have to go back for an implant and I’m nervous already, but not because of the procedure. I’m scared to death I may get sick from something else involved in this procedure such as pain medication or loss of blood.
Now here’s the creepiest part about this implant. Should I need a bone graft with this implant (as of yet, the dentist doesn’t know if I will or not) they use cadaver bone. Yes, you read that right! They use bones from dead people. Who knows what they died from but my first concern was that the bone isn’t from someone who died from any communicable diseases and I was assured cadaver bones are safe. It still gives me the willies though.
Right now I’m in a moderate panic mode. Here’s why.
This afternoon I made my homemade Marinara Sauce with canned tomatoes instead of fresh like I normally use . Later on, after I ate spaghetti with the marinara, I gathered the trash together and noticed there was some rust on the outside of one of the cans. The can wasn’t dented and it didn’t look like it leaked either but that doesn’t make me feel any better. This is all I needed to see. Now for the rest of the evening and night, I’ll be spending it convinced I’m going to be sick even if I’m not. So I’m hoping there was no contamination in that can.
I immediately took two cinnamon capsules and washed them down with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water.
But now, I’m in that waiting period. The more time that goes by, the less panicky I’ll be. At the time of this posting, it’s been one hour but it felt like 3 hours. This is the joy of having emetophobia.
How many times have you heard this from friends, family, and associates? Often times they say this in a critical or mocking tone of voice when we regretfully tell them about our emetophobia. They just don’t “get it” that there’s a difference between not liking something and being deathly terrified of it. There are many things I don’t like but they don’t give me shivers or sweats thinking about them.
I know what you’re thinking, another post on norovirus. But since this is an emetophobia blog and norovirus is one of the worst things around, I thought I’d make another post, including a very good resource.
If you go to the below link, you’ll learn exactly what the norovirus is, where it comes from, how to prevent getting it, etc. I paraphrased some parts of the article which I found to be important for us emets.
Viruses are very different from bacteria and parasites, some of which can cause illnesses similar to norovirus infection. Like all viral infections, noroviruses are not affected by treatment with antibiotics, and cannot grow outside of a person’s body.
I have stressed this in previous blogs and repeatedly said that many anti-bacterials kill bacteria only, and not viruses. Purell is one of them.
Norovirus infection usually starts suddenly. The infected person often feels very sick with nausea and vomiting and watery non-bloody diarrhea with stomach cramps. Vomiting is more common in children than adults. Sometimes there is a low-grade fever. There may also be chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness.
Studies with volunteers have shown that as many as 30% of norovirus infections may be asymptomatic. These people are infected with the virus but have no symptoms (asymptomatic). The role of asymptomatic infection in the transmission of norovirus is not well understood. It is possible that people who seem well can transmit the virus.
This isn’t really good news if you have kids but it’s great news for us adults. Almost 1/3 of the adults infected with noro, DID NOT get symptoms of vomiting or diarrhea. If you think you might have been exposed to the norovirus, try not to panic as vomiting may not occur.
I’ve read suggestions on emetophobia websites recommending Bach’s Rescue Remedy to tackle panic situations.It is an expensive tonic claiming to be a calming and centering remedy that’s been around since the 1930s.Their website markets the product as “Yoga in a bottle” but what you’re really getting is a flower essence combined with 27% alcohol.In a desperate move to stay focused and balanced during a belt testing at my karate class, I tilted my head back and placed 4 drops of Rescue Remedy on my tongue.Even though I passed the test, Rescue Remedy was not the reason nor did it relax me or center my energy.I felt no different after taking it.
Like many natural remedies, they don’t always work on everybody all the time.So, I decided to do a little research about it.
Guided only by his own intuition, Bach “discovered” that the dew collected from the blossoms of fresh flower blossoms contained an “energy” that he described as the “soul” or “essence” of the plant. He believed that by consuming this early morning dew, patients could heal the emotional imbalances that lead to disease. Bach developed a system for collecting, diluting and packaging these “essences” and called them Bach Flower Remedies. Today the use of these remedies is known as Bach Flower Therapy.
Is Rescue Remedy A scam?
It’s easy to find glowing testimonials of Rescue Remedy. Natural health web sites and chat rooms are full of believers who take Rescue Remedy themselves, give it to their children and even add it to their pets’ food. Unfortunately, science has not been so generous.
Despite claims to the contrary, good studies have found Rescue Remedy no more effective than placebo. In truth, when Rescue Remedy is given to study volunteers in scientifically-designed experiments, both the people who get Rescue Remedy and those who only think they’re getting Rescue Remedy report less anxiety and better overall mood.
In fact, even studies published in leading alternative medicine journals have been critical of Bach’s flower therapy. A 2007 study published in the journal Complimentary Therapies in Clinical Practice admitted that it was, in the author’s words, “difficult to draw a definite conclusion” about this “therapy”.
To me, Rescue Remedy is the modern day Vitameatavegamin. What do you think? Rescue Remedy’s web site is www.rescueremedy.com
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