funeralxempire
Veteran
Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 41
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 34,202
Location: Right over your left shoulder
22 Jan 2026, 6:30 pm
Tamaya wrote:
Emetophobia is usually described as irrational, which is why therapy is always recommended for us. But for me it's rational as well because being sick feels like a threat. I have R-CPD, where I can't burp (or only burp very rarely, which doesn't sound like a human burp, more like what a cat sounds like when they burp). So you can imagine how physically difficult it is for me to vomit if I can't even get air out that way. It takes longer for me to vomit, hours of anticipation, and lots of violent wretching and gagging before anything happens. It's frightening and therapy isn't really the answer to this. Surgery or botox treatment is probably the answer, but to be honest, I don't want that either, as I don't particularly want to become a burper. Yes, I have the 19th century attitude about burping (and farting) where I am private about it for reasons like pride and shame, no matter how natural these bodily functions are. Plus any treatment for R-CPD is expensive and not on the NHS.
Not suggesting this experiment, but it could give insight.
If you drank enough to throw-up, the intoxication would probably make the hang-ups/psychological side of the problem a non-factor.
In that state, if you threw-up easily, it might hint at the problem being largely psychological and that the difficulty is largely due to you fighting with yourself to resist throwing up. If you still had problems it would point more at a more physical cause, and indicate that botox or surgery would likely be required for improvement.
Of course, if you were drunk enough to puke you'd probably be too drunk to remember your observations the next day, so it would need a tripsitter or a willingness to force yourself after 3 - 4 drinks when the inhibitions are reduced but your body isn't forcing it to happen automatically.
I used to deal with mild emetophobia and associated anxieties, but gradually it got whittled away by gradual experiences with throwing up that were at most mildly unpleasant instead of overwhelmingly unpleasant like I was used to. After I was more used to it being easy and not that unpleasant in some contexts, I started being less worried about it in other contexts and it became less unpleasant in most contexts.
Dry heaving is still deeply unpleasant though, but at least now I know it'll only be the regular amount of discomfort if I have some water in my stomach first.
22 Jan 2026, 9:16 pm
funeralxempire wrote:
Tamaya wrote:
Emetophobia is usually described as irrational, which is why therapy is always recommended for us. But for me it's rational as well because being sick feels like a threat. I have R-CPD, where I can't burp (or only burp very rarely, which doesn't sound like a human burp, more like what a cat sounds like when they burp). So you can imagine how physically difficult it is for me to vomit if I can't even get air out that way. It takes longer for me to vomit, hours of anticipation, and lots of violent wretching and gagging before anything happens. It's frightening and therapy isn't really the answer to this. Surgery or botox treatment is probably the answer, but to be honest, I don't want that either, as I don't particularly want to become a burper. Yes, I have the 19th century attitude about burping (and farting) where I am private about it for reasons like pride and shame, no matter how natural these bodily functions are. Plus any treatment for R-CPD is expensive and not on the NHS.
Not suggesting this experiment, but it could give insight.
If you drank enough to throw-up, the intoxication would probably make the hang-ups/psychological side of the problem a non-factor.
In that state, if you threw-up easily, it might hint at the problem being largely psychological and that the difficulty is largely due to you fighting with yourself to resist throwing up. If you still had problems it would point more at a more physical cause, and indicate that botox or surgery would likely be required for improvement.
Of course, if you were drunk enough to puke you'd probably be too drunk to remember your observations the next day, so it would need a tripsitter or a willingness to force yourself after 3 - 4 drinks when the inhibitions are reduced but your body isn't forcing it to happen automatically.
I used to deal with mild emetophobia and associated anxieties, but gradually it got whittled away by gradual experiences with throwing up that were at most mildly unpleasant instead of overwhelmingly unpleasant like I was used to. After I was more used to it being easy and not that unpleasant in some contexts, I started being less worried about it in other contexts and it became less unpleasant in most contexts.
Dry heaving is still deeply unpleasant though, but at least now I know it'll only be the regular amount of discomfort if I have some water in my stomach first.
Sometimes when people drink a lot of alcohol they don't vomit until the next morning when they have sobered up.
I'm so terrified of vomiting that I can't even bring myself to experiment. I just never want to vomit again in my life. The sounds, the taste, the sight of it. Absolutely horrifying.
22 Jan 2026, 9:22 pm
24 Jan 2026, 1:49 am
26 Jan 2026, 6:11 am
08 Feb 2026, 8:34 pm
08 Feb 2026, 9:02 pm
Constant Anxiety about having strangers, ( workmen) come into the house to fix and replace a a very old bathtub .
Not good with strangers in my private living space..regardless whether there is work to be done . Testing my masking abilities . They even said,it may take more than one day.. 
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