Hi this is my first post on HB! I've been lurking for a while but signed up as I found out I was pregnant last week.
I'm ecstatic to be pregnant, obviously, my husband and I had been trying for about 3/4 cycles.
My problem is that I suffer from emetophobia, which is a strong irrational fear of myself or others vomiting. I have suffered with this for most of my life but in the past 5 years or so it has gotten a lot better - probably because I don't hang out with as many drunk people as I used to! Less exposure.
Since finding out I'm pregnant, I have run the gamut of emotions but the strongest one is fear. As fearful as I am of miscarrying this pregnancy or of something going wrong with my baby, I'm ashamed to say that the thing I'm most fearful of is being sick. I'm counting the days (hours, minutes) til week 6 and making myself feel sick by worrying.
Did anyone go through this in their pregnancies? Any advice on how to cope?
Thank you in advance 
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You may not even get sick! I never had morning sickness through my whole pregnancy. Not once. Morning sickness is not a guarantee. You could also just have nausea but not vomiting.
There is hope! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
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So far I've only had nausea and no vomiting (in Week 6 right now) so that's been easier to handle - vomiting all the time is only one option on the magnificent spectrum
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Congratulations! I agree, you may never experience vomiting. With my 1st pregnancy I was lucky and felt nausea only two days but never threw up. I'm 15 weeks into my second pregnancy. I felt a lot more nausea this time around (weeks 5-11), but still did not vomit.
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Welcome and congratulations! No advice but I hope your pregnancy is comfortable and you are able to enjoy it!
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Why is week 6 significant? First appointment?
As the other ladies said, you may not get sick at all -- I didn't with my first pregnancy. And if you do, there are ways you can minimize it (nibbling throughout day etc). I also wonder whether your doc might give you an anti-nausea rx if you explain?
Good luck and congrats!
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@ScarletBegonia: don't worry yourself sick over something that may never happen! I hate throwing up (does anyone enjoy it? Lol) so morning sickness and throwing up during labor were my two biggest fears about pregnancy! I had no morning sickness whatsoever, and I threw up once at home during the beginning of labor (that's how I knew things were really happening!).
I actually ended up wishing I could vomit during labor! Hours before it started I had eaten a lot of pizza for dinner. Every time I had a contraction I would burp afterwards, it was sooooo gross.
I thought throwing up and getting it over with would be easier!Try not to worry. You will be surprised by pregnancy and motherhood I think. You will become stronger and able to better handle so many things! It's a journey
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Thank you so much to all of you for your replies!
@Mrs Yoyo - 6 weeks is significant to me because according to all I've read (TOO MUCH!!!) that is when morning sickness usually presents.
Thank you for the reassurance - its good for me to focus on the fact that it doesn't happen to everyone - in fact my mother and sister have both been through 2 pregnancies a piece with 0 morning sickness - hopefully its in my genes If it does happen I know I'll just have to cope! Probably will be good for my phobia, in the long run Xx
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I didn't get sick at all either but did have bad reflux.
Another point is that many that have MS often dont throw up, they just feel nauseous constantly (which isn't better for them but might be better for you). There are also a lot of safe drugs you can take to help.
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My morning sickness did start at 6 weeks on the dot but I never threw up, just felt nauseous. So even if you start feeling like crap you may not ever vomit (hint- always always keep a little food in your stomach if you are nauseous). I really hope you are lucky and don't get any- in my case my MS was just like my mom and sister's so you have good genes going in!
And congrats! -
Hopefully you'll be worrying over nothing! I had only the mildest amounts of nausea while pregnant and never vomited! Keeping my fingers crossed that you'll be fine too!
And congratulations!
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Another person who didn't throw up in the first trimester here!! Many congratulations on your pregnancy - yay - you mustn't let this steal your joy. There's no guarantee you will even get "morning" sickness!
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I'm another person who was lucky not to get sick in her first trimester. I would say there was maybe 2 times that I felt really nauseous, but no vomiting.
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In my first pregnancy there was some nausea and no vomiting. This time there was vomiting, but I just asked for some zophran and it hasn't happened since. Hope you are the lucky one who doesn't get morning sickness!
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Congrats! While I'm another one who never any any nausea/vomiting, I feel like it IS something that is relatively common...
If it is something that you're really struggling with, I think it might be a good idea to "prepare" yourself. There's a lot of good ideas on here as far as dealing with nausea (ginger/Preggie Pops, carbs, always trying to keep something in your stomach, food by your bed for the middle of the night, etc.), and it might not be a bad idea to talk to a doctor about it (let them know your concerns/past issues, so you both can be on the same page (as far as medications or anything) should morning sickness present itself). Also, if this issue is something that is affecting your pregnancy this much already, would it be worth finding someone to talk to about it?
Here's hopin' you don't have to deal with it, though!
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@scarletbegonia i suffer from emetophobia as well. i am not pregnant, but when i think about being pregnant, vomiting is also one of my worst fears. it is difficult to explain to others because it is, well, so irrational - but i really appreciate your post. i am glad not to be the only one dealing with this, and have loved reading all the positive, encouraging replies. congratulations to you, and sending so many good vibes for a sickness-free pregnancy.
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You could also talk to your doctor about providing an anti nausea medication if you do have morning sickness. My doctor is very liberal with the Zofran prescriptions and it definitely helped me to feel better. I would say that since you have a legit phobia of vomiting, you should bring it up to your doctor and see if he will prescribe anything for it. Hopefully though, you won't get sick at all!
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I would say, find someone to talk to and deal with this now. Even if you are one of the lucky ones who doesn't vomit in pregnancy, all kids vomit and you will need to be ok with that!
Congrats on your pregnancy and welcome to hellobee!
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With both my first and current pregnancy I've been nausea on and off for the past 2 weeks, carbs every couple of hours helps a lot. Welcome and congrats!
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I only fear ME vomiting (haven't actually done so in over half my life.) I had m/s (terrible nausea from 3 weeks something days to 12 weeks) but I've become so accustomed to holding back I never actually threw up the whole way through. And I had 2 bouts, 1 a week long with temps up to 103 with the flu. When I went to l&d the rn said "everybody pukes in labor," but then checked me and I was an 8 and then said "ok maybe you won't after all." I also had zofran in the first trimester (only enough for a pill a day tops though... You can probably get more, that was just my case and I had just stopped working for grad school so I could lay down more often than the average person!) Anyway I have a perfectly healthy 9 month old now and everything turned out great.
Who knows, maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones with no m/s at all!
Edit to add... I forgot to say congrats!
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First off, congratulations on your BFP!! Secondly, you might not get morning sickness!!
I too was worried about how I would function and handle morning sickness since it seems like it's the "right of passage" with pregnancy. Fortunately, I never got sick! I feel so blessed that I didn't, however, I did mentally prepare myself in the beginning since I knew I could get it at any time (if I did). I think mental preparation is the biggest helpful thing you can do for yourself.
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Oh I also forgot to mention I was in labor for a couple days but I just didnt eat and drank some water. I did get a little dehydrated though.
Hugs! I know this sucks and most people just looks at you like...weirdo, get over it! You'll get through it!
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@ScarletBegonia: Congrats on the BFP!!
I'm also a long, long time sufferer of emetophobia (since I was 8 years old) and I went over 13 years avoiding being sick. I avoided alcohol and parties because of it. A few years ago, I let my inhibitions go and had an unfortunate evening with beer pong. Let's just say I broke my streak
Anyway, I just wanted to emphasize how much I TOTALLY get where you are coming from. It was my biggest fear and while I'm still in my first trimester (11w6d) I still get anxiety over it.
How I've dealt with it is once I started feeling the nausea kick in, I started the unisom + B6 trick and this has cut the nausea down a lot. I haven't gotten sick yet (*knock on wood*) but I think the unisom + b6 helps me relax and gets me to sleep when my M/S is worst (in the evening.)
I hope you have a great first tri and try to relax, this will help with the nausea a lot!
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Two pregnancies and ZERO vomiting for me. Talk to your doctor about your concerns and maybe they can prescribe you something as a precautionary just to ease your mind. Sorry your feeling this way. You cant just tell someone with a phobia to get over it and relax. Good luck
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My mom had severe morning sickness all throughout her pregnancy with me so I was really worried too. I hate throwing up and i think i was like 3rd grade the last time.
Just like the others said, I didn't experience nausea or vomiting at all. I had one time where i felt queasy bc my hubby was cooking raymun and the smell was awful. Drinking gingerale (with actual ginger in it) helped a lot
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Keep in mind that even if you are struck with terrible morning sickness, there are things that can be done for it! Zofran was magic, I wet from having pretty much everything I ate come back up to being nauseous a lot but not actually puking (well, most/some of the time, depending on the day - but my morning sickness was quite extreme, it's pretty unlikely you'd be that sick.) Mine started before 6 weeks, so I hadn't even seen my midwife yet, but I called the office and they were able to call in a prescription for me so that I could get some relief immediately. I'd definitely call and ask about it if you do start feeling sick since this is such a big fear for you - maybe they can even prescribe it now so that you already have it if you need it.
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That's interesting - I've never heard of that fear. LOLing at it getting better because of hanging out with less drunk people!
I also didn't have morning sickness. I had mild nausea which I was able to control by keeping my stomach full ALL the time (went through 2-3 sleeves of saltines a day!)
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Congratulations!
Like others said, you may not have much morning sickness! I had it mostly during the evening (whoever called it morning sickness was full of crap haha). It was mostly b/c I didn't have much food in my stomach at that time. For me, it was all nausea and no vomiting. I felt like that was worse. I would have rather just gotten sick and gotten it over with. Instead, I had to sit and wait for it to pass...and feel sick all the time. Yuck!
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Welcome and congrats!
I didn't know that emetophobia was a thing, but if anyone hates and dreads vomiting, it's me!
I had bad morning sickness from weeks 7-15, and occasionally until week 20. I wasn't hungry and was nauseous for most of the time, but I was functional once I got the throwing up first thing in the morning over with. It really wasn't bad throwing up for me, not like the flu or being drunk. I felt better once it was done.
That said, I'm definitely not looking forward to the early days once I get pregnant again, I've put off trying again for longer than we planned because of that.
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@ScarletBegonia: This was my #1, absolute biggest fear about pregnancy. honestly, my first thought when i got the BFP was oh my god, this is real, and i'm terrified of puking (i haven't since i was a baby). I talked to my mom about my fears, and she told me she never had morning sickness, and it turns out, neither did i! I had slight nausea during the first tri, but the nausea was never the type where i thought i might puke. I'm still scared of puking during labor, but I have to say, being pregnant has made me a little less scared about it, because I've started to think about how much more important this baby growing inside me is than my silly little fears. and i'm sure having a newborn will help alleviate any fears of seeing others puke!
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First off, welcome and congratulations on your pregnancy!
Second, to echo all of the previous posters: morning sickness is not a guarantee. Admittedly I was sick the entire way through, but could usually limit it to just being nauseous (as opposed to throwing up) by sucking on hard peppermint candies and trying to keep something in my stomach at all times.
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@ScarletBegonia: Congratulations!
I have the same phobia, I can't be in the same vicinity as anyone who is sick. It's tough with kids, lemme tell you! I am so glad my parents live close by because if it happens while my husband is out of town I run out of the house, literally. I had no idea it had a name, I thought I was just a weirdo! Every pregnancy is different, and you may not get sick at all. -
Congrats!! I have the same fear. I read somewhere that it is actually a very common phobia, like the 5th most common one. I get panic attacks when I'm around someone barfing. It's embarrassing and I always thought I was just a weirdo too so I never told anyone about it. Anyway. My morning sickness wasn't bad. I took the unison b6 combo and that really helped. I never threw up but I did feel really queasy from weeks 6-10. Good luck and try not to worry until it happens!
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I never threw up! But I was extremely nauseous. Fx you skip the whole vomiting thing
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Thank you all again so much for your replies! You're making me feel much stronger!
This Unisom/B6 thing - is it a treatment that is sold as one? Or do you buy Unisom and take it with B6? Also I'm not totally sure what Unisom is, or whether they stock it in Australia. One thing they do have here is quite potent ginger beer (non-alco, of course) which a lot of aussie mums have told me got them through their m/s.
I agree with a lot of you that the best thing I can do is be prepared. I'm very lucky that I work as a teacher in a classroom that is just around the corner from the disabled toilets (we have no disabled people that work in our department so I wouldn't be heartlessly taking up residence there while someone needed it, don't worry!) so I can take a breather from teaching if need be.
Thank you all again so much you've made me feel heaps better! Now on to the next challenge - cutting down on my coffee consumption...... -
Also wanted to say that as anyone with this phobia knows, holding off on vomiting while nauseous is my #1 skill. Though I've been told that with m/s, it isn't always a choice!! Oh well- fingers crossed I'll be alright whatever comes my way.
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Hi ladies - this is an old post but I thought i'd update those of you who replied in case you were curious. I'm 7w3d now (though i haven't had a scan yet or an HCG in weeks so I have no way of knowing if i'm actually still pregnant) and so far I've had really minimal nausea - most of it, I feel, is fear induced. I definitely notice that i have to eat regularly (the two times I've had moderate nausea have been when dinner has been delayed) or the nausea creeps in.
My wonderful doctor friend wrote me a script for zofran so i have it on hand if i need it, but luckily i haven't yet.
I know it can still start at any time, but for now I'm feeling pretty good. And I spoke to my sister about it yesterday who told me she felt the same way throughout her first trimester...that made me feel less crazy! -
@ScarletBegonia: glad you're feeling better than you expected!!!
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Thanks for the update. So glad you are doing well! I hope you can keep the nausea at bay and that the rest of your pregnancy runs smoothly!
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@ScarletBegonia so glad for this update this morning. So happy for you that things are going well - and so glad to hear that, as a person with this same fear, we can be okay!!!! Hope all continues to be well.
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