I’M BACK

[sage]

Hey guys - sorry I've been gone so long. I went away for 2 weeks to write...anyway it was great, but then for a week I didn't come here cuz it felt like being so behind in school you'll never catch up! -lol


Anyway, I made it back to Aug 24 posts on the General Discussion, and all on the Treatments thread...but never got to Experiences.


So if anyone wants to ask me something I didn't get to - go ahead...I promise I'll check again every day now for a brief time anyway.


I was finding that reading posts took an hour a day, and I just can't take the time anymore.


But as you know, my greatest passion is for Treatments, so you can always post me a question there cuz that's the first place I go to.


See ya 'round!

[Galadriel]

Hey Sage! Welcome back!

[ejb199]

Hi Sage - welcome back to the site.
I do have a few questions actually - they were in a post that was a week ago so a few pages back so i just copied and pasted. heres the situation - any ideas?
emma x

basically for the past 2 years now i have been living pretty much emet free. i dont really panic often - altho when i panic now if i feel nauseas, then i fell its a more 'valid' panic and worthy of extra worry since they dont occur so often! But the thing is i dont know what to do now - where to go with the whole emet issue - i know im not cured coz i still dont wanna see others be sick and i dont wanna be sick myself - -i just dont worry so much about it and take so many precautions. I have been sick twice this year - and they have been MAJOR triumphs for me and realise that actually being sick really isnt as bad as we make it out to be. the first thin i thought when id been sick was 'im still here - my life is still the same, nothing has changed' what does that mean? does it mean that really im scared of change and death...?

I have never had therapy for my emet and i never take anit emets or as many drugs as i hear you guys talking about - i know you probably think im not really as bad - i know im not know - but there really was a time 3 yrs ago - Neha/Ana where there for me then! - when i thought id rather die/lived a life of self harm/spent every waking hour worrying about when IT would next happen.

How have i got better? i want to know if ive done it on my own or if i should still consider therapy? SAGE - any ideas?

[sage]

Hey ejb - good questions. Since I can't actually sit and talk to you for an hour, what I have to offer is extremely limited, so take it all with a grain of salt I guess.


I assume (but don't know for sure) that your emet is better because of one or both of these reasons: 1) the level of stress/anxiety in your life in general is just less now than when the emet was really bad 2) you have just lived enough years longer to have learned that a) all gastro-intestinal feelings are not "nausea" but anxiety - therefore you are less anxious, and have less symptoms or b) you have learned that when you feel "nauseous" you won't be sick anyway, and/or c) being sick really helped to reinforce in your brain that you're not in any danger when you're sick... Any or all of these things help you to get somewhat better.


Of course the emet is still there - sort of as a "memory" - except the memory is not a mental picture or words, but a fear response to certain stimuli. Therapy will help this get better and better over time - provided you find the right therapist and the right program (yada yada yada). You may want to look into that for "preventitive" reasons cuz if the stress/anxiety in your life goes up again, the emet symptoms may get worse (they may not, but it's a possibility). Up to you, really - how much you want to work on it - how bothered you are by the symptoms, etc.


I hope this helps - if I can make any more "educated guesses" for you, let me know. Again, it's tough when I can't meet and talk with you to really know what's going on. But at any rate, it sounds like you're getting a handle on it, which is a good thing!

[sunshine16]

Welcome back, Sage! It's GREAT to have you 'come home' - lol. While you were gone I got my third star AND VERY PROUD OF IT! ;-)


Well actually, I do have a question. I never posted it on the site but I will now.


Well I had hypnotherapy for my emet, they thought they cured me, it didn't do a damn thing. And now my specialist has got me on prozac for my GAD (General Anxiety Disorder). And is making me see a physciatrist (sp?) for GAD too. But the waiting list for that is a year. Anyways, to make a long story short, what types of treatments could help me? And if hypnotherapy didn't help, does that mean that the phyciatrist won't help either? What will help? And does exposure therapy help?


And then I have more. Sorry! But...could it be that my dad's death has made my emet worse and could it be greif that is contributing to this constant 24/7 nausea? I have gone to see a social worker after my dad died, she helped. And how do I know if I have depression?


I am sorry sage, but all those questions have been swiriling my mind lately and I think it would help to get them answered.


Welcome home Sage!

[sage]

The meds should help you - good idea.


Some psychiatrists are great - if they do psychotherapy. In Canada they usually just do medication control, and private therapy is the best treatment (expensive, of course). See my article on the top of the "Treatments" site called "Info...." - it will tell you all about treatments. You could even give it to your psychiatrist, who may have never heard of emetophobia.


And your dad's death would have a huge huge HUGE impact on all of this. You poor thing! Death of a parent is huge at any age, and exacerbates (makes worse) symptoms of anxiety. When you're young it's just multiplied. And it doesn't matter how "upset" you may or may not have been or how close you were to your dad. The impact on the mind is just as huge.


Hopefully this helps. For sure, the meds will make you feel better until you can get some treatment. And the more you can talk to someone about your dad the better...


Good luck!

[sunshine16]

Thank you sooo much sage!


Yur the best[img]smileys/smilies_02.gif[/img]