How do you know its coming, and how does it even feel?

[Silivrin]

Hi
Basically, I haven't been sick since I was 3 years old, and I know that there are quite a few people out there who haven't been sick in a looong time (which I believe may contribute to the phobia somewhat). Because its been so long, I just have no idea what it feels like anymore, nor any signs of when I might be getting sick. I was wondering if there was someone out there who could help me on this.
Because I get really scared whenever I feel the slightest disturbance in my stomach.
I've asked a few people, they say that you know a couple of minutes before its gonna happen, you feel really nauseous and your stomach is contracting and what not. And tons of people say that you feel much better once you have v*d, but I don't necessarily believe that this is always the case.
Nevertheless, I understand that it changes depending on the person...
Any advice on how to stop worrying about when it will happen to me again?

[jenna23]

I once heard that if you're wondering whether or not it'll happen, like you can't be sure, then you're not going to be. Your body will know - and I'm sorry, cause I know how useless that sounds, but you will 100% know when you are truly ill.

[CherBirdi]

Yes, there's really no mistaking it... you just know.

[raine]

this might be triggering/graphic!
You just know--I do it a lot. Typically I feel sick for awhile and hope I don't v, but then in a second I know. There's always warning though, it's not like "I have to v" - bam! it usually takes 2-5 minutes before it actually happens. after i know, my mouth goes dry and my stomach starts kind of jumping. i can feel it in my sternum a lot. i often have to make myself do it because it doesn't come up a lot of the time, but once you're that far in you kind of just have to do it. i get all sweaty and shaky but after i actually v i am totally fine.

[AnnaBanana]

thanks for posting this, I always wonder the same thing. it's good to know that you at least have a few minutes to run to a toilet or a trash can. I just always get scared that i wont be able to notice because it's been so long for me.

[grrlga]

Yeah you just know! Last virus i had, i would go back to the tv to watch lost, then it would hit, i had time to pause to dvr, then go to the bathroom...and i have weird thing i have to do..i locked the door, turn on the sink, keep a glass of water and a cold rag with me...then afterwords i would feel sooo much better, then it would happen again...but you will know! When it caught it, it was the first time in over 10 years.

[hairyfairy]

I think that I`m starting to forget how it feels, as it`s been 14 years, but I can remember the feeling of a pounding heart, & the strange salty taste in my mouth, & of course being scared. I don`t believe all that stuff about feeling better afterwards, because with a sv, you start to feel ill again almost immediately after vting.

[aurora0917]

Last December, I V*ed for the first time in my adult life. I was VERY nauseous for a few hours before it had happened, though. I don't mean your typical anxiety nausea, i mean, it was very strong nausea so bad to the point I couldn't stand or move, and my entire body felt super numb and dizzy, especially my head. I also felt the churning feelings of D* (I had the noro).

Pretty much, the nausea of impending doom (V*) is very different from anxiety/panic attack nausea. Every nerve in your body will tell you that "something isn't right", and your innerds will feel wacky in a way that is so far from "normal", that you'll just "know".

The moments before the V* actually happened, I could feel the contents of my stomach defying gravity. I kept suppressing it for a few minutes, but it was really hard, and the nausea was incapacitating, so I finally "let it happen".

Basically, the nausea will be so bad that you can't even think a single clear thought. You'll be keeling on the floor, unable to move. And you'll feel sicker than you could ever begin to comprehend. Fortunately, after V*ing, this terrible nausea was immediately lifted from my senses. For the rest of my illness, i didn't V again, just had watery D for the next couple days.

I also D* twice before the V* happened. It was very watery, which was a red flag for something not being right.

[Sheesh4]

Yeah! After you v* you feel so awesome!!! It is one of the best feelings in the world! I know when I'm gonna v* if I'm really nauseous. But the key sign is when my mouth fills up with tons and tons of saliva. That is the teeths way of protecting itself from the stomach acids that come up when you v*.
You don't always v* when you feel nauseous. But most people know when they are about to before they do so. Of course, there are some rare (and disgusting) occasions where someone DOESN'T know or DOESN'T MAKE IT IN TIME... :/

[gumdropper1]

Silivrin,

Vomiting is strange and unfamiliar to most of us. As much as we obsess about vomiting on IES, most of us haven't vomited in years. Therefore, you would probably be better off asking a group of non-emets (e.g., Yahoo Answers) for an answer to your question.

Me, I wrote a FAQ (frequently asked questions) about vomiting: you can read it at http://emetophobia.byethost15.com/vomiting.html . Even so, what I wrote is only based a little bit on my own experience: I haven't vomited in over 35 years. I think I've spent less than 90 seconds of my life vomiting, although I obsess about it for at least 5 times that amount every single day.

Most people who answer your question say they know they're about to vomit when one or more of these things happens:

1) mouth fills with saliva
2) tongue locks down and becomes hard to move
3) throat gags if they open their mouth too far, like to yawn
4) unbearable feeling of nausea
5) break out in a cold sweat
6) rapid heartbeat


I consider myself fortunate that I can't relate to the dark depths of nausea that a few people have shared on this thread. The last time I threw up, I didn't experience that dreadful feeling of being unable to keep a clear thought or having incapacitating nausea that posters above have described. I think I could even have fought nausea for hours longer, and there was no particular feeling of awfulness associated with the minutes right before I puked. Of course, it was a really horrible morning, and the experience of nausea and diarrhea culminating in the dreaded expulsion of my stomach contents through my mouth is one that haunts me daily. But I mean to say that the moments before it happened were no worse than the two hours before it.

Unfortunately, the way people get to recognize when they're about to puke is from experience. The more vomiting you've done, the easier it will be to recognize when it's about to happen. Nearly all emets are happy that we don't have much puking experience, but the downside of a lack of vomiting experience is that we don't know as readily as non-emets when queasiness is about to turn to catastrophe.

The last time I was nauseated (11 years ago), there was no moment where I believed vomiting was imminent or even inevitable. Indeed, one of the things I trumpet in my Vomiting FAQ is that you can prevent vomiting, even when you're severely nauseated, by relying on certain principles of body mechanics, especially keeping your breathing under control. By controlling your breathing, you can either 1) make yourself vomit or 2) keep yourself from vomiting when you're nauseated.

You make even me jealous by not having vomited since age 3. Keep up the good work!

Doug

[mooki]

Last December, I V*ed for the first time in my adult life. I was VERY nauseous for a few hours before it had happened, though. I don't mean your typical anxiety nausea, i mean, it was very strong nausea so bad to the point I couldn't stand or move, and my entire body felt super numb and dizzy, especially my head. I also felt the churning feelings of D* (I had the noro).

Pretty much, the nausea of impending doom (V*) is very different from anxiety/panic attack nausea. Every nerve in your body will tell you that "something isn't right", and your innerds will feel wacky in a way that is so far from "normal", that you'll just "know".

The moments before the V* actually happened, I could feel the contents of my stomach defying gravity. I kept suppressing it for a few minutes, but it was really hard, and the nausea was incapacitating, so I finally "let it happen".

Basically, the nausea will be so bad that you can't even think a single clear thought. You'll be keeling on the floor, unable to move. And you'll feel sicker than you could ever begin to comprehend. Fortunately, after V*ing, this terrible nausea was immediately lifted from my senses. For the rest of my illness, i didn't V again, just had watery D for the next couple days.

I also D* twice before the V* happened. It was very watery, which was a red flag for something not being right.

A few years back, I experienced everything you described above to the letter. Somehow I still held it down. I have no idea how on earth I did that. It wasn't noro, it was something I ate that just didn't agree with me. At first I thought I was food poisoned because it began within about 15 minutes of finishing my lunch. The nausea like you said was incapacitating. My stomach was desperately trying to purge itself. But I laid on my bathroom floor twisting in agony unwilling to give up the fight. I had to keep spitting into my garbage can because my mouth was hyper-salivating like crazy. I couldn't even swallow the saliva because anything that went down felt like it would come back up. I had taken pepto at the very first onset of a stomach disturbance. It didn't do any good whatsoever. Like you said, this one just felt different, and more severe than anything I'd experienced. On my 0-5 nausea scale this was like a 6! I should have just let it happen, but unbelievably my fear of doing it was worse than the nausea I was fighting. 99% of the population would've just let themselves do it.

The whole ordeal went on for several hours. The buildup to the worst of it took about an hour. And then maybe an hour and a half of wave after wave of agonizing, incapacitating nausea. My technique for fighting it was to basically stay as still as a statue. Sometimes I'd lay down flat, sometimes slighting on my left side. Other times I'd sit on the toilet straight up at a 90 degree angle while taking very controlled breaths, sometimes deep, sometimes shallow. I have come to know my body very well and which types of breaths to take at which moment. I know diaphram control is key because what retching does it make your diaphram push hard against the stomach to bring it up. Without the diaphram involuntary pushing it up, it doesn't have the power to come up on its own. I had my garbage pail in front of me in case I failed to keep it down. Then at a certain point my stomach finally gave up trying to vomit and everything came out the other end instead. I had explosive diarrhea that by the end was coming out like water. I was just spurting clear liquid from my bottom end a few hours into the ordeal. First it was yellow than turned to clear. Sorry, I know TMI! After that, I knew the worst was over. With each expulsion of diarrhea, I started feeling better. Then the nausea was gone. That was the hardest battle I ever fought against vomiting. I know someday I will be tested like that again. I hate even thinking about.

[mooki]

Doug, that is incredible that you have not been nauseated in 11 years! I so envy you! I am nauseated often several times a week, at least mildly. Sometimes it's everyday. And maybe a few times a month severely nauseated. I would do anything to go a decade without nausea.

EVERYTHING nauseates me. Sometimes all it takes is just a piece of fruit. Or jogging, or god knows what.

[afraid213]

Last time i v* i was 7........i woke up, i dont remember feeling that v* was inevitable.....and a time a drank too much water, i dont remember feeling it was inevitable.....

[bananas]

I can agree with what people here say. You will know when it's happening. I haven't done much throwing up myself, but when I did, I didn't feel like resisting, I just went to my mom and she said I was gonna throw up, and she asked if I could make it to the bathroom, and I said yes and we went there and I did it right away and it was done.

I also have watched hundreds of videos of girls throwing up. They always seem to know when it's about to happen and even more accurately, they know when it's over. You can see a girl just hanging there throwing up for minutes but then a last retch will come up and she immediately knows she's done and cleans up and moves on. Sometimes they do that last retch after 20 seconds of not throwing up but they just know that last wave is coming.

So don't worry, you will know when it's time.

[gumdropper1]

don't worry, you will know when it's time.

Not always. The last time I threw up, I honestly didn't even recognize what was happening even when I was retching. I only knew I was vomiting when I saw the first bit of puke fly out of my mouth. Thankfully it was just a drop and I got the rest of it to miss the floor.

OK, I know what I just said is dis-gust-ing, but it illustrates one reason why I'm such an emet.

Doug