emetophobia

This phobia has ruined my life. I’m always scared I’ll be s**k or that food is dangerous. I check for expiration dates on everything, even water. I won’t eat out, I can’t leave my house. I take pepto & Imodium religiously to the point I’m concerned with the usage. I don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t gain weight, I can’t control the panic attacks, now that flu season is here I’m a wreck. #Emetophobia

I prepped everything for the potential midnight eventuality but ... nothing happened :-)

6am, 10h: I woke up (wow is this clockwork). I think I might have had a low grade fever but I didn't check, slept it off (room was cold when I went to sleep, but felt strangely significantly warmer/though not terribly hot at 6am as I woke up)

10-11am, 14-15h post-booster: I can't remember specifics cos I was kinda sleepy but I changed out of PJs and took a shower, was pretty tired but functional hahahha so I told myself to shower while I'm still feeling up to it

1.30pm, 17.5h: I order myself lunch, on delivery. I couldn't really decide what I wanted, but eventually settled with a meal deal from a Korean place - boneless Korean fried chicken with mandu (Korean fried dumplings)

I'm not sure if that was bold lol I was considering going extra conservative like, nothing fried 😂 Considered noodle soup/congee at first but in combi of minimum order amt/delivery fee/what I felt like eating, I guess this was what I ended up with when the stars aligned hahahah. While waiting for the food (lunch hour, food takes longer) I felt a bit funky but I'm prettty sure that was just gastric for not eating soon enough (like, not in the headachey/nausea sense, but the "something stabs my ribs owwww" sense) - so yeah I was okay/it went away once lunch arrived and I ate it :-)

2.30pm, 18.5h: Moderna booster arm is still sore lol. Not sure how tired I still am (how much of this is real? How much of this is me turning this into a mind game of self-fulfilling prophecy cos I took the booster? Maybe I'm not thaaat run-down? But what if the side effects have a delayed peak onset? But what if I think I'm ok and go do a thing and get hit badly later? ... etc.)

7pm-ish/23h: Covid arm is real and I'm so tired but no GI distress - could be bc I was sleeping it off 😆😂 I don't know if this means I'm all clear or are the side effects a delayed onset.

Felt like I slept 3/4 of my day. Haha. Had soup for dinner!

2am/30h - now lol. I'm making this post 😆🙃 I can still feel my covid arm lol but it doesn't hurt too bad and I can still use my left arm to text/crochet/whatnot, although it definitely still feels better to sleep/lie down on the other side. 😬

That's all for booster adventures! ... I hope.

TLDR, no GI distress so everything else was tolerable/manageable/could be slept off 😆😂

#CheckInWithMe #MentalHealth #COVID19 #Anxiety #Emetophobia [?]

I got Moderna booster at 8pm, it is 12.30am as I type this. I shifted it to 02Jan, a day earlier than originally intended cos the anxiety was driving me crazy I thought to hurry and be done with it.

I made sure to buy coconut water (bought 3 bottles and chugged one after my booster LOL), eat something light & non-fried (Chinese steamed dumplings with vinegar dip & ginger), then ... I had my shot, took a bottle of complimentary water offered at the centre, came home & showered & am being a lazy potato lazing in bed.

It's only been 4ish hours though, I hear the side effects kick in later. I haven't done anything medically (no meds of any sort yet), I've only drank that one bottle of coconut water. I'm ok for now but a bit paranoid about potentially having GI distress in the middle of the night 🙃 (cos 6-8h is wee hours when you boost at 8pm 🙃)

Idk if I'm paranoid but I've got my Asian triangle of supermarket plastic bag (idk why but it's a thing!!! Who else folds their plastic bags into triangles) - for emergency midnight barf if needed. I've left water in my room (basically didn't take out the mineral water/coconut water out of my haha) for ... whatever, dry mouth/general hydration/re-hydration if the midnight GI dance happens. ... & I've got fever meds in my room in case (this was not intentional or prepped, just from dental/braces previously), gotta find my thermometer and I'm good. I think.

I hope I can sleep - been so anxious about this the past few days (spent an insane amount of time scrolling the emetophobia/covid vaccine boards on reddit lololol, particularly for Pfizer primary dose with Moderna booster) - scroll reddit nonstop, subconsciously smell my sinus relief roll-on nonstop, ... nose burn LOLLLL. Oops.

I really don't know what to expect cos some people said they had zero GI distress, others said their primary doses were chill and this hit them like a truck - "don't assume things just cos your initial doses didn't give you much side effects", says Reddit. Hm.

... my freakout started when sister told me her friend puked :-/

AAAAH.

😏😏😏 If anyone wants to share their Pfizer ➡️ Moderna boost experience, chime in lol thanks!!!

Imma gonna brush my teeth and hope to get some good sleep (-:

#CheckInWithMe #MentalHealth #COVID19 #Anxiety #Emetophobia [?]

I shifted my booster from 3Jan 7pm to 2Jan 8pm! 😂🙊🙈 ... no special reason, I just thought to myself, "might as well get it over and done, else it will just give me more time to flip and be MORE anxious ..." but also 2Jan 8pm was the only 2Jan slot left. Which is fine by me, just need anything after 2pm or so after I'm done with church and lunch and things. I'm thankful enough that this season I don't have urgent work deadlines to deal, so taking the day [or two] to rest is thankfully possible. :-)

1. Will bring a full bottle of water, probably a small bag of saltine crackers
2. Bring yarn. Half an hr is plenty of time to crochet. Crochet is a great distraction.
3. 8pm means I'll be there after dinner (reminder to self: don't eat anything excessively fried)
4. Telling myself I'm not gonna bring a sick bag (most times it just reinforces and reminds me about it)
5. Telling myself I'm not gonna barf in public
6. Crossing my fingers damn hard I really don't barf on the floor/on me
7. I'm actually mainly terrified to barf acid/through my nose/aftermath cramps/SHAME etc etc [shame is probably the biggest biggie but ok sure 🙃]
8. I can't trololol. I've been imagining all the possibilities wrt this Moderna booster for the past 2 days and each time my mind does a somersault and my insides flip a bit at the Scary & (ok irrational and a bit cray, don't judge) then I sniff my eucalyptus blend roll-on (as a safety behaviour? Maybe, idk) -- nose burn LOL. Ok it's kinda stupid but even though ouch at least I can laugh about it 🙃

May the odds ever be in my (and your, if you're jabbing/boosting anytime soon esp in a 2P + M combi) favourrrr.

... and may the night after be smooth and un-barf-y too (ok I'm actually even more terrified to barf at night, childhood memories omg) 🙈🙃

It's 2022 on my end, happy (& gentle) New Year! 🎇💕

#CheckInWithMe #MentalHealth #COVID19 #Anxiety #Emetophobia [?]

I wanted to make a few other posts but in light of the ability to share posts, I'll keep off more personal stuff relating to interpersonal interactions or MH stuff ... for now. Maybe I'll just ask general advice.

For now, hello all - I just received a text from the Ministry of Health today that I am [finally finally finally!] eligible for my Covid-19 booster.

Short background, I got my first shot [Pfizer] on 01July2021. I was supposed to get a 2nd shot 6 weeks later (would have been 12August2021), but later the COVID regulations/recommendations adjusted such that we could shift it up to a 4-week interval. But in the interest of work and MC (I didn't use it in the end, but erring for caution) I put dose 2 at a 5-week interval for 05Aug2021 😂 This also means the shot was effective from 19 Aug ☺️

I was quite surprised to get the text today cos I thought they would text me early Jan to get my booster in mid-Jan, but maybe they're counting by jab date, not effectiveness date. Anyway, the recommendations now (which tbh had no influence on my choice, you'll realise) is that a 2xPfizer & a Moderna booster has the best effectiveness against COVID especially the dominant/severe strains of Delta and possibly Omicron, but tbh - more like after I realised the difference in effectiveness was negligible to start (with Moderna being more effective for longer in the months post-vaccination) ... I made up my mind for the M because the centre is a 10min walk from my house. 😂

The Pfizer centre I went to was a bus ride away, not very long but not quite walkable unless I was adventurous 😂

I digress. I booked myself a slot for coming Monday, cos I wanna get my coming weekend stuff out of the way before like, I get hit by Moderna hahaha. Anyone here has taken the same combi and would be keen to share experience? (Extra helpful if you're in the 19-39 age group too bc I unds older people react less intensely etc)

I'm a bit scared haha. My sister's friend (triple M shots) had hers already and apparently she was puking :-/ Read reddit (maybe I shouldn't have) and someone said their spouse struggled to keep their food down for 3 days(!)

And as someone who (it's irrational, don't judge) associates throwing up with a lot of shame ... I'm understandably a bit scared! It's not like I have it super intensely that I will back out (I will still turn up y'all, I just need the right time & space alongside schedule) ... but a fear of puke ... is still a fear of puke. I know it sounds crazy especially with Sertraline side effects that I already deal with but I swear it is kinda diffffferent y'know.

Help?/share your advice and experience? Thanks ☺️☺️☺️

#CheckInWithMe #COVID19 #CheerMeOn #Anxiety #Emetophobia [?]