Vomiting

[deliman]

Hey-

this is my first thread on this forum...yay i guess...

anyway, i've had social anxiety for about 7 years now (i'm 23), but it was only diagnosed a year or so ago. my main symptom is that i'll have great difficulty eating and sometimes i'll feel that i need to vomit. i find it nearly impossible to eat around other people, even friends and family sometimes...i'm very embarrassed and ashamed about my problem and i don't really talk about it with people. if someone ever wants to go out and get a bite with me, i'll have to make up some stupid excuse why i can't. i have to plan my days around meals...it controls my life to an extent and i fear that i'll never get over it.

if i have to go out and be social with people (especially people i don't know), i'll have to make sure that i don't eat prior to the gathering for fear that i'll puke. when i'm not feeling nauseated, i'm very sociable, charming, all that jazz...but if i get nervous, which often happens, i feel i can barely talk...it sucks...

i was just wondering if theres anyone else on here that has a problem like this...i've never met another person like this and i feel like the only one on the planet.

 

[dooby-duck]

I have this problem too. I totally avoid eating if I have to go somewhere and find it nearly impossible to eat out in restaurants and other places. It's not so bad now mainly because I avoid a lot of things, but I never eat breakfast.

When I was at University I used to go from 9pm to 8pm the next day without eating and barely drinking if I had lectures all day. As a kind of coping mechanism I used to worry myself until I was sick. This gave me some kind of reassurance that I wouldn't be sick when I was out. Nausea is one of my main physical symptoms of anxiety. I get it worst of all if I feel out of control in a situation, or if I feel trapped.

 

[deliman]

I have this problem too. I totally avoid eating if I have to go somewhere and find it nearly impossible to eat out in restaurants and other places. It's not so bad now mainly because I avoid a lot of things, but I never eat breakfast.

When I was at University I used to go from 9pm to 8pm the next day without eating and barely drinking if I had lectures all day. As a kind of coping mechanism I used to worry myself until I was sick. This gave me some kind of reassurance that I wouldn't be sick when I was out. Nausea is one of my main physical symptoms of anxiety. I get it worst of all if I feel out of control in a situation, or if I feel trapped.

for a long time i never ate breakfast either...it seems i always feel worst in the mornings and it gets a little easier over the course of the day (but not much). then one morning when i was feeling particularly ill, i decided to eat a raw egg, because i figured i'd be sick no matter what i ate...but to my astonishment i was able to keep the egg down. i think the fact that i could simply swallow it without having to chew or keep it in my mouth was the reason i didn't have much trouble with it. now every day when i get up i have 3 or 4 raw eggs and a protein shake for breakfast. no chewing involved! i know its sort of a weird suggestion but you might give it a shot anyway.

 

[deliman]

I'm 25 and I get that nauseated feeling as well. I never got it when I was younger, but is pretty strong now. I also dry heave when it is really bad. Yeah, some people make fun of me for it. It usually only happens when anxiety is super bad. Have you tried breathing exercises? That helps me sometimes.

i'm sorry that people make fun of you for it...that seems incredibly insensitive. i also dry heave at times if it gets really bad and i have nothing to barf up.

regarding the breathing exercises, sometimes they work for me...i'll just focus on the breathing, taking deep breaths to calm my stomach. sometimes theres just no way to prevent it though.