Nausea, fearing of vomiting, hyperventilation affecting my brain

[CGlvs]

I made a previous thread about how I was feeling lightheadeded and having fainting spells in the last couple of weeks. There is another possibility that can relate to my ongoing neurological symptoms I am having.

I also have gastrointestinal problems for a couple of years, most specifically nausea. After having dinner, I was relaxing for a couple of hours watching TV and when I was ready to go to bed, I immediately began having nausea that can be intense at times. While the severity of the nausea is ongoing, I was on a verge of throwing up for a time before it subsided, usually after taking either Melotonin or Seredyn. Upon taking either of those herbal supplements, it sometimes can take between thirty minutes to an hour to take effect.
It caused me to hyperventilate during this episode because I have Emetophobia, a constant fear of throwing up(I haven't thrown up in 30 years). The more I have this symptom along with hyperventilation for a couple of days, I believe this led to a number of neurological symptoms as an after effect such as lightheadedness upon standing/walking as well as feeling of faint that could last for weeks and leave me bedridden, thus affecting my quality of life. I also developed tremors felt in my head, hands, and feet. Having nausea can occur at any time, like one early morning it woke me up and the nausea became severe, so I had to stay up for over an hour before symptoms subside. Also I have it even during the afternoon after having lunch.

Our plan is to see a neurologist who has experience in treating all of the symptoms I have, but we ran into difficulty in booking an appointment with certain doctors causing longer wait times lasting months to a year, while I was put on a cancellation list for one neurologist that I tried to book an appointment. To cope with the neurological symptoms, I took one dosage of Promethazine orally and within a couple of hours, almost all of the neurological symptoms(lightheadedness, feeling of faint), subsided. That was when I still have those symptoms. Afterwards, the next couple of days, I was able to go outside, go out shopping, did some mini-golf, and help around the house. However, a week later, some of the symptoms returned, and I took another dosage of the same prescription medication, and then hours later, the symptoms subsided to a point I was able to stand still without losing balance. Promethazine is used to treat symptoms related to the common cold and works like a cough syrup, but can also be used for motion sickness and nausea,

These symptoms are totally having a negative impact on my quality of life. Hopefully there may be a cure to this problem.

 

[Au Naturel]

I take Zofran for nausea. It is a prescription. If that isn't available, I take Dramamine, which puts me to sleep. Next down the list is Meclazine. You can get tablets that dissolve under your tongue and are directly absorbed from there. Swallowing a pill does you no good if you can't keep anything down. Metoclopramide is another prescription anti-nausea agent, but I've never been prescribed it.

Some people have good results from PeptoBismal. Some get results from ginger ale. My nausea is too overwhelming for that. Some people get relief from THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. I've never tried it for that purpose.

My migraines can cause me nausea. Imitrex can stop the nausea by stopping the migraine.

Amisulpride is the new kid on the block. The problem is that it is an injection. I have also had intravenous Compazine coming out of surgery.

 

[Misty Avich]

I understand how you feel because I have emetophobia too. I've had some talking therapy and it's helped with the "psychological sickness" but I still have emetophobia.

Earlier this year I kept having episodes where something in my head is making me believe that I have a stomach bug, a blockage or cancer, and will be a reason to start vomiting. This resulted in me spending hours in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet shaking and scared to remove myself from the bathroom. I kept squeezing my legs to try to distract my brain from the nausea but it didn't work effectively.

It kept bringing me back memories of when I last vomited, back in 2017, when I had caught norovirus from the care home I used to work at. It's made my emetophobia worse than ever because while the epidemic was rife at the care home I did my best to avoid the virus by wearing gloves and frequently changing my gloves (washing my hands between changing gloves and before eating), wearing a mask, bleaching down everything and I even didn't come into contact with any vomit. So if PPE and avoiding vomit didn't protect me from catching it then I don't know what will.

Also the night I had norovirus I was fighting off nausea for an hour and a half before I was physically sick. I was lucky enough to only vomit once. My family caught it from me and they were sick way more times. So now whenever I feel nauseous at night and can't seem to get rid of it, I fear that it's norovirus and that I'm going to start puking at any moment. Then I start thinking about my digestive system and wondering what if my digestive system just decided not to digest food one day, making me vomit?

Also my mother had cancer and it kept making her vomit. Not the chemo but the cancer itself, as it was in her bowels. That's the reason they found cancer in the first place, because she went to the doctor about why she kept throwing up. She even collapsed a few times due to exhaustion from vomiting. So I worry that if I feel nauseous or vomit then it means I have cancer somewhere.

With me vomiting doesn't happen very quickly. I could feel nauseous for ages before vomiting. And that's why it's so scary. And no, I'm not going to make myself vomit, as I don't want to vomit at all.

But anyway, TL;DR, my therapist told me a good technique that actually works. Whenever I feel nauseous now all I need to do is take slow breaths, making sure my tummy comes right out as I breathe in. That really does the trick, as he also said that those psychological nausea episodes I kept getting was from my stomach muscles being all clenched up with anxiety about vomiting, slowing my digestion down. So it was psychological that made it become kind of psychical (although I never actually vomited apart from the time I had norovirus). Before I got norovirus in 2017, I hadn't vomited in almost 20 years. So now I avoid jobs in care homes or hospitals because I can't bear it when there's a vomiting outbreak.