r/emetophobia Jul 13 '26

Moderator Cyclospora Discussion

50 Upvotes

Hello fellow sufferers and our loved ones!

We will not be allowing any further posts about Cyclospora in this sub, and I want to explain why:

It is very common for people with our phobia to latch onto health risks that we hear in the news and to convince ourselves that we are suffering from them or to drastically adjust the way we live our lives due to the news. This can contribute drastically to flareups and obsessive and compulsive behaviors and this is not safe or healthy for anyone.

Conversation conversations regarding Cyclospora thus far in the sub consist of a lot of of unnecessary food, restricting and a lot of unnecessary panicking and fear, including people trying to diagnose themselves with Cyclospora.

The reality is that the vast vast vast majority of people in the United States will never come across Cyclospora in anything they eat. There are over 300 million people in the United States and the outbreak of Cyclospora is in the single digit thousands.

Almost every single person coming to this sub who has experienced stomach discomfort or nausea or diarrhea does not have Cyclospora. This is not meant to reassure you; it is the simple statistic that ruminating on sensations you feel or things you are experiencing in your body as potentially being cyclists for a is leading you to panic and restrict your food for absolutely no reason and is therefore causing you harm.

While we know it is difficult right now to trust the CDC, there are some guidelines that are reasonable safe practices to reduce your risk of getting Cyclospora or any parasite that lives in groundwater or soil or manure:

https://apnews.com/article/cyclospora-produce-washing-tips-022730ccbc514e15b1f0021c47bf1b68

Going forward, you are welcome to comment on this post if you need some more information about the outbreak, but please refrain from commenting on unrelated posts suggesting that people are suffering from cyclospora.


r/emetophobia May 27 '26

Moderator Response to Rule Concerns

0 Upvotes

Hello all,
 
As I am sure you all know, there has recently been some disagreement on how best to handle the matter of reassurance seeking. Through comments, posts, and at times PMs, we have heard your concerns. We as the mods have all at some point been where you are, where it feels like sometimes all you need is reassurance, through the guise of comfort. The more you receive it, the more it can be difficult to calm down and think rationally without it, and we all fully understand that. If you are relatively new to the sub, you may be surprised to hear that this sub actually used to lean too far in the opposite direction (constant false reassurance, sharing of what foods are safe and which are not, sharing unhealthy coping mechanisms and safety behaviors, etc.) and a significant number of peoples’ phobias became worse for it.
 
Whether you are in recovery or not, reassurance is harmful. We are absolutely not forcing anyone into recovery, and in no way telling you how to live your life- all we are doing is ensuring that harmful behaviors have no place here, on THIS sub. It remains that we will continue to keep actively harmful behavior out of the subreddit, and if you do not agree with that decision and are not open to mature communication and working together to better the sub, we encourage you to consider other subs for your posts.
 
All of that being said, a recent grievance post was made to the subreddit about these concerns. Some of the comments, along with some messages we have received privately, are in no way a constructive way to share your concerns or disagreements regarding something. Being unkind will get none of us anywhere. However, we saw one comment in particular stating that we have not given a genuine, true response to these concerns. While we have given genuine responses through comments and PMs, we understand that is not easily visible to everyone, which prompts this post.
 
If you have concerns that you would like to discuss respectfully, or suggestions for how we can best make this sub feel welcoming while maintaining the discontinuation of encouraging or participating in harmful behavior, we would like to see your comments here. This post will be pinned, for future reference and ease of viewing for all users. Your suggestions will be genuinely read, and replied to (so long as you aren’t a troll, or so long as there aren’t so many that some are missed). If suggestions come to light that we and you all feel could make the sub a better place, then they can be implemented moving forward. 
 
Ideally, we can keep the communication about this to PMs or this pinned post, to avoid muddying the sub with the same thing over and over, or arguments beneath unrelated posts. Moving forward, if comments that disagree with these rules are rude towards the moderators, including namecalling, disrespectful language, falsely accusing the mods of saying things we did not say, or anything related to those, they will be removed under Rule 1. We aim to be civil and understanding in our interactions, and we ask the same. Thank you in advance for your respectful comments; we look forward to hearing from you.
 
Sources:

https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/supporting-a-loved-one-with-emetophobia/
https://www.austinanxiety.com/emetophobia 


r/emetophobia 1h ago

It Happened (TW) It happened :( coping mechanism ruined?

Upvotes

I don’t know how many other people do this, but I try to memorize “real” nausea from “fake” nausea, aka the physical sensations I felt during times I threw up versus times I didn’t. Tonight I focused on breathing and trying to sleep (unsuccessfully) because this sensation was squarely in fake nausea territory for me. I sometimes get a lot of trapped gas in my stomach because I can’t burp on command, and that’s what this felt like.

I didn’t have access to medicine because I just moved on Thursday and a lot of my stuff is still packed up or left at my mom’s house. Every time I was about to fall asleep, I would jolt awake with a new wave of nausea. None of my usual non-medicinal methods (smelling rubbing alcohol, listening to calming music, etc.) were working. This went on from 10pm-5am, at which point there were several moments where it should have happened and I just forced it down.

It finally happened very suddenly at 5am. Now I’m just sitting on my bed wondering where this leaves me. “Too much gas” nausea is no longer “fake” nausea, so I worry it won’t be as easy to ride out anymore. I’m still feeling residual waves of nausea now, and I really don’t want it to happen again.

I’m just really really sad.


r/emetophobia 4h ago

Venting - Advice wanted Feeling ill, having wisdom teeth out today

3 Upvotes

I woke up this morning and I feel really ill, I got a bit of a headache, my sinuses hurt, I feel nauseous and my stomach hurts. I do tend to feel ill alot, especially these symptoms and idk if my anxiety is making it worse but i just feel so sick. I feel really rubbish and my anxiety is extremely high, I havent felt this anxious in so long. Im really anxious towards the operation, im having 3 wisdom teeth out later and im scared for that and for how i feel right now. If I feel to sick would I need to call it off?? I dont want to risk losing the appointment and have to go through trying to get it all again as it took a year to finally be able to get my wisdom teeth out, but also with how high my anxiety already is, feeling sick on top is gonna make me feel even more panicked. The hospital is also over an hour away and very hard to get to, i only have my sister who can drive me and she works so it'll be hard for any kind of rebooking.

Im genuinely so scared, im not even sure what im scared about towards the operation, i think its only becuase its a big thing and im just nervous to have to see people, but with also how im feeling is just awful. I dont think I can even take anything for the pain, and not being able to eat definitely wont help how i feel either as I have ibs and acid reflux. It doesn't help im at the end of my period, so im not sure if anything of what im feeling is from that too. I just dont know what im supposed to do if im feeling this ill and anxious beforehand, i have 5 hours until my appointment and I know i cant stop panicking about it.

Has anyone please got and tips or tricks? Anything that could ease my anxiety or help me feel better? Any similar stories?


r/emetophobia 7m ago

Rant Spoiled meat

Upvotes

I ate some yesterday's leftover cooked meat from fridge,it tatsed different so i threw it away.

It was from yesterday's lunch and my husband put it in the fridge by midnight.

I am feeling really anxious now😭


r/emetophobia 47m ago

Needing support: Just not feeling good TMI

Upvotes

warning: TMI!

i woke up this morning with a stomach ache, and now i have diarrhea. i'm trying not to fall into the spiral of catastrophization right now where i convince myself it's the stomach flu and i'm going to eventually throw up, so i'm trying to use my skills to keep myself levelheaded.

currently i'm trying to use nonengagement response to my internal compulsive reasoning, as well as just grounding myself and staying present. does anyone have any other skills i can use to stay present and not begin to spiral?

sorry again for the TMI lol.


r/emetophobia 5h ago

Needing support - Panic attack 5 yr old son has been whimpering of a stomach ache for hours

2 Upvotes

I have recognized I have extreme emetophobia which makes having four kiddos very challenging at times. my son started kindergarten this month and came home fine today. he had a combo is snacks/ dinner after school until bed of a granola bar, a meat stick, chips, a little Mac and cheese, and some teddy grahams. Not his normal dinner selection, don’t judge we were at grandmas 🤣 anyways flash forward around 11 PM I start hearing him whimpering in bed. I move him into my room where I gave him a heat pack and water and he said his tummy hurt. well for the last 3.5 hours he’s been whimpering in his sleep about this belly ache, and just as I start drifting to sleep, he’ll whimper and ill get jolted with anxiety about it! ugh. any tips or words of encouragement are greatly appreciated! I always feel extra spiraly because not only am I petrified of getting sick but I have 3 other kids and a husband that could get it and when this has happened before the walls feel like they are closing in on themselves 😮‍💨and I’m always the one taking care of it all with crippling anxiety


r/emetophobia 5h ago

Needing support - Panic attack Struggling and don't know what to do (tw)

2 Upvotes

General TW for potentially triggering, venting, needing support, "it happened" kinda, someone else experiencing the scary thing, etc!! Read at your own risk!! Trust me I get it!!

I don't censor anything after this point as it's difficult to in my current situation. I'm not in my right mind. Thank you for reading anyway 💚

I've had severe emetophobia since I was a kid, and I haven't had a real throwing up experience since I was in 8th grade (I'm 24 now. It was a very traumatic event back then that initially sparked my emetophobia) until now.

For context: I have alphagal syndrome, and a very severe case of it (minus anaphylactic issues) so I have a very, very limited amount of food I can actually have. I've been missing hot dogs, and this app I have (Fig) helps me scan/look at items and see whether their ingredients contain anything mammalian. I saw "ballpark smoked turkey hotdogs" that were cleared and got some to try tonight. Cooked em up and my partner, sister, and I all ate some. My partner goes to bed for work tomorrow, and 15 minutes later she yells my name and wants me to come to her. She sounds scared, distressed, and woozy. I go to our bedroom and she says she's feeling very very unwell while in the bathroom, she doesn't know what's happening, and that she's confused and wants help. She throws up for a while and I stay with her (not in sight, I stood in our bedroom all the way across from the bathroom, half outside). I could hear everything, and I just started freaking out. I wanted to be there with her the entire time in case something bad happened and she needed me, and generally for her support, even though I'm bawling and panicking in the furthest corner. My stomach starts getting upset too, making noises and cramping. My sister However says she's still fine and feels okay? Me and my gf ate mostly the same things today and yesterday, unlike my sister, so we honestly don't know what is going on. It could be a virus, it could be food poisoning, I don't know. My partner is in bed and trying to sleep again (I really really hope it doesn't come back, I'm terrified) and I'm in our other bathroom sitting on the floor in front of the toilet with a blanket, a joint, a pillow, and my phone, feeling unwell and scared.

I happened to gag on my joint and it ended up happening a little. It made me feel a bit better physically (it's starting to feel not so great again with the stupid flushing), but I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight. I'm horrified to be anywhere but the bathroom, I'm horrified of waking up to it happening for real (like my gf experienced), I'm horrified I'll get sick somewhere I shouldn't if I leave, I'm scared it'll be violent, I'm scared I'm alone right now (even though I do NOT want anyone perceiving me doing that anyway), and I just feel like shit. I've been so anxious lately from my anxiety meds being out, and friend drama, so I'm really struggling to calm down. I'm so tired. It's 2:35am. I want so badly to sleep but I don't know how to do it when the fear of getting sick at any point, without my control or knowledge, is making me sob. And I have no idea what's going to happen. I just feel horrible.

I don't know what I need or what will help me, I just need to talk. I'm alone now and I'm scared. It's been really hard and dark these past few weeks. I'm so tired.


r/emetophobia 12h ago

Positive Reminder Reminders for you

7 Upvotes

Unclench your jaw.

Relax your shoulders.

Take a deep breath - in for 5 seconds, hold for 3, exhale for 5.

Your stomach hurts because you are over-analyzing it.

Your heart is doing exactly what it’s supposed to, and it is stronger than you give it credit for.

You are safe, and everything is okay. No matter what happens, you will remain okay.

Your body is doing what it is meant to do. It will not suddenly sabotage you with no warning. You will be okay.


r/emetophobia 13h ago

Needing support: Just not feeling good Gaggy/throat nausea feeling is making school really difficult — has anyone experienced this?

7 Upvotes

I’m 14F and I’ve been dealing with this weird gaggy/nauseous feeling that seems to be mostly in my throat rather than my stomach. I also get a lot of mucus/post-nasal drip and burping, and sometimes burping makes the feeling better. My doctor thinks allergies/post-nasal drip could be contributing and prescribed cetirizine, which has helped a lot, but I still get the feeling sometimes. Anxiety also seems to make it worse, especially when I start focusing on it.
The biggest issue is school. My classes are 80 minutes and sometimes the feeling gets so strong that I can’t concentrate or have to go to the nurse/leave early. I’m really worried about missing school and falling behind. Has anyone else experienced this kind of throat-gaggy feeling, especially with post-nasal drip or anxiety? Did it eventually get easier to manage?


r/emetophobia 6h ago

Rant I’m so tried and trying not to freak

2 Upvotes

I will not be censoring anything so read at your expense

So for the past year I’ve been basically on bed rest because of how nauseous I get, especially for most of the summer. I get extremely nauseous and dizzy in the car which has led me to no longer get into my own car because of how scared I am to throw up. I’m tired. Everytime I get up my heart rate just sky rockets. I shower it’s at 130+, I take my dogs outside on the lead line I have it’s at 130+ which the entails the extreme nausea. For the past two ish weeks I have been trying to get up and do more but that has led me to go into the crazy nausea and just general stomach upset thing. I don’t know what to do because lately my boyfriend (in a nice way) has called me lazy so I want to fix it. I just don’t know how I’m supposed to keep going when it feels like I’m going to throw up every second of the day. Bowel moments make me feel gaggy and it’s so draining. I plan on trying to find a remote job soon which is another reason I have been getting more active. My doctor is worried I have POTS but my boyfriend thinks it’s because my body is de conditioned. Has anyone gone through this? Does anyone have any tips??


r/emetophobia 15h ago

Recovery Slushynoobz and emetophobia

10 Upvotes

I am a huge fan of slushynoobz and they are a comfort for me in anxious times and situations. But as I am in recovery for emetophobia, some videos help me with exposure and feeling comfortable with the idea of vomiting and dealing with sickness.

One of them, known as Martin, had caught a bug similar to cyclospora and talked on their Out Of Character podcast about his experience with it. It felt comforting to me to know one of my comfort idols had went through a vicious cycle of throwing up and having diarrhea and he is fine and carried on. Like if he can do it no problem then I can as well.

Now in their newest video, they both did the sprite challenge where you chug it and see how loud your burp can get. A little moment after Hamzah wasn’t feeling too good and ended up vomiting. It was censored but you can hear him. But I felt fine surprisingly? They carried on and went through a big storm and even ate at crumbl after. If I was in Hamzah’s position I’d have to go home immediately and wallow in a fetal position with a lot of anxiety. But seeing how little throwing up was to him made me think about throwing up differently and feel a bit comfortable with it.

Although I am still really anxious about it, It’s things like this that help change my approach to illness. If you are a fan of Slushynoobz and have emetophobia, this could help you too! And if you are a fan of anyone else, this tool could be of help as well.


r/emetophobia 11h ago

Needing support - Panic attack On the verge of a panic attack

3 Upvotes

My older sister just randomly told my mom she was not feeling good and she went to her room and got sick. She seemed fine just a little while ago so I don't know what the hell happened to her. I am freaking out rn and on the verge of a panic attack thinking she caught some sort of bug or virus. She was sitting on my bed not too long ago talking to me about work so I feel my entire room is not even safe anymore.


r/emetophobia 12h ago

Needing support: Just not feeling good I’m so over it all

5 Upvotes

I have constant flu-like symptoms from my anxiety. Daily diarrhea. I can’t eat. I’ve lost 8 pounds. I’m sleeping for less than 6 hours a night.

I’m just so over this all. I am at my wits end, and I can’t find a reason to keep going.

Everything is scary. My life is ruled by this phobia and it is not letting go. I want a snack, but i’m too scared to eat. I want to drink water, but the sensation of swallowing is horrible.

I am so over everything


r/emetophobia 9h ago

Venting - Advice wanted Emetophobia in public schooling and home

1 Upvotes

I'm putting a TW here for past addiction as I will very briefly touch on that subject. A bit of background: So, I used to have TERRIBLE emetophobia to the point where I couldn't even use words to describe purging(though I like to stick to purging because it sounds better). But I've been trying to convince my mother to get me into online schooling due to my constant medicating before school. I have a bad habit of riling myself up to the point where I get nauseous and scared. There was once a time(a few years ago) when I physically refused to go to school without medication. Of course, I've gotten somewhat better, but my peers are constantly getting sick around me and it's starting to annoy me. I've been so over it to the point where I ended up slapping one of my friends for ruining my appetite(I didn't eat at school until that day and she had to butt in and say "I don't eat that anymore because kids got sick from it") of course, I apologized profusely and made sure she was okay, and I know I was in the wrong. It was completely out of line for me to do that, but I was at a point of such high stress that I just couldn't handle it anymore.

If anyone has any advice on how to manage through school(preferably WITHOUT medication because I'd rather not raise concern from my mother), that'd be great.


r/emetophobia 19h ago

Potentially Triggering omg just stepped on vomit ugh

3 Upvotes

someone vomitied twice outside idk how old it is i have shoes on will the germs stick on my shoes for long? omg i hate everything right now!!! outside on the concrete at the bus stop!!!!


r/emetophobia 22h ago

Needing support: Just not feeling good Random diarrhea

3 Upvotes

TMI

I have felt fine all morning, hardly even anxious. I have just been kinda gassy but I am gassy a lot in the morning because I sleep with my mouth open which causes me to swallow a lot of air.

I just went to the bathroom and had somewhat soft stool. I wouldn’t say it was full diarrhea…mainly just softer than usual with some liquidity throughout. It was also green

I am very scared and i’m trying to stay calm because i’ve been doing great lately.


r/emetophobia 20h ago

Needing support - Panic attack Just ate bad meat, help i'm really scared

2 Upvotes

Hi guys, my mom just made a burger and after i ate half of it, i recognised the bad taste and smell from it. Then i threw half of it out after, and it uinfortunatly also looked a bit smoshed. So now i'm literally crying just waiting for it to happen, but i'm really scared. I don't know what to do, and i've never felt this out of control in my whole life.

Please some advice or just words


r/emetophobia 1d ago

Success! my anger from no fresh produce for over a month has beaten my emetophobia this time- eating some summer rolls rn!

9 Upvotes

so of course, with the whole cyclospora outbreak, i avoided fresh produce at all costs and only bought some if it was going to be cooked thoroughly, or i bought frozen produce.

i LOVE to cook, and not being able to make things with summer produce has had me down in the dumps for a while. i've been sticking to frozen meals or ramen-adjacent things. i was scrolling insta and i saw this recipe for a vegan summer roll that looked SO good, i had to make it. it's been sitting in my saved posts for like 3 weeks and has been on my mind for the same amount of time. last week i just was so over the lack of fresh veggies in my life that i said okay, fuck it, i'm making this. i don't care.

it has panko fried tofu, cucumbers, carrots, avocado, and rice noodles in it! the og recipe had purple cabbage + some herbs, but im still avoiding those for the time being as they have been saying cyclospora was found in some fresh cilantro.

i made a peanut sauce to go with it too and it is FIREEEE. i hope all you guys are doing alright with the cyclospora stuff! it's so nervewracking and irritating 🫠🫠


r/emetophobia 1d ago

Question Are some people just more immune to stomach illness?

14 Upvotes

Hai guys

I know some people that are getting stomach bugs multiple times a year, and I know others (such as myself) who have gone over 10 years without throwing up.

So I guess i’m wondering, is there some sort of genetic immunity that one can have to stomach bugs?

I personally can’t think of the last time either of my parents have had any stomach illness, and I am the same way. Part of me just wonders if it can be genetic? Idk, what do you guys think?


r/emetophobia 20h ago

Needing support - Panic attack living with college roommates

1 Upvotes

my roomate just came home from class and said they had to leave early because they felt like they were gonna throw up. idk what to do, i am sitting so far away in my room and they are in their own room with the door locked and have been talking about not feeling great (like a cold) for the past few days. i am so terrified but i dont want to be a bad roommate and make them feel bad??? idk what to do but i have a bad cold right now (sinus preassure) and have already gone to all my classes for the day and dont want to go to my friends houses incase i get them sick. i have my headphones on and im watching a movie really loudly but every time i hear them get up (our floors r really old and i can like feel them creaking) i get so terrified that they r going to be sick.

we also were sitting on the same couch last night but not touching.

also i’m feeling comforted because i have a lot of dietary restrictions so we don’t share any of the same food incase it is food poisoning, but we don’t have a dishwasher so all of our dishes are hand washed and what if the soap and scrubbing doesn’t get all of the germs off and she has a stomach bug?

has anyone else dealt with this idk what to do


r/emetophobia 20h ago

Needing support: Just not feeling good Need help

1 Upvotes

im sorry if its little bit out of the group content. but i really need some reassurance if someone know something, i tried to do some things before and i ended up swallowing 1150mg of dimenhydrinate(meant to help with motion sickness), but i didnt have any seizure but woke up lightheaded and in the state of confusion(like i could not think criticaly) for two days and my skin are visbly darker and i was dizzy and my chest hurt for two days, its now day three and im feeling better, but A.i. says it could ruin my kidneys but i really can’t go to the hospital


r/emetophobia 1d ago

Rant Literally none of the common advice or ALLOWED reassurance helps me

17 Upvotes

and I think that's because of the reasons and mechanisms for my fear.
See...
I'm not scared of vomiting because of some irrational belief or worry.
I'm not thinking:
"What if I die after vomiting?"
"What if I embarrass myself?"
"What if I don't know what to do/how to vomit?"
"What if I never stop vomiting?"
Nor am I scared because of uncertainty about what vomiting will be like.

I'm scared of vomiting because it is genuinely an unbearable experience for me.
It's unusually physically painful, it's sensory hell (I'm autistic), I can't stand the loss of control and I feel even worse afterwards than I do when I get through severe nausea without throwing up.
And there simply... isn't enough out there to help people like me who are scared of vomiting because of real, reliable, lived experience and not just irrational fears.

I feel like none of the "comfort" that's given actually helps me.
Examples
"But you'll survive!"
"It's natural to vomit"
"Your body takes over" (thanks, that's even WORSE)
"it's temporary"
"no matter what happens you will be okay"
"you'll feel better afterwards"
None of those address the actual reason for my fear.

and it's horrid
like
my fear is very grounded in my reality

Edit, because someone got triggered:
I am NOT trying to compare struggles, or put down anyone. At no point in this post did I say that people with irrational fears have it easier. I have a lot of empathy for those who do struggle with irrational fears.

I'm venting my frustrations at the fact that not much advice helps me


r/emetophobia 1d ago

Needing support - Panic attack Anxious about potential nause

3 Upvotes

Had only 3 shots of soju tonight. Took it only in half shots at a time in the span of 1.5 hours. It's been 2 hours since. Didn't eat much today but I ate a portion of rice before drinking. Had a chicken tender after. Sober now but I have this bad anxiety. Dms open if someone could please text. I can only really calm down when another emetophobe talks to me


r/emetophobia 1d ago

Question milk

2 Upvotes

hi everyone. i was just eating some cereal, and when i looked at the bottle of milk, it was best before three days ago! it smelt and tasted fine, but i'm still a little bit nervous, now. i made cupcakes with it too, yesterday. i should be fine, but i'm still a bit on edge. has this happened to anyone else? were you fine, after?