How to keep recovering when only nausea still triggers you?
Hi all this is my first time on this sub and i thought i’d throw a question out that i’ve been struggling with recently.
I’ve had emetophobia for as long as i can actually remember (i’m now 22) and my phobia peaked mid to late secondary school. Since then i did CBT and exposure therapy and managed to go from unable to leave my house, strictly vegetarian and mountains of avoidance behaviours to being able to do practically everything i used to avoid (my most recent win was cooking raw chicken and now i can do it without second thought).
I stopped my therapy years ago as they said it had come to a natural end and i’d been given the tools to continue to improve and luckily, despite a few flares during stressful periods, it’s pretty much been smooth sailing since then.
The only problem now is that i can’t seem to regulate myself when i’m actually genuinely nauseas. I’m mildly nauseas a LOT from my reflux and IBS but still haven’t been sick since i was 11 so i haven’t had the opportunity to face my fear in that way. I’m usually completely fine up until my brain changes from “i feel sick” to “I’m actually going to be sick” in which case i go into complete raw fight or flight no matter how many times i have tried to stay calm or accept it. This panic reaction has started to become a fear of its own as i am worried that when the time comes i will be in such a panic that i am squashing my chances of having the feeling of “that wasn’t so bad” that everyone talks about.
Does anyone who has been in this same boat have any advice on how to get over this final hurdle? Or does it sound like i might need to look into getting some more therapy?