u/luunora

basically, i started an antidepressant zoloft 6 days ago for my anxiety and ive been getting pretty bad side effects of nausea and stomach upset (luckily no vomiting), but this has really heightened my anxiety and i can’t sleep alone in my room at night so i’ve been trying to have my best friend over a lot and my partner some nights too.

basically on friday night my friend came over after work to sleep over with me and everything was fine, but the next morning she woke up saying her throat was really sore and she was having a really wet sounding raspy cough. her symptoms got worse throughout the day so i was taking care of her all day by getting her medicine and watching shows with her. she was supposed to go clubbing that night for someone’s birthday, but she cancelled and stayed at my house because of how sick she felt.

throughout the saturday her symptoms fluctuated but i could tell she was getting worse. her chest was rattling with every breath and she couldn’t breathe properly and her cough sounded genuinely horrible with so much phlegm. she was getting fevers and her body was aching. she commented that she felt nausea after breakfast but i brushed it off from her having so much phlegm and fevers and overall feeling horrible.

with me, i’m not too scared of cold-like sicknesses so i was more than happy to care for her and make sure she felt better. she ended up sleeping another night at my house and she struggled to sleep really badly. her sleeping genuinely sounded like a death rattle i was getting really concerned about her and started thinking that maybe she should actually go home and go to a doctor or clinic. we both woke up at 4am (my zoloft side effects have been insomnia and waking up insanely early) and she woke up from how sick she felt.

this morning she told me she was feeling sick in her stomach now which panicked me a bit but i told her to try go to the toilet. she went twice and told me it was hard to get out but she managed a few normal bowel movements after being in the bathroom for a long time. i told myself it was just constipation making her feel sick and fell back asleep. i was then woken up by her at maybe 5am and she told me she vomited in the toilet. i got really panicky and asked what happened.

she told me she was trying to poop again but nothing was coming out and she was feeling so nauseous so she lifted up the toilet lid and just sat on the bathroom floor for a bit falling asleep. she said she was getting sick of being nauseous so she said she just kept trying and a small vomit came out. she said she felt better stomach wise after getting out some vomit but i just really wish she didn’t tell me she vomited.

i’m already so anxious from my medication and she knows i have horrible emetophobia. i wish i could help her when it comes to vomit but i just can’t. she wasn’t sick again after that and basically went home almost immediately after but now im terrified. i know she likely vomited from phlegm and mucus build up on top of fevers but my brain is making me overthink that she has a stomach bug on top of a chest infection or something. the fact i spent 2 days in a row with her and slept beside her both nights basically seals that i’m probably going to catch whatever she has if it’s contagious.

at the time i was more than happy to care for a sad and sick friend with a likely chest infection but now im wishing she didn’t come over at all and i feel horrible for it. i’ve barely slept and just feel horrible from these zoloft side effects so it’s like my body is too tired to fully freak out yet, but i know it’ll hit me soon that all her germs are in my bed. we even shared water bottles. i know it’s dumb being in such close contact to a sick person but i just really wanted to help her because i felt so upset seeing her so sickly.

EDIT: okay so things have gotten worse and im actually so scared now. she told me after she went home she kept vomiting non stop and had explosive diarrhoea. i am actually terrified now because i don’t know if a chest infection would do that.

hi guys today is supposed to be my third dose of 50MG of sertraline (zoloft). i struggle with depression and anxiety (the anxiety seeps into phobias like emetophobia the fear of vomiting).

let’s just say as an emetophobic person i’m finding it really hard to get past the side effects. i haven’t actually been feeling too nauseous, only last night i felt quite sick and my stomach just felt sad. since i have emetophobia and health anxiety, my brain has just been constantly checking my body for symptoms that might warn me if im about to vomit. i’ve honestly been in a panicky cycle for the past two days, hyper analysing myself.

here are some symptoms i’ve noticed so far:

- my bowels are SUPER active and my bowels won’t shut up. they’ve genuinely been rumbling and churning for two days straight and i’ve been pooping so much. my bowels rumbling has genuinely been so loud both nights it’s woken me from sleep.

- i’ve had pretty mild nausea, it got a bit worse feeling last night before bed which almost sent me into a panic attack because it didn’t feel great and set off my emetophobia.

- i’ve had little to no appetite. food genuinely been tasting like nothing and everything seems unappetising it’s like my taste buds just turned off. i can’t stomach large amounts of food and get turned off a couple bites in.

- my stomach has been feeling weird and hollow, but also like there’s a brick sitting inside it causing a lot of pressure? it’s so weird it’s like i’m hungry but then if i try eat the hungriness turns into pressure and discomfort.

- ive been feeling a bit shaky and jittery probably from my heightened anxiety.

- yesterday afternoon/night my face started feeling tingly and i felt dizzy like my head was kind of on a cloud but not in a nice way it was kind of making me panic because i started forgetting what i was talking about halfway through saying stuff and i couldn’t focus on my video game like i usually do.

- both nights on zoloft i have woken up extremely early hours like around 4am and struggled to get back to sleep and felt really energetic and anxious for no reason.

basically that’s my list of stuff i’ve noticed. i think what’s scaring me the most is that i thought i would go symptom free and i guess seeing all this stuff happening to my body already in the span of 2-3 days it’s really overwhelming for me. i guess it’s just reminding me all the time that i am kinda on a brain altering pill and how everybodies body reacts differently.

i know everyone says you have to push through the first two weeks to start feeling something good, but this is already getting overwhelming for me. i wont give up, but i am struggling especially mentally. i feel like my anxiety hasn’t dropped at all yet it’s actually been higher than usual. i cant stop monitoring my body during the day for symptoms and stressing the moment i feel anything different.

is anyone else emetophobic and on zoloft who can tell me things get better? even if you’re not specifically emetophobic, i just want to know if staying on zoloft for the long run is worth it because im starting to get worsening health anxiety over being medicated.

i decided it was time to try medication after no grounding methods have ever taken away the numbness, sadness, and heart racing anxiety i feel daily.

i went to the doctor and lowkey shed a lot of tears as i tried talking about how ive always felt sad and terribly anxious, as far back as i can remember. my mum came with me to tell the doctor symptoms that she noticed when i was a kid too (e.g gaining a stutter from anxiety, panic attacks when i was young that i don’t remember), just to help prove that i have been going through these issues my entire life.

for context i am 19, female and she prescribed me 50MG of sertraline. she wanted to start me on this because my mum also is on it for depression and anxiety and my mum said it helped her drastically and she had no negative side effects.

for me, everything i’ve seen online and heard from friends is that they hated sertraline and it ruined their lives. i’m actually having terrible anxiety about even taking the anxiety medication which is ironic i know, but im just really scared of what it might do to me. can anyone tell me positive things or positive words just so that im more inclined to take these meds? i just really want to feel better but im scared these meds are going to ruin me or change who i am as a person :(

i’m supposed to start my first pill this morning but I am putting it off because im scared and had nightmares about it all night.

UPDATE 1: I just had my first pill! i made sure to eat a decent meal beforehand and drink a lot of water with it. I also made sure to sit up right for half an hour afterward because i really don’t want it to mess with my stomach. I’m feeling fine right now but just super anxious and nervous about what might happen to me if i keep taking it.

hi so i’m starting 50MG of sertraline tomorrow for anxiety and depression. emetophobia is a big reason as to why im getting medicated in the first place, but i also struggle with obsessive thoughts, lack of motivation, depression, etc.

im supposed to take my very first pill tomorrow and im honestly terrified that a common side effect is nausea. i hate feeling nauseous and im scared that it will make me panic and not want to take it anymore if i always feel like ill vomit while being on it. my mum is on sertraline too for anxiety paranoia and depression and she told me she had no side effects whatsoever and the medicine started working on the 14th day of taking it.

on the other hand, my friend got prescribed sertraline and told me she had horrible intense nausea and diarrhoea and had to stop taking it. i’m just in shambles and don’t know what to do. my anxiety is trying to convince myself that i don’t need the medication and i shouldn’t put myself through being on antidepressants but part of me also knows that i need it, and i struggle daily with many things. i’m also starting therapy and hope to overcome or lessen my anxiety and emetophobia.

does anyone have any positive antidepressant stories or just kind helpful words to get me through this?

i decided it was time to try medication after no grounding methods have ever taken away the numbness, sadness, and heart racing anxiety i feel daily.

i went to the doctor and lowkey shed a lot of tears as i tried talking about how ive always felt sad and terribly anxious, as far back as i can remember. my mum came with me to tell the doctor symptoms that she noticed when i was a kid too (e.g gaining a stutter from anxiety, panic attacks when i was young that i don’t remember), just to help prove that i have been going through these issues my entire life.

for context i am 19, female and she prescribed me 50MG of sertraline. she wanted to start me on this because my mum also is on it for depression and anxiety and my mum said it helped her drastically and she had no negative side effects.

for me, everything i’ve seen online and heard from friends is that they hated sertraline and it ruined their lives. i’m actually having terrible anxiety about even taking the anxiety medication which is ironic i know, but im just really scared of what it might do to me. can anyone tell me positive things or positive words just so that im more inclined to take these meds? i just really want to feel better but im scared these meds are going to ruin me or change who i am as a person :(

i’m supposed to start my first pill tomorrow.

I am 19F. I have been anxious as hell basically my entire life, dating back as long as i can remember gaining conciousness as a child. as a kid i always feared getting in trouble at school, making mistakes, putting my hand up, talking to teachers, talking to the popular kids, etc. this kind of anxiety never really went away. by year 5 and 6, i was having random panic attacks where i couldn’t breathe and i remember it always felt like no air was entering my lungs which used to freak me out even more. i’d feel nauseous, like i was going to throw up.

now to this day, i still am an anxious wreck about shit that isn’t even that deep. i have really bad emetophobia (fear of vomiting) which has basically ruined my life. i have a fear of needles, heights, driving a car, being in a plane, travelling to foreign countries. I cry and shake so easily. My mind is always racing with anxious thoughts and I can never sleep because there’s so many voices in my head saying different scenarios for example ‘what if you wake up with a stomach bug tomorrow’ or ‘what if the next plane you’re on crashes’

it’s gotten to the extreme point where i always feel like i might die. i can’t sit near people on buses because my anxiety makes me think someone’s going to hurt me. i have to check behind me when i’m walking in the dark because my brain convinces me i might be getting followed. even when im in crowded places my brain convinces me someone’s got a gun or a bomb and that i might die. i kind of am in fear whenever i am by myself anywhere. this might be due to being a woman, and always being told as a child the dangers of being alone as a woman, but i think my anxiety has taken these memories and amplified them like crazy.

my dilemma is my parents. i still live with them and basically rely on them pretty heavily because where i live moving out at this age is basically impossible as we are in a housing and economy crisis, so my parents basically know everything about me. my mum knows i am an anxious person, but refuses to actually get me help for it and she refused my entire childhood. she’d say things like “you’re just shy” or “im so lucky you’re normal and not autistic like your cousins” or “me and your dad have given you a comfortable life, what’s there to be sad about?”

recently, i bought up the idea of anxiety medication because my anxiety stops me from a lot of stuff. my parents don’t believe in therapy because they think it’s a money grab to just diagnose people and get more money, but im starting to feel like i’ve been needing it my whole life yk? my mums response was half good half bad. it was half “you only want medicine because one of your friends is on it.” (not true at all) and “i mean if you think you need it we can do something”. i don’t really know how to feel about it. it makes me sad that my parents can’t accept that i want help from a professional.

they just have such an old outlook on life and mental health. most of my cousins suffer from depression, adhd, and autism. i’m sure many of the adults in my family have these traits as well, but they are just undiagnosed. lots of mental illnesses run in my family which is why i’m surprised my parents are like this. i’ve also been wanting to try get an adhd diagnosis (off topic i know) but i feel like that’s going to be WAY harder to get past my parents because i don’t think they’ve actually noticed symptoms in me (im inattentive and was always quiet, ive always been mistaken as just a shy girl).

i just want to know if getting medicated is even worth it at this point. i don’t want to change my personality heavily on it. i don’t want to experience crazy side effects. i don’t want it to be anything dramatic, i just need something that will make my extreme thoughts go away and to calm my mind. if anyone could tell me their experiences on different anxiety medications that would be great, and also just an outlook on if it’s worth it for me to take medication, or if my anxiety isn’t severe enough. i can still leave the house and everything, i just struggle with daily tasks due to some adhd symptoms and heavily anxious thoughts all the time. im hoping to try get diagnosed with these things as im finally an adult and actually have realised recently how badly it affects my life.

okay so i know the title sounds weird, but i hope people relate to this.

so i have IBS-C (lazy bowel syndrome) and basically i am on movicol laxatives which have really helped me most of the time! but i still struggle with early fullness and bloating, as well as low appetite.

basically since my ibs began 2 years ago ive also lost lots of weight and struggled with eating so im still pretty bad at finishing big meals.

basically my issue is that i can eat fine at home because i can always determine how much i feel like eating/can fit depending on my constipation levels. but for some reason at restaurants i just cannot stomach food without losing my appetite and getting full so early on in the meal.

i think it’s mostly to do with how massive restaurant proportions are for someone who is struggling to eat and digest food properly. i think also seeing a massive amount of food on my plate just overwhelms me and makes my already sensitive stomach feel anxiety.

my main problem is that i have a boyfriend, and we love to go on dates. before my ibs began, we loved eating food together but now the dates upset me just because when he pays i can never finish the food. he promises me that it doesn’t bother him and says ‘if you can’t fit any more food don’t eat it’, but the worry and anxiety just weighs on me yk.

for example it was our anniversary and we had burgers for dinner (that were massive). he had no problem finishing it but i could only get through half of mine before my ibs-c feelings hit me. you know, the sudden drop in your stomach followed by that uncomfortable full feeling and bloating. and when i try to push past it and eat more, my appetite disappears and i feel nausea. then the next morning we went for breakfast (which was terrible btw! but still expensive) and i could barely finish that either. i felt like i saw a little bit of disappointment in my bfs eyes just because i know he’s spending so much money and then i randomly have episodes where i can’t eat. it’s especially embarassing when i feel very extremely hungry and insist i want food but then once i start eating i fill up immediately.

i hate feeling like i disappoint my partner and family when they get me food or make me food and i can’t stomach much of it. my bf has been so sweet and reassuring through all of my stomach issues since they began and has been encouraging me to gain some weight back and track my meals (i was getting unhealthily thin from the ibs, i still kinda am) but i just hate not being able to eat with people properly. my eating has definitely got better since being on movicol, but i really struggle with eating out as restaurant proportions are so big for my stomach since the weight loss from ibs :(.

okay so my bf and I are 19 and want to start travelling the world together. we just spontaneously booked a tour trip through Beijing and Shanghai. we live in australia.

Basically, i have horrible memories from travel over my life due to vomiting.

Firstly, I have this weird pressure sensitivity when the plane lands, causing me to suddenly vomit. It happened to me many times as a kid until my parents finally took me to the doctor and they gave me zofran. I now take zofran when the flight attendants announce that the plane will begin landing, although the anxiety of it all is just completely through the roof. as the plane lands, i always feel the nausea and feel like it might come, although the zofran always blocks it so i basically have a panic attack everytime the plane announces landing because i have to quickly take my zofran otherwise i will suddenly projectile vomit. the memories of projectile vomiting all over the plane as a kid really doesn’t mesh well with me and honestly made travelling so much harder for me.

Secondly, aside from the plane being hell for me, the last two times i have travelled i have vomited and it’s been horrible memories for me. in 2024 i went to Bali and stayed in a resort the whole time with my bf, although i did end up getting sick the day after i got home. i had diarrhoea all day and the worst stomach cramps imaginable to the point i was whimpering and crying. the nausea was horrible too and i took so much zofran to fight it off until suddenly my body had to get rid of it. i vomited once, but it was horrible. dry heaving, the taste, being unable to breathe, and my dad was yelling at me the whole time and stressing me out. that caused my emetophobia which was healing to suddenly spiral.

then in 2025, my family decided to go on a trip to america. i fought my fears and took off with them and all went well until halfway through my trip i caught norovirus. i’ll spare the details because it was genuinely HORRIBLE. but i basically threw up all over the hotel room shower, and then out of a moving cars window and it got all on my clothes and hair and through the car. i had diarrhoea for days and it was the most nauseous i have ever felt. i think i cried for about 3-4 days straight when i had norovirus and it just ruined the rest of the trip for me. i didn’t have the comfort of my own bed and bathroom to be sick at, i was forced to be on the move with my entire family while i felt so horribly sick. taken to cafes, road trips, changing over hotel rooms, hot weather, etc. i then mentally began to associate travel with vomit.

now, i decided to face my fear and book a trip to China with my bf. we are going in november this year. i am honestly terrified because it mentally feels like a ticking time bomb for more vomit. i keep thinking “well it’s happened the past two years that you’ve travelled, so it will again this year!”. it just feels like it’s bound to happen to me mentally and i wish i could escape that. part of me is regretting agreeing to go to china but part of me wants to face my fears and get out there.

all of this story aside, i would love to know ways i can avoid getting sick (whether that be stomach bug, or food poisoning) in China. i don’t exactly know what the food standards are like there, but i do know i must have a sensitive gut biome if im getting sick every time i leave my home country and no one else gets sick apart from me. i would just really like to know some ways i can manage my emetophobia for travel, things i can take with me that are acceptable to take and also will help me with not getting sick, and honestly just some supportive words. it would also be helpful if anyone who has actually been to China has any tips or advice for me! thanks for reading this far if you did.

okay so i have ibs usually constipation and i’ve been on movicol and fibre for about 6 months now and it’s cleared everything out well and my ibs symptoms have improved but then i stopped taking my medication for maybe 5 days because i got super busy and forgetful for the week.

last night i ordered a chicken burger with fries and had some rice pudding- usually this doesn’t mess with my stomach at all. immediately after eating it i noticed i was bloating incredibly fast. then, i was hit with genuinely the worst stomach pain ever. i ended up running to the toilet to have 3 rounds of explosive diarrhoea. i thought it was all better until 20 more mins goes by and i had to run to the toilet again to have another round. i thought surely that’s all the poop left in me but i was wrong and had to run to the toilet again for another round of it. then, i managed to fall asleep and not have to poop again.

until this morning i woke up feeling hungry and completely normal again so i decided to eat some baked beans on cheese on toast with a yorkshire tea. this meal never flares up my stomach but after eating i noticed some pain was coming back. i ignored it because it wasn’t too bad but as the hours went on it got progressively worse. for the past 3-4 hours now i have been lying here in horrible pain, cant stay still, walking and moving and talking makes it worse and i feel so sick. i haven’t vomited or anything and i don’t even feel nauseous that much it’s genuinely just the horrible aching and stabbing pain im experiencing that’s coming in waves. it feels like there is gas trapped inside that isn’t moving whatsoever. i’ve tried yoga positions and walking and panadol and and antispasmodic medicine and a hot water bottle but it’s all done NOTHING.

i’m just giving up at this point. i’ve dealt with these horrible issues and pains for maybe 2 years now and once i finally thought my constipation was cleared and i could go a little while off my meds BANG it’s horrible again. HOW DO I FIX THIS PAIN. it’s horrible and so painful to the point i can barely walk or sit still. i think it might be trapped gas but i don’t know it feels pretty severe and is coming in waves like im being stabbed in my stomach.