Every time I get sick (as in a cold) I end up having a few coughing fits. It’s as inevitable as the sun rising. Equally as inevitable is the gag reflex that kicks in and causes me to puke as I cough, often at inopportune times.
It also happens when I clean up after the dog or any other time I have to clean up puke ( I am a sympathetic puker). It even happens when I try to eat certain foods (even looking at eggplant makes me barf). I’ve learned to change my son’s diapers out of necessity, but anything else just plain sets me off, and there’s nothing I have been able to do about it. Holding my breath, closing my eyes, looking away, hyperventilating, moving slowly, all work to a limited degree, but they only hold off the inevitable, sometimes just long enough to get me to the toilet or sink. And when I do go, it really hurts, especially when it happens several times in a short period.
This has been a curse for me since I was young, and frankly I’m tired of puking like a sailor all the time. Is there anything I can do about this or am I just going to have to live with it?
The fact that you’ve been able to learn to deal with changing diapers indicates that this problem can be overcome. You just need to adapt.
As for advice I can’t help much. But I remember reading once that a strong smell like lemon can interrupt a feedback cycle of nausea. Maybe you can give it a try.
If you have just vomited, take a tablespoon of pepto-bismal. It’ll neutralize the acid.
Okay, this is something they said on CSI. Take it for what it’s worth.
Apparently, Sara Sidle has a thing about spit. So, she picks up this bucket of spit from a boxing match and is grinning widely. Warrick (or Nick?) ask her what the heck she’s doing, and she says smiling represses the gag reflex.
I’ve tried it since then, and it seems to work. Whether it’s that, or making remember a scene from a TV show that distracts me, I don’t know.
I’ve worked with animals for over 20 years. I still gag with strong poop smells (especially the bloody diarrhea), vomit, really gooey drool and maggots. I don’t usually vomit but I gag a lot. I usually leave the room for a minute and get a few deep breaths of fresh air but I can’t really stop the gagging. So I am not sure if you can really get used to stuff. Actually, as I don’t own dogs anymore the smell of dog poop bothers me more now than it used to.
Honey-Lemon menthol cough drops, such as Hall’s. (We buy the generic brand from Dollar General, which works just as well.)
They cause the cleansing of mucus from nasal passages but suppress the cough/gag reflex moderately – i.e., if coughing is essential to preventing a tracheal blockage, it will happen, but it won’t happen owing to minor irritation such as post-nasal drip.
Likewise, you’ll detect a severely obnoxious odor in time to solve the problem which caused it, but will not be gagged by mildly obnoxious ones, which will be reduced greatly in impact by the menthol’s lightly anesthetic effect.
I have an easily triggered gag relex, too. Although it usually stops just before I get to the actual vomiting part. My friend told me the same thing that ivylass heard on CSI. She told me to smile hard - really force it - and it should stop that gagging reflex. It works for her but I have never had the opportunity to try it out since I am usually so wrapped up in the actual gagging that I forget until after it has stopped.
It’s funny that ivylass mentions spit. That was one of the worst ones I ever had. During Titanic when they were spitting over the rail, Jack has this big glob of spit on his chin. I almost threw up in the theater. And, I am gagging right now just typing about it. Strange, I can sit through the Exorcist, but spit makes me gag.
One word, stoicism; a couple weeks ago I had to clean my fish tank, it had a one inch deep layer of eight months worth of putrified fish poo, food and algae detritus on the bottom, I had to remove the rocks in order to clean all that, so I rolled up my sleeves and grabed with my bare hands fistfull after fistfull of shit flavored pebbles; and you know what I thought of it?, “it´s just shit”; it won´t melt me fingers or anything, get done with it. The same the first time I had to clean a vomit (I most certainly NOT miss that job), “it´s just a vomit, and pasta ain´t that bad anyway”. When I had to study anathomy, “it´s just a piece of a body, just like mine”, and so forth.
Oh, that’s just a natural human reaction: you’ve been forcing your body to be a Steelers fan for years, of course there is going to be a physical backlash. It happens to everybody.
Try putting a big blob of Vicks under your nose if you know you’re going to be around bad odors, that might help. It’s an old cop trick for dealing with the smell of decomposing bodies.
One trick I heard in nursing school was to spray a heavy spritz of cologne on one shoulder so you can turn your head to that side and inhale it rather than the offensive smell. The Vicks method would work too, very effectively. A possible side effect is that the cologne you use can become associated with the bad smells. (TMI - I’m talking here about someone reading a newspaper while taking a crap and then spraying a floral air freshener upon completion. I will forever associate that particular brand of air freshener with the smell of shitty newsprint!)
My gag reflex gets worse the older I get. Things that didn’t used to bother me do now. There is one guy at work (who I try to avoid) but his offensive body odors can make me gag in a split second. I can gag at smelling a fart (usually my dad’s - bless his heart - he has Crohn’s and can’t help it), and even thinking about how it sounded to suction a patient can set me off. Thankfully, I’m not working as a nurse anymore.
As far as the thick secretions which seem to cause you to gag and puke, are you keeping yourself well hydrated with clear liquids when you are suffering? Also, make sure you avoid milk and milk products while sick, because these will increase the thickness of mucous secretions and make them more tenacious and difficult to cough up. Sorry - a little gross, but I hope something helps! Your fellow posters have given a lot of good avice here!
