TMI - why so difficult for me to vomit, and not hubby/child?

For as long as I can remember, it’s a huge, full-body effort for me to throw-up. It’s the same for my sister and I thought, for everyone.

Until I had my daughter. One quick burp, and up it comes. I mentioned it to hubby, and he is the same.

Why does it sound like I am trying to throw-up my toenails while they both do it with ease?

Can’t help you with your question but I am the same. I could possibly attribute it to my nauseated childhood during which I fought down the urge to vomit on a daily basis. Mostly from carsickness. Now I can’t throw up if I want to. I’ve puked five times in the past forty years, if that.

great username/thread

I don’t know. My mom says that she rarely vomits, and instead gets diarrhea from things where she “should” vomit.

I think some people are just able to relax and let things come up, while others not so much. I’m a “bad puker” and it’s not pretty or quiet when it happens. I also don’t do it much. I think I’ve vomited maybe 7 times in my life and I’m 42. So maybe it’s also a practice thing. The “reality” shows I’ve seen where bulimia is featured, they seem to have the technique down so they can puke quietly in public bathrooms without causing a scene. Maybe someone can come along with a more factual answer since this is GQ, though I’m not sure there really is one.

I asked my mom, and she says she thinks it’s probably a developed throat control from throwing up a great deal when she was younger. She had horrible motion sickness as a child, and had to learn to hold it down. She learned to just keep burping, and let up the gas but not the solid.

She’s barely ever thrown up–short of drinking ipecac or saltwater–since she was 16.