when i think of my girlfriend sexually i sometimes feel like i'm about to vomit and i don't really know what that mean. is this normal for people with alexithymia and those without. should i be worried that i wont be able to "preform" when the time comes. should i tell her about this, im afraid id worry her too much especially if it isnt anything. any personal tales about something like this could help
It seems some people with alexithymia experience emotions purely by their physical symptoms.
Adrenaline rushes and feelings of excitement (negative or positive) can cause stomach upset. Like when you've got something big happening the next day, you might have an upset stomach (feeling sick, or the dreaded squits) the night before.
Just look at the list here:
https://www.nopanic.org.uk/anxiety-symptoms-explained/
Everything on the list as possible symptoms from anxiety (caused by adrenaline) could also be explained by being genuinely sick. However, as all I feel of anxiety is the physical sensations, I therefore use these sensations as my primary way of identifying anxiety. Which leads to fabulous misunderstandings if I am genuinely ill. I spent a week thinking I must be having some sort of mental breakdown due to constantly feeling slightly ill, only to find out I was GENUINELY sick when everyone else in the family had the same symptoms.
Anyway! My point is, the feeling of sickness could actually be a physical reaction to an adrenalin (or some other hormone) surge as a response to thinking about sex. Or, if you've been brought up in one of those sex is a sin and you will go to hell type environments, it could be nebulous guilt lurking around ruining your day.
For me, the following all manifest in very similar physical ways (e.g. slight sick feeling in throat, hot/cold, clamminess, excessive sweating)...
1) Anxiety
2) Excitement
3) Anticipation
4) Fear
5) Guilt
6) Being genuinely sick
Does that help at all?
