Nausea and Vomiting

You are having nausea or vomiting without other symptoms or history. That helps us to easily point to a likely source. If you develop any of the other symptoms that we introduced in this program, you may be able to gain helpful information by repeating this program.

Remember, repeated episodes of nausea and vomiting can arise from a variety of medical causes, including some serious conditions. Unexplained nausea and vomiting that persists for longer than five days requires evaluation by a health care professional. Vomiting can deplete you of fluids and electrolytes, so repeated vomiting requires medical treatment if it results in a lasting lightheaded feeling or weakness.

The most common causes of nausea or vomiting without other significant symptoms include:

Gastroenteritis

A viral infection that primarily affects your stomach and intestinal tract is known as "gastroenteritis." This condition is sometimes referred to as "the stomach flu." Many different viruses can cause gastroenteritis. Most of them also cause diarrhea, but that symptom can lag behind the symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

Dyspepsia (Indigestion)

Abdominal discomfort after eating can occur even if digestion is occurring normally. When there is no medical problem that is causing symptoms of pain, nausea or vomiting, belching or sensitivity to specific foods, indigestion is occurring. Indigestion can be improved if you limit the fat in your diet, if you limit foods such as beans and certain vegetables and fiber-rich foods that trigger gas formation, and possibly if you take anti-acid medicines.

Food Poisoning

If your nausea or vomiting began within a few hours of your suspicious meal, the food may have been contaminated with a toxin. Fortunately, food poisoning symptoms go away on their own without treatment if they are caused by a toxin. Vomiting and abdominal cramps usually last less than a full day, but diarrhea and changes in your appetite and digestion may linger for up to one week.

Migraine

A migraine headache commonly causes nausea and vomiting. Migraines may include an experience of flashing lights that interrupt your normal vision. Most migraine headaches are throbbing headaches that are stronger on one side of your head than the other.

Constipation with or without Fecal Impaction

Constipation commonly results in nausea. Severe constipation can cause an unmovable blockage of stool within the rectum. Symptoms of a blockage of stool include urges to have bowel movements that do not lead to successful passing of stool, no bowel movement within the last two or three days (except for leakage or passing of liquid stool, which may still occur in the presence of a stool blockage), or a sensation of blockage in your rectum. A fecal impaction commonly causes nausea and vomiting as well as abdominal pain.

Peptic Ulcer Disease

An ulcer is an open sore in the lining of the stomach or duodenum. An ulcer causes pain that may be diminished after eating. If the tissue around an ulcer is inflamed and swollen, it is common for this swelling to result in nausea or vomiting, particularly after a meal.

Gallstones

Pain and nausea or vomiting from gallstone disease typically occurs several hours after a meal, since contractions of your gallbladder are strongest following your initial stages of digestion.

Acid Reflux (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease--GERD)

Most people who have acid reflux experience burning behind the breastbone (heartburn), but some experience upper abdominal pain, chest heaviness, nausea, or vomiting.