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From migraines and stress to pregnancy and food intolerance, there are many reasons you could be feeling nauseous. But there is plenty you can do to make it go away
We all know stress and anxiety can affect the body in many ways, and it’s not uncommon for these things to trigger nausea or sickness.
“This is because your body reacts to stressful or anxious situations by releasing a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, and the imbalance can make us feel unwell,” explained Dr Luke Powles, associate clinical director at Bupa (bupa.co.uk).
Powles argues the best initial course of action to combat stress is to try making simple lifestyle changes. These include leading a healthy lifestyle by eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly, looking at ways to reduce work stress and practising relaxing techniques. Whether taken for pain, allergies or mental health issues, popping a pill can sometimes irritate the lining of the stomach. Even common pharmaceuticals can have side-effects – including the ones we take to tackle allergies or colds.
This is particularly common if you don’t use them as advised by your pharmacist, such as taking them on an empty stomach. Powles said: “If you’re worried about a particular medicine you’re taking, you should always speak to a pharmacist or your GP.” Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, often known as morning sickness, is very common during the early stages – although sickness usually won’t start until the six to eight week mark. Contrary to what the name suggests, it can affect you at any time of the day or night, and some pregnant women feel sick all day long.
“Many women have nausea and vomiting during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy,” explained Powles. Many people find that motion during travelling, particularly by plane, car or aeroplane, can bring on a bout of sickness. Dr Brewer explains that motion sickness is due to excessive and repetitive stimulation of motion-detecting hair cells in the inner ear.
She said: “The most effective medication to prevent and treat motion sickness is cinnarizine – available from pharmacies.”
Other things might help, such as sitting upright and facing forwards while travelling, avoiding reading and keeping cool and hydrated. Kidney stones are hard stones that can form in one or both of your kidneys, causing intense and often agonising pain.
Powles said: “Kidney stones can move out of our kidney and into your ureter – the tube that carries urine from your kidney to your bladder – and this can cause symptoms, including sickness and vomiting, along with severe pain.”
While not always serious, it’s best to get these symptoms checked. Similarly to kidney stones, gallstones develop in the gallbladder when chemicals like fats and minerals in your bile harden.
“Some of the most common symptoms to look out for are feeling sick or vomiting, typically accompanied with a high temperature and tummy pain, often in the right upper region,” explained Dr Powles. It’s estimated that more than one in 10 adults in the UK has gallstones, although only a minority develop symptoms – and most cases are easily treated with keyhole surgery. Most people associate migraines with a nasty headache – but the condition is actually far more severe and complex than that and there are other symptoms associated with it too, such as feeling sick and/or vomiting.
“There’s unfortunately no cure for migraines,” said Powles, “but there are ways to treat symptoms, reduce the pain, and stop them from happening so often.”
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