HEALTH & LIFESTYLE Find out what’s making you nauseous I

MEDICAL

F you’ve finished off an exhausting week at work by drinking your way through a small brewery with your colleagues on Friday night, it probably won’t come as a major surprise that you’re feeling slightly queasy come Saturday morning.

But what if you wake up with a delicate stomach – and you can’t blame it on the booze?

“Nausea is a common symptom that can be triggered by a number of physical or emotional events,” says Dr Sarah Brewer, medical director at Healthspan (healthspan.com). “It can be difficult to pin down – but any other accompanying symptoms, such as headache, dizziness, tinnitus, abdominal pain or diarrhoea, can help to determine the cause.”

Here, medical experts explain eight unexpected things that could be causing your queasiness... 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 – so always read the guidelines.

“It’s worth considering whether your sickness is linked to any medicines,” says Dr Powles. “If you’re worried about a particular medicine you’re taking, you should always speak to a pharmacist or your GP.” KIDNEY stones are hard stones that can form in one or both of your kidneys, causing intense and often agonising pain.

“Many kidney stones are too small to cause symptoms and one in 10 people have them without knowing,” notes Dr Powles. “However, 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. “If you experience nausea and vomiting associated with severe pain, or you are not passing stools or urine, it is important to see a doctor urgently,” says Dr Prudence Knight, an online GP from Push Doctor (pushdoctor.co.uk).