An upset stomach is something no one wants to deal with, and it can quickly put a damper on your day. Nausea refers to the queasy feeling in your stomach that may be accompanied by the urge to vomit, weakness, and excess saliva in your mouth.
Most of the time, nausea and vomiting are things to worry about. In some cases, they can be signs of other gastrointestinal conditions.
Two of the most common causes of nausea are the stomach flu and food poisoning. Symptoms of the viral stomach flu typically subside within 24 hours, while food poisoning can last from 12 to 48 hours.
If you’re dealing with extended symptoms of nausea and vomiting, a board-certified gastroenterologist can help and provide proper treatment.
Find a trusted gastroenterologist near you at Charleston GI. No referral needed!
While nausea itself is not a disease, it can be an indicator of other digestive disorders, including:
Digestive System Disorders
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD): Heartburn or GERD can result in the contents of your stomach moving back up your esophagus, creating a burning sensation in your stomach and chest. This can cause nausea as well.
Peptic ulcer disease: Ulcers occur in the lining of the stomach and small intestine and can cause nausea. An ulcer can cause a burning sensation when you eat and result in sudden nausea.
Gastroparesis: Issues with the muscles or nerves in the stomach can slow the emptying of the stomach or digestion which can lead to nausea.
Dyspepsia: This is a general discomfort in your upper stomach that can result in nausea, but it is not due to an ulcer.
Bowel obstruction: This occurs when your brain’s signals keep food from passing through the digestive tract without a physical blockage.
Intestinal blockage: A physical blockage in your intestines can be a serious condition. It can be a partial or complete blockage in one or more locations. The blockage keeps food and drink from passing through the body. This is a severe issue and sometimes requires surgery.
Infections and Viruses
Infection or virus: Viruses and bacteria can affect your stomach and result in nausea. Foodborne illnesses can cause food poisoning. Viral infections, like the stomach flu, can also cause nausea.
Ear infection: Ear infections can be caused by bacteria or viruses. Inner ear discomfort, pressure, drainage, or nausea can all be symptoms of an ear infection.
Meningitis: Meningitis can be caused by a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection and requires emergency medical attention. Nausea is a symptom of meningitis, along with a stiff neck, headaches, sleepiness, and others.
Medications and Treatments
Medications: Certain medications, such as chemotherapy, can cause nausea or an upset stomach. Carefully read medication information for any new treatments or prescriptions you may be taking to understand its side effects. Talk to your doctor if you’re experiencing medication-related nausea to better understand how you can minimize its effects.
Diet and Lifestyle
Diet: Overeating or indulging in spicy and high-fat foods can upset your stomach. Foods you’re allergic to or have an intolerance can also cause nausea.
Motion sickness and seasickness: Motion sickness occurs when your inner ear senses different movement than what you’re seeing. This can result in nausea, dizziness, and vomiting.
Pain and Physical Conditions
Pain: Experiencing intense pain can cause nausea. Painful conditions in the abdominal area, like gallbladder stones, kidney stones, and pancreatitis can especially contribute to nausea.
Heart attack: Chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack, but indigestion, nausea, and vomiting can also be symptoms of a heart attack.
Liver inflammation: Your liver is your largest internal organ. Cancer of the liver can cause symptoms of nausea and vomiting, along with weakness, fatigue, abdominal swelling, and jaundice.
Neurological Conditions
Migraine headache: A migraine headache causes severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation most commonly on one side of your head. Migraines can be accompanied by an extreme sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and vomiting.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV): Vertigo can cause a sensation of spinning or swaying. This sudden spinning feeling can cause nausea.
SYMPTOMS
Feeling the need to vomit
Lack of appetite
Sweating
Retching
Stomachache
Uneasy feeling in the chest, upper abdomen, or back of the throat
Vomiting
WHEN TO SEE A DOCTOR
If your nausea is accompanied by heart attack symptoms, seek medical attention immediately. Heart attack symptoms can include, jaw pain, sweating, pain in your left arm, chest pain, or an intense headache.
Emergency medical help is also necessary if your nausea is accompanied by a stiff neck, a severe headache, difficulty breathing, or confusion. These could be symptoms of meningitis. Additionally, seek medical help if you suspect you’ve ingested a poisonous or toxic substance.
If your nausea has left you unable to eat or drink for more than 12 hours, talk to your doctor. If your nausea is not resolved within 24 hours of using over-the-counter treatment methods, contact your physician. A board-certified gastroenterologist, like our doctors at Charleston GI, can diagnose and treat your gastrointestinal issues that may be contributing to your nausea.
DIAGNOSTIC TEST
There are many ways to diagnose the root cause of your nausea. Here at Charleston GI, we offer the following:
Medication: Anti-nausea and anti-anxiety medications can help relieve nausea symptoms.
Medical nutrition therapy: A nutritionist or registered dietitian can help develop a nutrition plan to address the symptoms of your gastrointestinal disorder and help reduce your nausea.
Oral rehydration therapy: A rehydration solution can help replace body fluids and lost fluids if you’ve been dealing with frequent vomiting.
Total parenteral nutrition: This treatment provides all the nutrition you need through an intravenous catheter. This gives your digestive tract time to heal if your stomach is unable to absorb nutrients.
Tube feeding: Tube feeding helps you get adequate nutrition when you’re not getting enough nutrients from eating food by mouth. Tube feeding delivers specially formulated liquid nutrition directly to your stomach through a tube.
PREVENTION
There are some simple remedies that can help relieve your nausea, including:
Drinking beverages like ginger ale or chamomile tea, which are known for settling the stomach.
Avoiding caffeinated drinks like coffee or cola.
Drinking clear liquids to keep hydrated
Eating small meals to help your stomach gradually digest the food
Choosing to eat a blander diet of foods that are easy for your stomach to digest, like bananas and plain rice.
Staying away from foods that can further upset your stomach, like spicy foods, fried foods, or processed foods.
Taking over-the-counter medications to soothe your stomach, like motion sickness medication, antacids, or pink bismuth (Pepto Bismol).
At Charleston GI, our team of board-certified gastroenterologists will work with you to treat your symptoms and provide the best remedies to relieve your nausea.
THINGS YOU SHOULD AVOID RELATED TO NAUSEA
Avoid eating or cooking strong-smelling food
Avoid eating hot, fried, or greasy food
Avoid eating too quickly
Avoid drinking a large drink with meals
Avoid lying down soon after eating
Avoid wearing tight clothes around your waist or stomach
THINGS TO DO FOR RELIEF
Get fresh air
Try to distract yourself – listen to music or watch a film or TV
Take small, regular sips of a cold drink
Enjoy some ginger or peppermint tea
Eat foods containing ginger – such as ginger biscuits
Typically, nausea is not life-threatening. In some rare cases, nausea and vomiting can indicate a more serious or life-threatening problem. Schedule an appointment with your doctor if your nausea persists and seek emergency medical care if your nausea is accompanied by heart attack symptoms or a stiff neck, headaches, and fatigue.
What are the red flags for nausea and vomiting?
Red flags to watch out for when it comes to nausea are chest pain, severe abdominal pain or cramping, or blurred vision. When those symptoms accompany your upset stomach, seek medical attention immediately.
Should you hold it in if you feel like vomiting?
If you feel the urge to vomit, it’s best to go ahead and do so in a safe, clean space. This is especially true if the vomiting is due to food poisoning or overconsuming alcohol.
Why am I nauseated every day?
Daily nausea might be a sign of a gastrointestinal issue, such as bowel obstructions, gastroparesis, or pregnancy. Antinausea medication and remedies like ginger ale and chamomile tea, as well as eating smaller, more frequent meals, can help control your nausea. However, if you’re dealing with constant nausea, it’s best to seek help from your physician or a trusted gastroenterologist.
How long is too long to be nauseated?
If your nausea lasts more than a month, we recommend seeing your doctor as soon as possible. If your nausea isn’t caused by a more serious issue, your doctor will still be able to help treat your chronic nausea and find the right remedy for your needs.
What helps nausea go away?
Here are a few ways to help your nausea go away:
Get some fresh air
Distract yourself with movies, TV, or music
Take small, regular sips of a cold drink
Drink some ginger or peppermint tea
Eat foods containing ginger – such as ginger biscuits
Eat smaller, more frequent meals
Is nausea a symptom of COVID-19?
Gastrointestinal issues are less common when it comes to COVID-19 symptoms, but approximately 5% to 10% of adults experience symptoms of nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
What does nausea feel like?
Nausea is described as an uncomfortable, queasy feeling in the stomach. It’s often accompanied by the need to vomit. Nausea can also cause indigestion or tightness in the abdomen.
How is nausea prevented?
Avoiding your nausea triggers can help to prevent the onset of nausea. This can include staying away from:
Flickering lights, which can trigger migraine attacks
Heat and humidity
Sea voyages or long car rides as a passenger
Strong odors, such as perfume and cooking smells
Anti-nausea medication or motion sickness medication can help relieve your nausea symptoms. Making changes to your eating habits, like eating small, more frequent meals, or avoiding spicy, greasy, or high-fat foods to help your upset stomach. Avoid exercising right after a meal to keep nausea symptoms at bay.
What does nausea and vomiting mean?
Nausea is defined as the unpleasant, queasy feeling of being sick to your stomach. Nausea is often accompanied by the need to vomit. Vomiting is the expulsion of your stomach contents caused by the involuntary contraction of your abdominal muscles.
Should I drink water after vomiting?
Avoid heavily eating or drinking for several hours after vomiting. Drink small sips of water or suck on ice chips every 15 minutes for the next three to four hours. After that, you can move on to small sips of other clear liquids, such as sports drinks or clear broth.
What should I eat after being sick and vomiting?
In the next 24 to 48 hours after being sick, move onto the “BRAT” diet. This diet includes bananas, white rice, apple sauce, and toast. You can also eat chicken soup, plain pasta, saltine crackers, and pretzels. Avoid drinking fruit juice, caffeinated beverages, and alcohol.
Will ginger ale soda help relieve nausea?
Contrary to popular belief, ginger ale soda does little to help with nausea. Commercial ginger ale typically contains a lot of sugar and not very much ginger. Between the carbonation, sugar, and artificial sweeteners, ginger ale may actually make symptoms worse. Try natural ginger root or ginger tea instead. If you’re dealing with daily nausea, seek care from a board-certified gastroenterologist.
What foods trigger nausea?
Some foods that can trigger nausea include pastries, doughnuts, white bread, sausage, fast food, fried foods, spicy foods, strong-smelling foods, and some canned foods. Avoid drinks with caffeine, alcohol, and carbonation.
Is constant nausea during pregnancy normal?
Nausea during pregnancy is very common. Most pregnant women experience some nausea and approximately one-third of pregnant women experience vomiting. Nausea or morning sickness typically begins in the first month of pregnancy and typically continues up until 14 to 16 weeks of pregnancy. This experience is different for every pregnancy, with some never experiencing nausea and vomiting and others experiencing nausea and vomiting the entire pregnancy. Talk with your primary care doctor for proper assistance with medical concerns related to pregnancy.
What is grade 1 nausea?
Grade 1 nausea is categorized as nausea with a loss of appetite without altering eating habits. This isn’t a serious level of nausea, and no medical attention is required.
What is grade 2 nausea?
Grade 2 nausea is when nausea causes a decrease in oral intake, but does not cause significant weight loss, malnutrition, or dehydration.
What is grade 3 nausea?
Grade 3 nausea is when there is a deficient oral caloric or fluid intake. This is a severe level of nausea, but it is not an immediate threat to your life. Tube feeding, TPN, or hospitalization may be necessary to counteract the effects of the nausea.
SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY, NO REFERRAL NEEDED
To learn more about treating your nausea in Charleston, SC, contact Charleston GI today! Our board-certified gastroenterologists are committed to providing a higher standard of caring. Whether you’re dealing with an upset stomach or other GI tract issues, we’re here to help you feel your best.
Medical Disclaimer: This page is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It does not replace evaluation or care from a licensed healthcare provider. Screening recommendations and results vary by individual. Viewing this page does not create a doctor-patient relationship.
