What Causes Nausea – More Than A Stomach Bug

February 17th, 2021 | Motion Sickness, Pregnancy

People sometimes confuse nausea and vomiting.

Vomiting is the expelling of the stomach’s content via the mouth; this reflex is uncontrollable. Nausea is the feeling of  wanting to vomit.

Most of us have a misconception that nausea or vomiting is a medical condition caused by a stomach infection. While this is true for some, more commonly it is a symptom of certain body conditions, diseases, and hormonal changes. Most of the time, considering nausea as a symptom of a particular disease isn’t a good idea. We have to check out other physical conditions of the person to sort out why this queasy feeling is happening.

Everyone responds differently to various situations that can cause nausea. It isn’t necessary that one person feels nauseous during a road trip, that the other people will also feel the same symptoms. In short, the situations that bring on nausea can drastically vary from person to person.

We’re going to discuss a few of the common causes of nausea and why they occur.

Nausea in pregnancy

Pregnant women can face nausea in the form of morning sickness. While morning sickness doesn’t affect everyone, it is quite common during most pregnancies because you’re growing another human inside you! The brain receives various signals at a time, which leads to imbalanced or increased hormonal levels inside the body. This hormonal change in a woman’s body can cause nausea, vomiting, and, morning sickness.

This condition is normal and usually dissipates after the first trimester. There any many home remedies and drugs you can take to alleviate the feelings of queasiness, our personal favorite is Preggie Pops. If this condition is severe, and you are facing frequent and persistent periods of nausea and vomiting, it could be necessary to seek medical help in such conditions as it might cause weakness to the mother and the baby.

You can read more about morning sickness and why it happens on our deep dive on morning sickness causes.

Motion sickness

Motion sickness is very common, and around 50% of the total population faces it in one form or another. Motion sickness has many symptoms, but it is best known for causing feelings of nausea and queasiness.

Motion sickness is commonly caused by your internal body function getting confused. For example, you’re sitting indoors on a boat and the boat cabin is moving, your ears are sensing movement and your whole body feels like it is moving, but your eyes don’t agree. They see everything as perfectly still. Such confusing sensations send imbalanced signals to the brain, resulting in nausea and other symptoms related to motion sickness.

In a pinch, you can try focusing your eyes on the horizon line when you start experiencing nausea. This can help your brain interpret the signals it is receiving and relieve your upset stomach. You can also reach for Queasy Drops.

Food poisoning

It doesn’t often happen, but food poisoning can occur. When we eat stale, expired, or harmful food, we can get food poisoning. A harmful food can contain chemicals that can react negatively with your body and cause significant disruption to your digestive system, which can result in vomiting.

Keep an eye on what you eat to avoid food poisoning. Check expiration dates and give questionable food a good sniff before you begin eating. Most often, foods that causes you issues will exhibit some sign that they have turned bad.

Eating disorders

Humans are gifted with a stomach to retain food. But when we find food that is too good to stop eating, we can intake much more than the amount our stomach requires. That causes nausea. Listen to your body; stop eating when you are full no matter how good the dessert option looks. A well-balanced diet can also help relieve possible stomach issues, so make sure you’re eating your fruits and vegetables.

Bacterial or viral infection

Since most bacterial and viral infection disrupts the intestinal linings so when a person is sick with a bacterial or viral infection, in most cases, it has been observed that the individual might suffer nausea. In some cases, the condition is not limited to nausea only, but they might face vomiting, diarrhea, or other digestive symptoms as well.

Conclusion

Know the causes of nausea to help avoid the situations that your body has trouble dealing with. And once you know what causes you nausea, you can prepare by taking steps ahead of time to stop nausea before it starts. Products like Preggie Pops, Sea Bands, Queasy Drops, and Dramamine could help you enjoy your road trip, relax during your pregnancy, or survive your food poisoning scare.