Nausea and vomiting

Nausea and vomiting

It is not unusual to feel nauseous, and nausea is something that everyone experiences from time to time. Nausea is unpleasant, but normally not dangerous. Nausea and vomiting are the body's way of telling us that something is wrong, for example that we have eaten bad food.

What is nausea?

The feeling of nausea is triggered in the brain's vomiting center. The digestive system and other organs send impulses to the vomiting center that something is wrong, and the vomiting center triggers nausea and vomiting.

Nausea causes an unpleasant feeling from the stomach and occasionally up to the throat. The skin becomes pale and it is common to have a slight cold sweat. The nausea is often accompanied by a feeling that you want to throw up.

Causes of nausea and vomiting

Nausea is a very common side effect when using medication. Often it can help to eat a little before taking the medicine. Some medicines must be taken without meals to ensure a good effect. Therefore, ask your pharmacist or doctor if you are unsure whether you can take your medicine with food.

Other causes of nausea and vomiting can be:

• Infections in the stomach or intestines such as venereal disease

• Diseases such as migraines, stomach and intestinal diseases and cancer. More than half of all cancer patients experience nausea

• Pregnancy (often most precipitating in the first trimester)

• Motion sickness

• Severe pain

• Food intolerance/allergy

• Food poisoning

Good advice for nausea

• Drink a lot. Take small sips at a time and you will be less likely to throw up again.

• Eat small portions

• Eat cold food without a strong smell. Dry food, such as biscuits, is fine. Avoid hard-to-digest and fatty foods. Acidic foods can reduce nausea.

• Provide fresh air

• Feel free to put a cold cloth on the pan

Self-treatment for nausea

When you vomit, the body is drained of fluid and you easily become dehydrated. It is therefore important to take in water and salts that the body loses. At the pharmacy, there is a special salt-sugar mixture (GEM) that dissolves in water and is suitable for small children.

Ginger can help with mild nausea in connection with, for example, motion sickness. Ginger is a plant that grows mainly in Asia and has been used in folk medicine for many years. How ginger works is not known for sure, but the anti-nausea effect is documented. People with heart disease, pregnant women, diabetics and those using blood-thinning medication should talk to their doctor before using natural remedies with ginger.

Treatment

Nausea is often treated based on the cause of the nausea.

Anti-nausea medications (antiemetics) work by blocking the impulses to the vomiting center. Anti-nausea medications are only available on prescription. Because no anti-nausea medication is completely effective, in the case of severe nausea, you will often have to combine several different anti-nausea medications.

When should you contact a doctor for nausea and vomiting?

• If you have persistent nausea and repeated vomiting

• If you are vomiting and also have abdominal pain and/or chest pain

• If you vomit blood

• If you are vomiting and also have low urine production (signs of dehydration)

• If you vomit after a hard blow to the head

• If you think your nausea is caused by a medicine you are taking

• If you use insulin and are unsure about adjusting the insulin dose in case of vomiting.

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Sources: Norwegian drug handbook for healthcare personnel, Norwegian electronic medical handbook, helsenett.no, Norwegian Patient handbook, laegehandbogen.dk