MayoClinic.com reprints
This single copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. For permission to reprint multiple copies or to order presentation-ready copies for distribution, use the reprints link below.
· Order reprints of this article now.
Nausea and vomiting
By Mayo Clinic staffMayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
Nausea and vomiting are very common symptoms that can be caused by a wide variety of conditions. Nausea and vomiting most often are due to viral gastroenteritis — often mistakenly termed "stomach flu" — or the morning sickness of early pregnancy. Many medications can cause nausea and vomiting, as can general anesthesia for surgery. Rarely, nausea and vomiting may indicate a serious or even life-threatening problem
Causes
Nausea and vomiting may occur separately or together. Common causes include:
- Chemotherapy
- Gastroparesis
- General anesthesia
- Migraine
- Motion sickness: First aid
- Overdose of alcohol, illicit substances or toxic substances
- Rotavirus
- Vertigo
- Viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu)
Causes
Other possible causes of nausea and vomiting include:
- Addison's disease
- Alcoholic hepatitis
- Anaphylaxis
- Anorexia nervosa
- Appendicitis
- Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
- Brain AVM (arteriovenous malformation)
- Brain hemorrhage
- Brain infarction
- Brain tumor
- Bulimia nervosa
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasia
- Crohn's disease
- Cyclic vomiting syndrome
- Depression (major depression)
- Diabetic ketoacidosis
- Dizziness
- Ear infection, middle ear
- Food poisoning
- Frontal lobe seizures
- Gallstones
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- GERD
- Head injury
- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Hirschsprung's disease
- Hydrocephalus
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)
- Hypoparathyroidism
- Intestinal ischemia
- Intestinal obstruction
- Intracranial hematoma
- Intussusception
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Kidney failure, chronic
- Liver cancer
- Liver failure
- Meniere's disease
- Meningitis
- Milk allergy
- Nonulcer stomach pain
- Pancreatic cancer
- Pancreatitis
- Peptic ulcer
- Porphyria
- Pseudotumor cerebri
- Pyloric stenosis
- Radiation therapy
- Retroperitoneal fibrosis
- Social anxiety disorder (social phobia)
- Stomach obstruction
- Strep throat
- Temporal lobe seizure
- Traumatic brain injury
When to see a doctor
Call 911 or emergency medical assistance
Seek prompt medical attention if nausea and vomiting are accompanied by other warning signs:
- Chest pain
- Severe abdominal pain or cramping
- Blurred vision
- Fainting
- Confusion
- Cold, clammy, pale skin
- High fever and stiff neck
- Fecal material or fecal odor in the vomit
Seek immediate medical attention
Ask someone to drive you to urgent care or the emergency room if:
- Nausea and vomiting are accompanied by pain or a severe headache, especially if you haven't had this type of headache before
- You're unable to eat or drink anything for 12 hours or your child hasn't been able to keep liquids down for eight hours
- You have signs or symptoms of dehydration — excessive thirst, dry mouth, infrequent urination, dark-colored urine and weakness, dizziness or lightheadedness upon standing
- Your vomit contains blood, resembles coffee grounds or is green
Schedule a doctor's visit
Make an appointment with your doctor if:
- Vomiting lasts more than two days for adults, 24 hours for children under age 2 or 12 hours for infants
- You've had bouts of nausea and vomiting for longer than one month
- You've experienced unexplained weight loss along with nausea and vomiting
Take self-care measures while you wait for your appointment with your doctor:
- Take it easy. Too much activity and not getting enough rest might make nausea worse.
- Stay hydrated. Take small sips of cold, clear, carbonated or sour drinks, such as ginger ale, lemonade and water. Mint tea also may help.
- Avoid strong odors and other triggers. Food and cooking smells, perfume, smoke, stuffy rooms, heat, humidity, flickering lights, and driving are among the possible triggers of nausea and vomiting.
- Eat bland foods. Start with easily digested foods such as gelatin, crackers and toast. When you can keep these down, try cereal, rice, fruit, and salty or high-protein, high-carbohydrate foods. Avoid fatty or spicy foods. Wait to eat solid foods until about six hours after the last time you vomited.
- Use over-the-counter (OTC) motion sickness medicines. If you're planning a trip, OTC motion sickness drugs, such as Dramamine or Bonine, may help calm your queasy stomach. For longer journeys, such as a cruise, ask your doctor about prescription motion sickness patches.
If your queasiness stems from pregnancy, try nibbling on some crackers before you get out of bed in the morning.
- Longstreth GF. Approach to the adult patient with nausea and vomiting. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 2, 2009.
- Scorza K, et al. Evaluation of nausea and vomiting. American Family Physician. 2007;76:76.
- Di Lorenzo C. Approach to the child with nausea and vomiting. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 2, 2009.
- Shakil A, et al. Gastrointestinal complications of diabetes. American Family Physician. 2008;77:1697.
- Funai EF. Hyperemesis gravidarum. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 2, 2009.
