What to do if you feel nauseous?

What to do if you feel sick is a question that many people ask themselves, because nausea is not a specific symptom, it can indicate hundreds of diseases and many other reasons not related to diseases. Heaviness in the epigastric region is unpleasant not because of painful sensations, but rather because of its consequences in the form of vomiting.

What to do if you feel sick is a question that many people ask themselves, because nausea is not a specific symptom, it can indicate hundreds of diseases and many other reasons not related to diseases. Heaviness in the epigastric region is unpleasant not because of painful sensations, but rather because of its consequences in the form of vomiting.

What is nausea, vomiting and why do they occur?

Both the gag reflex and the nausea that precedes it are a natural, protective mechanism that the body launches when it needs to cleanse itself of various toxic substances and toxins. Toxins do not always enter the bloodstream from the inside as food decay products or products of pathological processes in organs; often a person does not know what to do if he feels sick from an external cause - a smell, a bright color.

Nausea is a specific condition, often accompanied by increased salivation, tremors, and general weakness. The feeling of nausea may pass on its own, without vomiting, but most often it provokes a gag reflex - a contraction of the abdominal muscles that is beyond human control and the removal of everything contained in the stomach. The brainstem section that connects to the nerve receptors of the gastrointestinal tract is responsible for these symptoms. Any negative impact on these receptors, their irritation or damage triggers the "nausea - vomiting" mechanism. Excessive increase in the volume of the stomach leads to stretching of its walls, accordingly, the receptors of the gastric mucosa try to react to atypical changes, the same response is possible with erosive, inflammatory processes - gastritis, gastroenteritis. Also, a section of the brain can independently "give a command" to nausea without the help of the gastrointestinal tract. Such cases are possible with various dysfunctions of the nervous system.

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Before deciding what to do if you feel sick, you need to find out the possible reasons, among which the following are the most common.

Nausea as a symptom of a digestive system disease accompanies almost all inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract, and nausea can also be caused by elementary food poisoning (food, water). In addition to nausea, vomiting, such phenomena are often accompanied by diarrhea, pain in the epigastric region, an increase or decrease in body temperature. If a person is poisoned by food products, alcohol, water containing bacteria, the gag reflex helps to quickly free the stomach from toxins and brings some relief. All chronic pathologies of the digestive tract (ulcers, gastroduodenitis) in addition to nausea cause characteristic pain, a burning sensation (heartburn).

In addition, nausea may indicate liver disease or poor gallbladder function. Therefore, the question of what to do if you feel sick can be answered as follows: if nausea occurs with bitterness, the stool is discolored, the skin is yellowed, irritated and itchy, a pulling or spasmodic pain is felt in the right hypochondrium, you should immediately consult a doctor. In addition to liver disease, nausea can be a harbinger of appendicitis, intestinal obstruction, perforation of the stomach as a result of the erosive process. Such diseases require emergency care, since their symptoms develop rapidly - nausea develops into vomiting, sharp pains in the epigastrium appear, and the person often loses consciousness. There are also causes of nausea explained by the pathological development of the digestive organs - protrusion (diverticulosis) of the walls of the esophagus and intestines, abnormal narrowing of the esophagus provoke regular feelings of nausea after each meal.

What to do if you feel sick due to digestive system dysfunction?

If nausea occurs unexpectedly, suddenly, accompanied by bloating, diarrhea, weakness, changes in body temperature, food poisoning is possible. First aid consists of rinsing and cleansing the stomach. The sooner this happens, the less likely it is that other digestive organs will be affected by toxins. Rinsing is done with purified water, to which you can add a few crystals of potassium permanganate (until it turns light pink). After rinsing, you need to take a sorbent - activated carbon (at least 5 tablets), Enterosgel. If nausea is not accompanied by vomiting within an hour, and all of the listed symptoms are present, you need to call an ambulance. Poisoning with expired canned foods and mushrooms is especially dangerous, the toxins of which are absorbed very quickly, so the body simply does not have time to trigger the gag reflex.

If nausea is accompanied by uncontrollable diarrhea, there are signs of blood in the stool, the body temperature rises quickly and reaches 38 degrees or more, this may indicate an acute intestinal infection. If the urine darkens, the stool becomes colorless, the sclera of the eyes, palms turn yellow, most likely these are signs of some type of hepatitis. Infection with intestinal bacteria, E. coli, hepatitis do not suggest self-medication, you need to call a doctor who will prescribe treatment in a hospital.

Regular nausea accompanied by belching, mild pain in the epigastrium, constipation or diarrhea may indicate the onset of an ulcerative process, cholecystitis, possibly chronic hepatitis or pancreatitis. Independent actions are possible only with weakly manifested symptoms. You can take enzyme preparations - enzymtal, mezim, festal. Heartburn is suppressed by Rennie, Gastromax or ranitidine tablets.

A strict diet is also necessary, excluding fried, fatty, spicy food and involving fractional meals. If the symptoms are observed for a week and do not disappear, you should be examined by a gastroenterologist and begin complex treatment that eliminates the main cause of nausea.

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What to do if you feel sick due to diseases of the nervous system?

The gag reflex can be triggered without any internal causes. These include increased blood pressure - hypertension, when a slight feeling of nausea is observed, increasing in parallel with the increase in pressure. In such cases, you can take antispasmodics - no-shpa, spazmalgon. Hypertensive patients usually know their ailment, they should regularly monitor their pressure and take antihypertensive drugs constantly, preventing pressure surges.

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If nausea is accompanied by chronic headaches, sensory impairment - vision, hearing, weakness, severe fatigue, which last for a whole day, you need to urgently consult a neurologist. If these symptoms appear frequently and are accompanied by periodic vomiting that has no "food" cause, pathological processes are possible - a brain tumor. Self-medication will not only not help, but will also take up precious time that is needed for timely treatment. In this case, the medical term cito is appropriate, which means urgently: urgently to the doctor, urgently to be examined and urgently treated.

Nausea can also be one of the symptoms of serious diseases - meningitis, tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease), HIV infection. Meningitis is characterized by a severe headache, and nausea is already a consequence of it, as well as a consequence of a very high temperature. If, in addition to the listed symptoms, the patient has excessively tense (rigid) muscles of the neck and back of the head, you must immediately call an ambulance. HIV infection does not manifest itself so clearly, but if the sensation of a constant gag reflex is present for a long time, the question is - what to do if nausea does not go away with home remedies and measures, you need to see a doctor and donate blood for HIV.

In addition to such life-threatening diseases, nausea can be caused by physiological disorders of the vestibular nervous system - sea voyages are often accompanied by typical nausea (seasickness). Motion sickness can become a constant companion of unprepared, unseasoned travelers. Of course, there is no point in interrupting travels in order to consult a neurologist; this can be done a little later. And before and during trips, you should stock up on pharmaceutical drugs that help neutralize vertigo (this is the name for dizziness and nausea of travelers) - Vertigo Hel, Betahistine, Betaserk.

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Migraine, which is always accompanied by nausea, makes about 15% of the world's population suffer, according to doctors. In addition to the feeling of nausea, hemicrania is accompanied by a headache, and both sounds and light are irritating.

The main treatment is rest, absence of sensory stimuli and taking antispasmodic drugs. In cases of mild attacks, it is enough to take the usual paracetamol, an attack of nausea is relieved by metoclopramide. More serious attacks are treated with special ergotamine-based drugs, which are usually prescribed by a doctor. Serotonin drugs are also effective - sumatriptan, Zomig. In addition to drug therapy, the patient needs to be careful in terms of diet, all products containing tyramine should be excluded from the menu (cheese, seasonings, chocolate). Treatment should be long-term and prescribed by a neurologist, independent selection of drugs can aggravate the symptoms.

What to do if you feel sick, what other reasons can provoke nausea?

Among the reasons that can cause nausea are diabetes mellitus and cardiac pathologies. These diseases are usually diagnosed by other signs, and the sensation of nausea is already an inevitable companion of the disease. All measures to reduce unpleasant sensations should be prescribed by a doctor, since "self-medication" with such diagnoses is sometimes deadly.

In addition, nausea is one of the symptoms of the natural, exciting process of pregnancy. These attacks are explained by physiological changes in the body of a pregnant woman and are not threatening, with the exception of nausea in pathological conditions (gestosis, eclampsia). Medication is usually contraindicated for pregnant women; a gentle diet, physiotherapy procedures or herbal medicine in the form of a decoction of specially selected herbs are prescribed. It should be noted that even herbal treatment can be harmful during pregnancy, so they should be used very carefully. Decoctions of mint and lemon balm are relatively safe; they should be brewed to a weak concentration. It is also possible to take mild sedatives - valerian in tablets, homeopathic preparations as prescribed.

What to do if you feel sick – you need to quickly determine the cause, at least at the level of independent guesswork, try to help the body cleanse itself of intoxication, and then restore the loss of fluid with non-carbonated mineral water or Regidron. If nausea and vomiting do not go away within a few hours, you need to seek medical help.