Vomiting and Nausea Causes

Nausea and vomiting are controlled by the same parts of the brain that control involuntary bodily functions. Vomiting is actually a reflex triggered by a signal from the brain.

• The signal to vomit can be stimulated by smells, taste, various illnesses and emotions (such as fear), pain, injury, infection, food irritation, dizziness, motion, and other changes in the body, specifically these:
  
  
  • Eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia)
    
    
  • Food poisoning
    
    
  • Certain viruses
    
    
  • Motion sickness (car sickness, seasickness)
    
    
  • Vertigo (the sensation that the room is spinning around)
    
    
  • Head injuries (such as a concussion or bleeding injury)
    
    
  • Gallbladder disease or appendicitis
    
    
  • Migraine (a severe form of headache)
    
    
  • Brain tumors
    
    
  • Brain infections (such as meningitis)
    
    
  • Hydrocephalus (too much fluid in the brain)
  
  
• When you take certain medications, nausea and vomiting can be a common side effect. Usually nausea is not an allergy, which is a severe reaction that can include a rash or trouble breathing, but an unwanted part of the medicine. Some medicines such as those used in cancer treatment (chemotherapy) and strong pain killers are well known for causing nausea and vomiting
  
  
• Many people experience nausea and vomiting as a side effect of the anesthesia from surgery.
  
  
• Stomach problems such as blockage (pyloric obstruction, a condition that causes forceful spitting up in infants) cause nausea and vomiting.
  
  
• Bleeding into the stomach from different causes can also cause vomiting. Sometimes the swallowed blood from a nosebleed can cause nausea and vomiting.
  
  
• Infection or irritation of the intestines can cause nausea and vomiting.
  
  
• Low or high body chemicals and minerals can cause nausea and vomiting, as well as toxins in the body.
  
  
• Alcohol from beer, wine, and liquor is turned into a chemical, which causes nausea and vomiting. This is felt the next morning as a "hangover."
  
  
• Early pregnancy is a common cause of nausea and vomiting. Morning sickness usually happens in the first few months but sometimes can last throughout the pregnancy.