Nausea and vomiting are one of the body's defense mechanisms and are a symptom, not a disease. It can be a symptom of any ailment.

Nausea and vomiting are one of the body’s defense mechanisms and are a symptom, not a disease. It can be a symptom of any ailment.

Important:

If you have a sudden onset of vomiting accompanied by shortness of breath and chest pain, and if the chest pain spreads to your arms or back, call the 112 emergency service immediately in terms of the risk of heart attack.

Although nausea and vomiting may occur independently of each other, they are closely related to each other. Nausea can also be expressed as an urge or symptom that precedes vomiting.

Retching is the spasm activity that occurs before vomiting.

Sometimes there are cases where stomach contents come from the mouth without nausea or retching, which is not vomiting.

Nausea, and especially vomiting, occurs as a result of a stimulus initiated by chemoreceptors in the digestive tract from the mouth. When these stimuli increase enough, they are transmitted to the area called the chemoreceptor trigger zone in the brain and to the vomiting center that works in coordination with it, and vomiting occurs. Apart from the digestive system warnings, bad smells and images, severe pain, severe stress or the stimulations from the balance organ in the inner ear can directly stimulate the vomiting center and initiate vomiting.



Vomiting is a condition that needs to be treated. If vomiting is not treated, stress and fluid-electrolyte loss may occur. However, mucosal injuries such as Mallory-Weiss syndrome and rupture of the esophagus (Boerhave syndrome) may also occur. At the same time, as a result of persistent vomiting, aspiration pneumonia may develop as a result of vomit entering the lungs.

Strong-smelling vomit is usually suggestive of stomach acid, hydrochloric acid.

Stool-smelling vomit often suggests intestinal blockages.

Rotten-smelling vomit may be a sign of gastric obstruction with bacterial growth, or of necrosis during the rapid growth of gastric cancers.

Vomiting in the form of coffee grounds or bloody may indicate a problem in the stomach or duodenum area.

The presence of bile in the vomit indicates that the gastric outlet is not completely closed and the bile is overflowing. Biliary vomiting may occur after gastric surgery.

Situations with only nausea

The most common health problems with nausea without vomiting are briefly:

  • Uremia
  • After radiotherapy
  • In alcoholism
  • In liver diseases
  • In hypercalcemia
  • In pregnancy
  • For psychological reasons
  • As a drug side effect
    • Opiums
    • Digitals
    • Antibiotics
    • Oral contraceptives

The most common causes of nausea and vomiting

The most common causes of nausea and vomiting are summarized below:

  • Neurological causes
    • Migraine: Usually nausea and vomiting
    • Labyrinth diseases: Dizziness, nausea and vomiting are common.
    • Cerebral lesions: In cases with increased intracranial pressure, there may be a gush of vomiting.
  • Psychological reasons (Long history of vomiting, lack of malnutrition despite vomiting, vomiting and secretive vomiting during or immediately after eating)
    • Emotional and environmental stress
    • Self-provocative act of vomiting
    • Periodic vomiting (in infants and children)
  • Metabolic and endocrine causes
    • Kidney failure and uremia (vomiting in the morning before breakfast)
    • Metabolic acidosis
    • Medicines and chemicals
    • Electrolyte disorders
    • Liver failure
    • Alcoholism (vomiting in the morning before breakfast)
    • Hypothyroidism
    • Hyperparathyroidism
    • Adrenal insufficiency
    • Pregnancy (vomiting occurs in the morning before breakfast)
    • Food allergy
    • Diabetes mellitus
  • Gastroenterological reasons
    • Gastroduodenal causes
      • Peptic ulcer
      • Pyloric stenosis (Delayed and recurrent vomiting that occurs 1 hour or more after meals, containing large amounts of food particles.)
      • Stomach atony
      • After gastric surgery
    • Gastrointestinal causes
      • Gastroenteritis and food poisoning
      • Appendicitis
      • Intestinal obstruction
      • Paralytic ileus
    • Hepatobiliary causes
      • Cholecystitis and cholelithiasis
      • Acute hepatitis
      • Cirrhosis of the liver
    • Pancreatic causes
      • Acute pancreatitis
      • Pancreatic cancers
    • Peritoneal causes
      • Peritonitis
      • Carcinomatosis
    • Other reasons
      • Acute febrile illnesses and infections
      • Head trauma
      • Barotrauma
      • After surgery and anesthesia
      • Due to chemotherapy
      • Myocardial infarction
      • After foreign body aspiration
      • Congestive heart failure
      • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (vomiting in the morning before breakfast)
      • Reflex causes
      • Motion sickness (Nausea and vomiting may develop after long-term excessive activity. It usually goes away with rest.)
      • Mal De Debarkman syndrome (Disembarkation disease. Occurs after typical sea voyage. If it lasts more than 48 hours, medical treatment may be required.)

When the feeling of nausea and vomiting occurs, some simple measures can be applied:

  • Going to a clean air environment and doing activities that will distract attention
  • Sleep and rest
  • Suspension of oral food intake
  • Avoiding factors that cause vomiting

If vomiting and the feeling of vomiting do not stop despite these measures, it is necessary to apply to the nearest health facility. Fluid and oxygen support therapy may be required here. In addition, the cause of vomiting should be investigated and treatment processes should be evaluated.


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