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Log in with Yahoo!Migraine sufferers often complain of nausea, an uneasy, queasy feeling or discomfort in the stomach. Some studies show that almost three quarters of those with migraines have nausea. The nausea can be so severe that it causes people to limit activities and is therefore a major cause of migraine disability.
Nausea can occur by itself or it may cause vomiting. About a third of migraine sufferers blame their migraines for causing vomiting. Female migraine sufferers complain of nausea more often than males. Often vomiting makes the migraine pain go away. This was observed centuries ago by Hippocrates, who wrote that vomiting was able to “divert the pain and render it more moderate.”
What causes vomiting with migraines?
Because the underlying cause of migraine is largely unknown, there are no definite reasons why nausea and vomiting are common symptoms. Nausea and vomiting sometimes occur along with vertigo or dizziness, which may be linked to brain and inner ear disturbances.
Nausea and vomiting is also associated with a decrease in quality of life and the inability to participate in regular activities.
Some migraine sufferers, whose symptoms are primarily related to nausea, vomiting and other stomach discomforts, are diagnosed with abdominal migraine.
How nausea and vomiting impacts people with migraines
- Symptoms usually start and end quickly
- Researchers believe there is a link between migraines and cyclic vomiting syndrome, which causes episodes of severe nausea and vomiting that can last for hours and sometimes days and often has the same triggers as migraines
- Sufferers typically feel worse with movement
- Sufferers usually feel better being still or laying down
Abdominal migraine
More common in children, abdominal migraines cause abdominal pain lasting one hour to three days. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, warm flushes and the sweats. Abdominal migraines often lead to migraines with head pain in adults. In fact, children with abdominal migraines were four time more likely to develop adult migraines. Abdominal migraine is diagnosed more often in Europe than it is in the U.S.
Nausea is a frequent complaint of people who don’t suffer from migraines as well.
Other common nausea causes include:
- Viral infections
- Reaction to a medication
- Pregnancy
- Motion sickness
- Reflux, heart burn
- Gallstones
- Food poisoning
- Food allergy
Written by: Otesa Miles / Reviewed by: John-Claude Krusz, PhD, MD | Last review date: November 2010. Click the References Link below for a complete list of references.
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There are over 1,000 articles and stories on Migraine.com - but we have the tools you need to find the information most relevant to you.Nausea stops when sleeping--Cyclic vomiting syndrome and migraine, J Pediatrics, editorial Fleisher, 1999
Hippocrates-Cyclical vomiting syndrome-migraine-vasopressin nexus, BMC Pediatrics, Gupta, 2005
Practice parameter: evidence-based guidelines for migraine headache, Neurology, Silberstein 2000
"I had my first migraine when I was 12. I thought I was going blind, the spots in my vision all grouped together and everything went black. The pain was intense and felt like my head would crack open above my right eye." 
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