What Causes Nausea And Headaches

How Are Migraines Diagnosed

To diagnose a migraine, your healthcare provider will get a thorough medical history, not just your history of headaches but your familys, too. Also, they’ll want to establish a history of your migraine-related symptoms, likely asking you to:

• Describe your headache symptoms. How severe are they?
• Remember when you get them. During your period, for example?
• Describe the type and location of your pain. Is the pain pounding? Pulsing? Throbbing?
• Remember if anything makes your headache better or worse.
• Tell how often you get migraine headaches.
• Talk about the activities, foods, stressors or the situations that may have brought on the migraine.
• Discuss what medications you take to relieve the pain and how often you take them.
• Tell how you felt before, during and after the headache.
• Remember if anyone in your family gets migraine headaches.

Your healthcare provider may also order blood tests and imaging tests to make sure there are no other causes for your headache. An electroencephalogram may be ordered to rule out seizures.

How Long Does A Normal Headache Last

Tension headache, the most common type of headache, can last from thirty minutes to a few hours. It is typically caused by stress and muscle tension. This type of headache can be mild to moderate and has a steadier pressure rather than throbbing. Furthermore, tension headaches are not linked to sound or light sensitivity or nausea.

Generally, headaches result from signals interacting in the brain, blood vessels and surrounding nerves. However, some headaches can signify a serious underlying condition and should be evaluated promptly! According to the North American Menopause Society, any of these symptoms must be reported to a healthcare provider:

• Occurrence of a first or worst headache
• Progressively worsening headache
• Sudden or abrupt headache onset
• Headache that wakes you up from sleep
• Headache that occurs with a high fever or rash
• Headache that leads to confusion
• Headache with dizziness and nausea
• Headache that accompanies unexplained weight loss
• Headache that differs from all previous headaches

Does Menopause Cause Headaches Dizziness And Nausea

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure for more info.

The bodily changes that happen during menopause may result in different factors that can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea. Among these triggers are: Hormonal changes, stress, sleep problems, fatigue, blood sugar level fluctuations, food sensitivities, dehydration, excessive medication use or underlying health problems.

Almost every one of us has experienced headaches throughout our lives. But, headaches are not all the same! Headaches have different causes and can have varying levels of pain and duration. In fact, experts can classify headaches into more than 100 types! Some are also accompanied by dizziness and feelings of nausea.

Well, I am not going to talk about one hundred types of headaches in this article. Otherwise, I will only leave you having one! As you read further, you will learn different factors that can trigger headaches, dizziness and nausea. I will also share how to prevent migraines in menopause and natural remedies you can try! Read on and keep that head up, sweetie!

Recommended Reading: Headaches On Top Of Head Meaning

Fewer Migraine Attacks Means Less Nausea

Even with the treatment options available, nausea and vomiting during a migraine attack can be incredibly disabling. The most effective way to avoid and treat migraine-induced nausea is to prevent the migraines themselves.

Successfully having fewer migraines is a delicate dance of knowing and avoiding your headache triggers, finding an acute medication that works, treating attacks and their symptoms early, and preventing attacks with medication and/or lifestyle habits.

Every person with migraine would say goodbye to the pain and nausea in a heartbeat if given the chance. Luckily, there are several safe and effective options available that can combat nausea and vomiting. Relieving nausea can make a miserable migraine attack a lot less miserable.

How Common Are Headaches In Children

Headaches are common in children. Among children between 5 and 17 years of age, 20% have reported getting headaches. The most common types of headaches in this age group are tension headaches and migraines .

Many parents worry that their childs headache is the sign of a brain tumor or serious medical condition. However, less than 3% of headaches are the result of these conditions. Many headaches in children are the result of stress and lifestyle issues.

Also Check: How To Cure Sinus Headaches

Conditions That Can Cause Nausea And Headaches

Beyond migraine, common causes of both headaches and nausea include:

• the flu, stomach flu, or common cold
• stress, depression, or anxiety
• excessive use of nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol
• premenstrual syndrome (PMS

Another common cause of a headache and nausea is low blood sugar, which can result from:

• not eating enough
• overuse of diabetes medications
• certain medications

Other causes of concurrent headaches and nausea are more severe and may require urgent medical treatment. Understanding the full range of causes is essential, as it can enable a person to seek the right treatment in time.

When To See Your Physician

If the headache goes on for a couple of weeks without improvement, or is associated with another neurological symptom, such as weakness on one side of the body, it is recommended to discuss your symptoms with a physician.

Headaches that are new or worsening, especially in a person who doesnt normally have headaches, may warrant a medical follow-up, as do headaches that are worse in the morning or when the person is laying down. These headaches could also potentially wake someone from their sleep, or be accompanied by nausea or vomiting.

Don’t Miss: How To Cure Migraine Permanently

New Migraine Treatments And Prevention

New migraine medicines have been approved for adult use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within the past few years. If triptans don’t work as well as you’d like them to, or if they come with side effects, it’s worth considering trying a new option.

The first migraine treatments created specifically for migraine include ubrogepant , atogepant , and rimegepant , and they work by blocking calcitonin gene related peptide in the brain. CGRP is thought to be responsible for causing the wave of inflammation and severe headaches that come with a migraine attack.

Other anti-CGRP drugs available for the prevention of migraine attacks include erenumab , fremanezumab , galcanezumab ,and eptinezumab-jjmr.

Another preventive that’s been approved since 2010 is OnabotulinumtoxinA, or Botox, for those whose headaches occur 15 or more days per month.

Reyvow is similar to triptans with one important distinction: It does not cause blood vessels to dilate. That makes Reyvow a safer option for those with heart issues for whom triptans are contraindicated.

What You Need To Know

• Vestibular migraine can cause vestibular or balance symptoms with or without an actual headache.
• There is almost always a history of motion sensitivity since childhood, and migraine headaches at some point in the person’s lifetime, even if they last occurred decades ago.
• Vestibular migraine isnt fully understood but seems to result from overlapping pathways that modulate pain and vestibular inputs into the brain.
• Many of the triggers for migraine headaches can cause a vestibular migraine.

Don’t Miss: Migraine Pain In Ear And Jaw

What Are Some Migraine Risk Factors And Triggers

Some risk factors make you more likely to get migraine headaches. Other things may trigger a migraine.

Common migraine risk factors include the following:

• Family history: You are much more likely to have migraines if one or both of your parents had migraines.
• Sex: Women are more likely than men to have migraines.
• Age: Most people have their first migraine during adolescence, but migraines can start at any age, usually before age 40.

Common migraine triggers include the following:

• Food and drink: Certain food and drink may cause migraines. Dehydration and dieting or skipping meals may also trigger migraines.
• Hormone changes: Women may experience migraines related to their menstrual cycles, to menopause, or to using hormonal birth control or hormone replacement therapy.
• Stress: Stress may trigger migraines. Stress includes feeling overwhelmed at home or work. But you can also become stressed by exercising too much or not getting enough sleep.
• Senses: Loud sounds, bright lights , or strong smells may trigger migraines.
• Medicines: Certain medicines may trigger migraines. If you think your migraines might be related to your medicine, talk to your doctor. Your doctor may be able to prescribe a different medicine.
• Illness: Infections, such as the cold or the flu, may trigger migraines, especially in children.

Foods that may trigger migraines:

• Aged, canned, cured, or processed meat

Why Am I Nauseous And Tired All Day

According to the Merck Manual, nausea and fatigue can be symptoms caused by cancer, diabetes, anemia, chronic kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other serious diseases. Or nausea and fatigue can be normal symptoms during PMS, menstruation, or pregnancy. That’s why it is important to know your body.

Don’t Miss: Headache From Base Of Neck

What Can I Do To Prevent Migraines

One of the best ways to prevent migraines is to try to avoid the things that might trigger your attacks. Most people benefit from trying to get stable sleep, eating regular meals, drinking plenty of fluids to keep hydrated, and trying to manage stress. Taking regular exercise may also help prevent migraines since it helps with breathing, improving blood sugar balance and maintaining general wellbeing. Although you should take care not to engage in very strenuous activity that your body is not used to as this can sometimes act as a migraine trigger.

Keeping a diary of your migraines can be a useful way to record when and where you experience attacks, check for any patterns, and try to identify your triggers. Take the diary when you see your GP so you can communicate your symptoms with them and they can find the best way to help you.

Does Throwing Up Help Relieve A Migraine Attack

There are some migraine patients, especially younger patients, who know that if they vomit during a migraine attack it will actually abort the attack. There may be different explanations for why this is the case, but we know that vomiting will release intracranial pressure, says Spears.

Although vomiting may help stop your migraine attack, its not recommended that you try to make yourself throw up, adds Spears. The goal is to help patients avoid throwing up when thats possible, he says.

If you do vomit, its recommended that you drink water afterward to avoid dehydration, according to MedlinePlus. And if you develop uncontrollable vomiting, you should seek immediate medical attention, according to Cedars Sinai health system.

Also Check: Can Migraines Cause High Blood Pressure

What Are The Symptoms Of Headaches In Children

Symptoms vary depending on the type of headache your child has:

Acute headaches

Acute headache symptoms happen suddenly and dont last very long. Symptoms include:

• Sharp, throbbing pain.
• Pain in their head, neck or face.

Acute recurrent headaches or migraines

This type of headache lasts from one to two hours and usually happens two to four times a month.

• Pain that affects the front of their head, or both sides.
• Pale skin color .
• Upset stomach, nausea and vomiting.
• Sensitivity to light, noise or smells.
• Desire to sleep more than usual.

Chronic nonprogressive headaches or tension headaches

These are daily or frequent headaches or headaches that come and go over a prolonged period of time without causing neurological symptoms. If it occurs more than 15 days/month along with frequent school absences and medication overuse, see a headache specialist. Symptoms include:

• An ache or pressure in a band across their forehead.

Chronic progressive headaches

• Gradual increase in how often their headaches happen.
• Gradual increase in how severe their headaches are.

When chronic progressive headaches occur along with other neurological symptoms , they can be the sign of such brain conditions as an abnormal build-up of fluid in their brain , inflammation of their brain, tumor or other conditions.

Are Migraines Hereditary

Migraines tend to run in families. As many as four out of five people with migraines have a family history. If one parent has a history of migraines, their child has a 50% chance of having them. If both parents have a history of migraines, the risk jumps to 75%. Again, up to 80% of people with migraines have a first-degree relative with the disease.

Also Check: What Do Sinus Headaches Feel Like

When To See A Doctor

Headaches can have many causes, such as stress or dehydration. Similarly, any number of everyday triggers can cause nausea and fatigue.

However, it is important to see a doctor if these three symptoms are severe, long lasting, or affect daily activities.

When headaches, nausea, and fatigue appear together, they may be symptoms underlying another health condition.

How Is Abdominal Migraine Similar To A Migraine

Abdominal migraine and migraine share similar triggers, such as stress, skipping meals, exposure to bright light, and poor sleep. Foods containing chocolate, caffeine, and monosodium glutamate are also triggers. Because there are so few studies on medications used to treat this condition, patients with the condition are often treated with medications shown to be effective on a migraine.

Also Check: How To Relieve Tension Headache Naturally

When You Get A Migraine

Try to treat your symptoms right away. This may help make the headache less severe. When migraine symptoms begin:

• Drink water to avoid dehydration, especially if you have vomited
• Rest in a quiet, dark room
• Place a cool cloth on your head
• Avoid smoking or drinking coffee or caffeinated drinks
• Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages

Over-the-counter pain medicines, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or aspirin, are often helpful when your migraine is mild.

Your health care provider may have prescribed medicines to stop a migraine. These drugs come in different forms. They may come as a nasal spray, rectal suppository, or injection instead of pills. Other medicines can treat nausea and vomiting.

Follow your provider’s instructions about how to take all of your medicines. Rebound headaches are headaches that keep coming back. They can occur from overuse of pain medicine. If you take pain medicine more than 3 days a week on a regular basis, you can develop rebound headaches.

Stress Anxiety Or Fear

If youve ever had a nervous stomach, you already know that strong emotion can affect your gut. Your digestive system can be adversely affected by fear, stress, or anxiety. It can cause diarrhea, vomiting, or dry heaving.

Powerful emotions trigger the fight-or-flight response. This puts your body on high alert, activating stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones signal your intestines to empty.

They also divert blood away from your stomach to the vital organs you may need most in an emergency, and cause abdominal muscles to clench. All of these physical reactions can bring on diarrhea or vomiting.

Reducing stress with deep breathing exercises and addressing anxiety with a mental health professional can help.

You May Like: Does Blue Cross Blue Shield Cover Botox For Migraines

How Are Headache And Nausea Treated

Your recommended treatment plan for headache and nausea will depend on the cause of your symptoms.

If you have an underlying medical condition, your doctor will try to treat or manage it. For example, they may recommend lifestyle changes, medications, or other treatments to help prevent or relieve the symptoms of migraines.

In some cases, lifestyle changes or home remedies may help relieve your symptoms. For example:

• If you experience migraine headaches and feel a migraine coming on, stay in a dark and quiet room, and place a cloth-covered ice pack on the back of your neck.
• If you suspect your headache and nausea are caused by stress, consider participating in stress-relieving activities, such as taking a walk or listening to calming music.
• If you suspect youre dehydrated or your blood sugar is low, take a break to drink or eat something.

Over-the-counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, may help relieve your headache. Aspirin may be too tough on your stomach and can cause stomach upset.

While some cases of headache and nausea are hard to prevent, you can take steps to lower your chances of experiencing them. For example:

• Get enough sleep.

It Comes On Suddenly And Severely

A brain aneurysm occurs when weak blood vessels in the brain start expanding or ballooning out. Usually they dont cause symptoms, although if they get very big, they can cause headaches. But a ruptured aneurysm which occurs when the ballooned vessel pops and leaks blood around the brain, can cause a massive, sudden headache.

The classic presentation is the worst headache of your life, says Jonathan J. Russin, MD, a neurosurgeon at Keck Medicine of USC and assistant professor of clinical neurological surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. They call it a thunder clap headache.

It may also be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, weakness or drowsiness. If you experience a major headache like this, call 911 immediately.

Don’t Miss: How Long Do Migraines Last With Medication

What Causes A Migraine

The cause of migraine headaches is complicated and not fully understood. When you have a headache its because specific nerves in your blood vessels send pain signals to your brain. This releases inflammatory substances into the nerves and blood vessels of your head. Its unclear why your nerves do that.

Stress Depression Or Anxiety

If you are dealing with stress, depression, or anxiety, it is possible to start feeling these effects physically, as well. Your body may respond to high levels of stress with anxiety-related nausea or stress headaches. Physical symptoms like headaches and nausea can accompany mental health conditions, known as a psychosomatic response. If you are feeling stressed, depressed, or more anxious than usual, these feelings can disrupt your regular routines and you may be more likely to neglect staying hydrated and turn to stimulants like caffeine to regulate your emotions. However, this can cause uncomfortable symptoms like nausea and headaches that may make your stress, depression, or anxiety worse.

Don’t Miss: What Is An Aura With Migraine