Is It Safe to Make Myself Sick When I Feel Nauseous?

No one enjoys feeling nauseous. When your stomach is upset, it can really impact your ability to accomplish even simple tasks, and it interferes with your enjoyment of life. Sometimes, when you feel nauseous, you think that you would just feel better if you could make yourself sick.

However, it is generally not safe to make yourself sick just because you feel nauseous. Feeling nauseous does not always mean that there is something inside of your stomach that needs to come out. It is quite the opposite, in fact; nausea is more often triggered by other things, rather than something that is still in your stomach.

One of the most common causes of nausea is dehydration. When you don’t take in enough water, your body lets you know about it in a variety of ways, including nausea. If you are nauseous because you are dehydrated, and then you make yourself sick, you will only be furthering the dehydration and making it worse. A better idea is to drink some water or other clear liquid.

Nausea can often be triggered by foods, but nausea often doesn’t occur until after the food has worked its way out of your stomach into your digestive tract. Not only will making yourself sick not get rid of the offending food, it can also cause the extra stomach acid that is being produced to come up into your throat, causing anything from heartburn to severe damage to your throat.

If you find that you are making yourself sick on a regular basis, particularly after eating, you should consult your health care provider. It may be that you are suffering from an eating disorder, such as bulimia nervosa. If you find that you are feeling nauseous regularly, you should also see your health care provider. She may be able to diagnose what is causing you to feel nauseous, as well as help with a treatment plan for your nausea.