What should you know about medication against nausea?

Medication against nausea can ease symptoms, but the right choice depends on the cause, your other medicines and your risk of dehydration. A pharmacist or clinician can check whether an anti-sickness medicine is suitable and whether treating the underlying problem matters more than suppressing nausea.

Nausea may occur with indigestion, infection, migraine, medicine side effects, pregnancy, low blood sugar or heat-related illness. It can also accompany abdominal conditions such as Acid Reflux, Food Poisoning, Gallstones, Gastritis or Gastroenteritis. Nausea is a symptom, not a diagnosis, so the treatment that helps one cause may be unhelpful for another. Vomiting can also lead to fluid and salt loss.

Take small, frequent sips of water or an oral rehydration drink. Try bland foods when you can keep fluids down, and avoid alcohol, rich meals and strong smells if they worsen symptoms. Check the label of any medicine and ask a pharmacist about drowsiness, interactions and suitability if you are pregnant, older, have glaucoma or have heart, kidney or liver disease. Do not combine products with the same active ingredient.

Seek urgent medical help for severe or worsening abdominal pain, blood or coffee-ground material in vomit, green vomit, confusion, fainting, a stiff neck, severe headache, chest pain or trouble breathing. Arrange prompt review if you cannot keep fluids down, pass very little urine, feel unusually weak, or nausea keeps returning. Heat Exhaustion, Hepatitis A and Hypoglycaemia can need specific treatment.

Ask what may be causing the nausea, which medicine is appropriate, how long to use it, which side effects need action, and how to replace fluids safely.