help - why am i nauseous so often?

[lmh2402]

i'm absolutely 100% not pregnant.

for the last 2/3 weeks, i've been having crazy waves of nausea that are just really tough to handle.

when it started, i was four days into taking a course of bactrim for a sinus infection. I called the doc and he switched my meds to a z pack. nausea did not really abate.

i was also having viscous headaches at the time - i think from the SI. doc said maybe i was getting migraines. but headaches have subsided, i'm done with abx for several days and i'm still getting randomly nauseous.

this morning, i went to walk the dogs around 9am and i literally started retching on the stairs outside - freaked out DD who was going with me.

it happens at different times of day - today it was this morning (so far), but yesterday it hit me mid afternoon and was so bad i had to go lay down.

only thing that makes it better is closing my eyes and getting low to the floor - either laying or crouching.

what the heck is going on?

i'm not eating anything new, or drinking anything new. not eating any more or less than usual. really don't know what it could be, but it's truly miserable to live like this.

i never had MS when pregnant, so while i always felt badly for those that did - now I feel like i REALLY understand how horrible it can be.

anyway, thoughts? thanks

[Fairy]

When I get a migraine I often get very nauseous, and that nausea is caused by the pain. I was initially thinking the headaches were driving the nausea, but if you get them without headaches, that's not it. Interesting that lowering your center of gravity helps. Can this be an inner ear issue? You were sick on a z-pack, could you have some kind of latent inner ear infection? I had labrynthitis in HS, and I was out for a week with dizziness and balance issues, which caused nausea as a result. Now when I get really sick and sinusy I get the same kinds of symptoms sometimes. The things that make you feel better sort of speak to that for me. Can you get checked out for that?

[lmh2402]

i have an appt with an ENT b/c i've had several SI in last ten months. but my primary care doc told me that my ears were not infected this last time. ugh.

[egoldber]

It could be allergy related.

Also, many people with anxiety experience nausea with it as well.

[SummerBaby]

Even if your ears are not infected, they can get very congested with a sinus infection. I have had this happen to me when my allergies and sinuses are bad. Try taking Sudafed- the kind you have to ask the pharmacist for- it works best. Usually that will decongest me enough that The dizzy/nauseous feeling goes away.

[TwoBees]

Could it be vertigo?

[Fairy]

Could it be vertigo?

^^ This. My mom has it. It's debilitating.

[klwa]

There's been a virus going around here for the last month or so that's caused similar symptoms for multiple weeks. DH had it & so did my former boss. (Former boss blames me because he was in a meeting with DH the day before his symptoms started & I hadn't warned him.)

[Kindra178]

Reflux?

[flashy09]

Could it be the post nasal drip from your SI irritating your stomach?

[anonomom]

I don't know what it is, but I've been having something similar -- for me, it happens about 30 minutes to an hour after meals and gets so bad that I have to lie down. It happens several times a month and it's been going on since the fall. I have no clue what it is, but it's really annoying.

[ray7694]

My friend had this and it was vertigo caused from bacteria and took forever to go away.

[marymoo86]

Is it connected to eating any certain type of food or ingredient? Had a friend that developed celiac as an adult and it presented as nausea then progressed.

[echoesofspring]

Maybe postnasal drip combined with the antibiotics? It's been forever since I've been on antibiotics, in part b/c they made me so nauseous. And the SI can affect your balance which also can make you nauseous. Are you taking anything to sooth your stomach or a probiotic, etc.

And, maybe a bug - DH was retching this morning, we'll see if it was just from last night's takeout or if it's going to make it's way around the household.

Hope you feel better soon.

[daisysmom]

I posted on here 2 years ago about my niece who had something like this, and basically the dizziness got so bad that she was confined to a wheelchair in highschool. They had this situation for 6+ months and ran every test and saw tons of doctors - neurologists, etc. She had to drop out of all the things she loved like band and other extacurreculars in high school and gained 15 lbs for being completely inactive, and she literally changed before our very eyes (a psychiatrist put her on anxiety meds, then valium, all without therapy... so those were affecting her too).

Low and behold, one doctor at one point suggested a special physical therapist who was experted in balance issues. This woman took one look at my niece and knew exactly what it was -- she had had an ear infection 6 weeks prior to this, and unbeknownst to her, it caused nerve damage in that one ear (even tho the infection went away). So the nerve damage made her dizzy. The remedy was fast and excellent too - PT to "strengthen" the nerves in the other ear to accomodate the dead nerves in the first ear. She was absolutely fine in 3 weeks or so, and now is never dizzy, can drive etc.

[boolady]

It could be allergy related.

Also, many people with anxiety experience nausea with it as well.

:yeahthat: Anxiety or stress could be the cause.

[jayali]

any other symptoms? It could be an ulcer, but that usually is accompanied by other symptoms. Feel Better!

[ahisma]

Another vote for post-nasal drip and/or anxiety.

Also, as a note, I don't generally experience anxiety, but consistently experience anxiety symptoms when I'm on antibiotics. It took me a long time to make the correlation, but it's definitely there (for me).

[mackmama]

I would guess you're having an inner ear issue (not infection but congestion). Hopefully the ENT can provide more insight. You might ask the ENT if meclizine would help.

[mackmama]

I posted on here 2 years ago about my niece who had something like this, and basically the dizziness got so bad that she was confined to a wheelchair in highschool. They had this situation for 6+ months and ran every test and saw tons of doctors - neurologists, etc. She had to drop out of all the things she loved like band and other extacurreculars in high school and gained 15 lbs for being completely inactive, and she literally changed before our very eyes (a psychiatrist put her on anxiety meds, then valium, all without therapy... so those were affecting her too).

Low and behold, one doctor at one point suggested a special physical therapist who was experted in balance issues. This woman took one look at my niece and knew exactly what it was -- she had had an ear infection 6 weeks prior to this, and unbeknownst to her, it caused nerve damage in that one ear (even tho the infection went away). So the nerve damage made her dizzy. The remedy was fast and excellent too - PT to "strengthen" the nerves in the other ear to accomodate the dead nerves in the first ear. She was absolutely fine in 3 weeks or so, and now is never dizzy, can drive etc.

Wow! This is an amazing story. I remember you posting about your DN, and I'm so happy to hear her problem was finally diagnosed and resolved!

[daisysmom]

Wow! This is an amazing story. I remember you posting about your DN, and I'm so happy to hear her problem was finally diagnosed and resolved!

When I was replying with my post above, I got tied up on a call and then realized I hadn't finished the post so posted in a hurry. But thank you. It was amazing. She did PT 4 days a week, then 3, then 2 and 1 so the PT was maybe 3 months. But no wheelchair after the first week of PT and was driving. Remarkable. When we talk about it now with her, everyone remarks how simple it was to fix but how debilitating it was to have. She is now a completely regular functioning 18 year old. And it was literally PT of her walking in a circle leaning in -- whatever that did. It just made the other ear's nerves compensatie.

[mackmama]

When I was replying with my post above, I got tied up on a call and then realized I hadn't finished the post so posted in a hurry. But thank you. It was amazing. She did PT 4 days a week, then 3, then 2 and 1 so the PT was maybe 3 months. But no wheelchair after the first week of PT and was driving. Remarkable. When we talk about it now with her, everyone remarks how simple it was to fix but how debilitating it was to have. She is now a completely regular functioning 18 year old. And it was literally PT of her walking in a circle leaning in -- whatever that did. It just made the other ear's nerves compensatie.

Thank goodness for that one PT who figured it out. How scary it can be what is missed by medical professionals. It will be interesting for you all to see how this experience affects your DN long-term. I really believe that experiences like this really shape a person and instill so much empathy and motivation in people to make a difference and to "pass it forward" in some way.

[lmh2402]

thanks, everyone.

ENT appt is early next week. I called my primary doc today and he said he wants me to get the MRI, so I am doing that tomorrow, though I'm really unsure what that will yield.

as for any other symptoms...i'm not dizzy. it's just totally overwhelming waves of nausea. i have had headaches on and off, but not like I was having a week or two ago when I was clearly ill with SI.

It's not secret here that I struggle with anxiety, but that's not new so I'm unsure of why I would suddenly start having nausea related to it

anyway, only other symptoms are I'm exhausted - but that's not all that new. and i'm short-tempered b/c i really just want to be laying on the floor on and off all day.

daisymom -that is a crazy story about your DN. thank goodness she's ok!!

[kellij]

I've been having nausea a lot lately too. I mentioned it to my ob/gyn and she said it's possible my iron could be low and that can cause fatigue and nausea. I think you should go to a dr if it continues though, it can be so many different things.

[essnce629]

Are you taking any new vitamins/supplements or any that could have gone bad? In college I started getting random nausea and vomiting spells out of the blue and it was just like morning sickness. I'd be talking on the phone to a friend and then all of a sudden I'd get really nauseous and have to hang up to throw up! After going to the doctor she told me to stop taking any vitamins/supplements and then reintroduce them. I stopped everyting and the nausea/vomiting went away. When I brought back the fish oil capsules I was taking it started again. I think the fish oil had turned rancid or something! I threw them away and never had the problem again. Since then, I've taken several brands of fish oil and had no issues so it must have been that it had gone bad, not a reaction to the fish oil itself.