Vomiting in children and adults: causes, symptoms and treatment

General practitioner (family doctor)

Gutorova

Natalia Konstantinovna

20 years of experience

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Vomiting, the spontaneous release of stomach or duodenal contents through the mouth, can have many causes. A single urge, as a rule, does not cause any particular concern and does not require close attention. However, if an adult or child vomits more than once, this is a reason to consult a doctor.

Causes of vomiting

Vomiting almost never happens without a reason: there is always something that provoked it, and there can be many options:

• food poisoning, medicines, drugs, alcohol intoxication;
• allergic reaction to a food product;
• excess food intake;
• infection;
• pregnancy (especially the first trimester);
• disease of the abdominal organs, for example, ulcer, colitis, gastritis, intestinal or stomach tumor, appendicitis, kidney failure, pancreatitis, etc.);
• intestinal obstruction;
• gallbladder pathologies (cholecystitis, hepatitis, dyskinesia, cholelithiasis);
• severe stress;
• disturbances in the functioning of the central nervous system (cerebral circulatory insufficiency, brain tumor, meningitis, mechanical head injury, migraine condition);
• problems with the vestibular apparatus;
• diabetes mellitus of any stage;
• AIDS.

With any of the above factors, standard vomiting may be observed, supplemented by other symptoms:

• abdominal pain;
• vomiting blood;
• vomiting and fever;
• vomiting bile;
• green vomit;
• vomiting, weakness;
• headache;
• heartburn;
• frequent urge to go to the toilet;
• disturbance of mental activity.

Causes

The causes of psychogenic vomiting lie in increased excitability of the brain. Vomiting is a peculiar reaction of the human body to a stressful situation. It is worth noting that nervous vomiting has a paroxysmal nature, its frequency and abundance depend on the specific case. The causes of psychogenic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract in adults are as follows:

• increased anxiety (for example, fear on the eve of some important event or event);
• reaction to a particular memory (this can be not only an event, but also a smell, taste, etc.);
• a peculiar response of the body to a stressful or conflict situation, the manifestation of emotions that the patient is trying to hide;
• uncontrollable psychogenic nausea during psychosis.

A distinctive feature of the disease is the occurrence of vomiting in the morning, before breakfast. As the disease worsens, nausea may become more frequent; for example, if we are talking about self-provoking vomiting in bulimia, the release of gastrointestinal contents will be spontaneous.

When does vomiting require immediate medical attention?

Very often, even vomiting without fever is a reason to call an ambulance as soon as possible. If the patient experiences symptoms such as vomiting blood or a previous injury to the head, spine or abdomen, or if the urge does not stop, call a doctor immediately.

JSC “Medicine” (academician Roitberg’s clinic) has its own emergency department, whose specialists are ready to come to your aid 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can call a car by phone.

Treatment options

When talking about the treatment of psychogenic overeating and psychogenic vomiting, it is important to take an integrated approach. The fact is that a long-term disease negatively affects the nature of metabolism in the body of an adult - the extracellular fluid volume is reduced, alkalosis, hypokalemia, nocturia and other life-threatening conditions often develop. Therefore, it is extremely important to approach your treatment program responsibly. To treat psychogenic vomiting, the following is used:

• drug therapy;
• psychotherapy, the purpose of which is to combat obsessive thoughts, reduce anxiety and dull the feeling of nausea;
• diet therapy - the menu is designed in such a way that the patient receives all the necessary nutrients with sufficient calories;
• developing healthy eating habits;
• weight gain under the supervision of a nutritionist and trainer;
• treatment of associated complications.

First aid for vomiting

Despite the fact that medical manipulations should be carried out by a doctor, especially if brown vomiting, white foam vomiting or black vomiting is observed, it is not superfluous to know how to provide first aid to a victim with such a symptom.

• The sick person should be placed in a horizontal position, with a basin or other container placed nearby into which he could vomit if necessary.
• If severe vomiting is accompanied by weakness, then his head should be turned to the side in order to eliminate the possibility that the person will choke on the escaping masses.
• If this is vomiting due to poisoning or for any other reason, it is necessary to rinse your mouth with a disinfectant solution after the contents of the stomach are released.

These manipulations should be performed by calling a specialist.

Features of the disorder

Psychogenic vomiting is a disease that is diagnosed in emotionally unstable people. It is manifested by a feeling of nausea and involuntary release of gastrointestinal contents, which occurs during a period of nervous shock or experience, and goes away on its own as the intensity of the emotion decreases. In other words, these reactions from the gastrointestinal tract have a stable acquired reflex character and are a kind of reaction of the patient’s psyche to the external environment.

Modern medicine has come to the conclusion that the described eating disorder can be diagnosed in any adult, but there is a certain group of people who are most at risk of getting sick:

• adults suffering from certain mental and nervous diseases;
• patients with problems in the gastrointestinal tract;
• women under 40 years of age;
• teenage children.

As with other eating disorders, patients do not realize the seriousness of their condition and do not pay attention to alarming symptoms.

Adult patients neglect treatment and get used to periodic vomiting, considering this process a normal part of the body’s functioning. However, such carelessness leads to serious deterioration in health.

Treatment of vomiting in the clinic of JSC "Medicine" (clinic of academician Roitberg)

Often the symptom goes away on its own. However, if its appearance was dictated by the presence of a serious illness, a visit to a specialist is required. Depending on the cause of vomiting, the diagnosis may be carried out by a general practitioner, pediatrician, gastroenterologist, infectious disease specialist or gynecologist.

An experienced doctor will carry out the required diagnostics, make a diagnosis and draw up the most appropriate treatment plan, first of all prescribing anti-vomiting medication.

JSC “Medicine” (clinic of academician Roitberg) employs the best specialists of the capital and region, conducting diagnostics using the most modern equipment of proven world brands. All this together makes the treatment process quick and as convenient as possible for the patient.

You can make an appointment with a doctor by calling +7 24 hours a day or using the feedback form on the official website of the medical center. The clinic is located in the central district of Moscow at 2nd Tverskoy-Yamskaya lane, building 10, next to the metro stations “Belorusskaya”, “Mayakovskaya”, “Tverskaya”, “Novoslobodskaya”, “Chekhovskaya”.

Reduce stress and nervousness

Doctors strongly advise patients with an increased gag reflex to prepare for the appointment, take a soothing infusion or herbal decoction, a sedative tablet (Afobazol, Novopassit) at night and in the morning of the day of administration. It is necessary to distract yourself from negative thoughts, not to imagine how unsuccessful and unpleasant a visit to the dentist will be, and even more so to shame yourself in advance. It is good if the patient first seeks advice from a doctor, talks with him, and tells him about his problem during dental treatment. The sincerity and friendliness of a doctor can greatly reduce a person’s stress and fear of necessary procedures.

Features of treatment with medications

First of all, you should understand how to stop vomiting. For this purpose, the doctor prescribes a special anti-vomiting remedy: it can be in the form of injections (if it is absolutely impossible to swallow anything), tablets, syrups.

Since the release of stomach contents can provoke pain, medications are also prescribed to anesthetize the mucous walls of the stomach and relieve spasms. If the symptom is accompanied by diarrhea, then medications that relieve it are prescribed as an additional measure.

Vomiting after alcohol is a separate symptom. It is not stopped in any way, since the main goal is to rid the body of toxic substances. After this, it is necessary to restore the body’s water balance, and therefore it is recommended to drink as much plain water as possible.

Recovery after vomiting

Whatever the cause of the disease, after treatment it is necessary to undergo a recovery process. It includes the following items:

• the patient must remain in bed for some time;
• You should drink liquid often and little by little; for this it is better to alternate plain water, sweet tea and low-fat broth;
• temporarily stop consuming dairy products, as well as coffee, alcohol, citrus fruits, and aspirin-based medications;
• start eating food with light dietary foods: lean meat, bananas, rice, cereals;
• For 2-3 days, completely eliminate spicy, fried, smoked, and fatty foods.

Treating vomiting at home

While at home, you can also try to stop gagging using traditional medicine methods.

• Thus, tea based on mint leaves has an excellent calming effect. This is especially true for vomiting caused by a serious stressful situation. For the same purpose, you can drink 15 drops of mint tincture with water.
• A decoction of dill seeds, which can be purchased at any pharmacy, also has a beneficial effect on the treatment process.
• Lemon juice added to plain water is a great way to get rid of vomiting.
• If this is vomiting during pregnancy, then you should stick to fractional meals. Also an effective remedy during pregnancy is chewing a slice of lemon or simple crackers in the morning without getting out of bed, so it is better to prepare them in the evening.

Answers to the most common questions

• I am vomiting and have a fever, what should I do? You should not self-medicate; in this case, it is recommended to see a doctor as soon as possible.
• What does vomiting in the morning mean? It might be worth checking to see if you are pregnant. In all other cases, you should seek medical advice from a doctor.
• White vomit with mucus - what to do? Most likely, the person has recently consumed too much white bread, milk or rice. If there are no other signs of illness, then there is no need to panic.

Symptoms of psychogenic disorder

When the body encounters one or another emotional stress, the brain generates a signal to prepare the body for fight. If an adult has a nervous disorder, the reaction to the message may be erroneous.

Symptoms in adults during an exacerbation of the disease are as follows:

• increased sweating due to increased work of the sweat glands;
• total weakness, apathetic state, lack of physical strength;
• increased heart rate;
• irritability;
• lowering blood pressure, etc.

At the same time, the nervous system reacts inadequately to seemingly familiar things and ordinary situations, which in a healthy state of the body do not cause irritation.

It is noteworthy that upon completion of the stressful situation, the person completely returns to normal, psychogenic nausea recedes, in some cases being replaced by an increased feeling of hunger.