How to Get Rid of Vomiting

How to Get Rid of Vomiting

How to Get Rid of Vomiting

Vomiting (also called throwing up, barfing, spewing, puking and emesis) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting may result from many causes, ranging from gastritis or poisoning to brain tumors or elevated intracranial pressure. The feeling that one is about to vomit is called nausea. It usually precedes, but does not always lead to, vomiting.

Antiemetics are sometimes necessary to suppress nausea, vomiting and, in severe cases where dehydration develops, intravenous fluid may need to be administered to replace fluid volume. Vomiting is different from regurgitation, although the two terms are often used interchangeably. Regurgitation is the return of undigested food (that has not yet reached the stomach) back up the esophagus to the mouth. The causes of vomiting and regurgitation are generally different.

Causes of VomitingWhile primarily charged with monitoring your bloodstream and digestive system for toxins, your vomit control center is also plugged into something called your chemoreceptor trigger zone. This area in your brain keeps tabs on your equilibrium and your senses of smell, taste and sight. The not-so-pretty result of this collaboration: The tiniest drop of poison can have the same effect on your system as watching a televised surgical procedure (in technicolor). "Vomiting is actually an extremely complex act," says Jorge Herrera, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile and member of the American Gastroenterological Association and the American College of Gastroenterology. "But with the right stimulus, you are almost unable to prevent yourself from doing it."

Of course, there are other causes of vomiting besides overindulgence, poisoning and motion sickness. Perhaps the most common: A stomach virus can fool your ever-vigilant vomit center into thinking that you need to throw up, says William B. Ruderman, M.D., chairperson of the Department of Gastroenterology at the Cleveland Clinic Florida in Fort Lauderdale. Still, throwing up won't do anything to eliminate the virus. Other causes of vomiting include severe chronic ulcers, gallstones, the early stages of pregnancy and chemotherapy.

Treatment of VomitingTreatment for vomiting—regardless of age or cause—includes drinking gradually larger amounts of clear liquids, avoiding solid food until the vomiting episode has passed, resting and temporarily discontinuing all oral medications that can irritate the stomach and make vomiting worse. If vomiting and diarrhea last more than 24 hours, an oral rehydrating solution should be used to prevent and treat dehydration.

Child Treatment

• Breast milk is still best. For breastfed babies, breast milk is usually best. Formula-fed babies usually need clear liquids. In addition, plain water will not replace electrolytes and may dilute electrolytes to the point of seizures.

• Fluid rehydration recipe. In underdeveloped nations or regions without available commercial pediatric drinks, the World Health Organization has established a field recipe for fluid rehydration: Mix 2 tablespoons of sugar (or honey) with ¼ teaspoon of table salt and ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. (Baking soda may be substituted with ¼ teaspoon of table salt.) Mix in 1 liter (1 qt) of clean or previously boiled water.After your infant goes more than 8 hours without vomiting, you can reintroduce formula slowly to your infant. Start with small (½ to 1 ounce), more frequent feeds and slowly work up to your infant's normal feeding routine.

• Rice and cereal. If your infant already eats rice or cereal, it's okay to start solid feedings in small amounts again. If your infant is exclusively breastfeeding and vomits (not just spits up, but vomits what seems like the entire feed) more than once, then breastfeed five to ten minutes on one side every two hours. If your infant is still vomiting, then call your infant's doctor. After eight hours without vomiting, breastfeeding can resume normally on both sides.

• Oral rehydration. Children a little older than infants (about five to ten years of age) should be given oral rehydration solutions such as Pedialyte, Rehydrate, Resol and Rice-Lyte. Cola, tea, fruit juice and sports drinks will not correctly replace fluid or electrolytes lost from vomiting; nor will plain water.

Adult Treatment

• See a doctor. Yes, it's stating the obvious, but seeing a physician should be your first step to cure vomiting. See to it that your doctor isn't going to get a prescription for medicine to help cure your ailment but instead get medicine to fight the flu symptoms—anti-spasmotics for cramps, anti-nauseants for vomiting, some blood and stool tests and so on—to make sure it isn't something worse, like worms. Gross.

• Diet simplification. Simplifying your diet will help you cure vomit-inducing conditions like gastroenteritis. Keep your diet down to clear liquids for the first 24 hours (broth, water and juices). If you feel better after 24 hours, then you can move on to foods like white rice, white bread, apple sauce and bananas. Try to avoid citrus, greasy foods, dairy and tomato products, alcohol, coffee and carbonated drinks. In other words, don't go to McDonald's.In addition, adults should eat ice chips and clear, non-caffeinated, nondairy liquids such as Gatorade, ginger ale, fruit juices and Kool-Aid or other commercial drink mixes. After 24 hours of fluid diet without vomiting, begin a soft-bland solid diet such as the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce without sugar, toast, pasta and potatoes.

• Say no to dairy. Unless you're willing to suffer from diarrhea after vomiting, it's probably best to avoid dairy products for the next few days. Vomiting, particularly if from a viral illness, can temporarily diminish your ability to digest the sugar in milk.

• Avoid eating solid foods. Consider solid foods off-limits until you have stopped vomiting for at least six hours. When you do return to the dinner table, don't try to make up for lost time. You shouldn't have a big burger or anything like that after a serious bout of barfing. You should slowly go back to your regular diet, but start with things like rice, toast, bananas—stuff that's bland but nutritious. By the second day, you can probably eat anything that you want.

• Boost your beverage intake. It's a good idea to drink a lot of fluids. Vomiting causes dehydration very quickly. After a long bout of vomiting, the doctor will probably say that you're still dehydrated and short of electrolytes, even after drinking almost 8-10 glasses of water everyday. So, get some Gatorade, water or non-carbonated soda in bulk.

• Sugar rush. On that note, steer clear of diet drinks that don't contain sugar. Sugar assists in absorbing water. If you vomit again right after beginning to drink, give yourself a break for a couple of hours and try again when the nausea has subsided.

• Go with the flow. While vomiting is not the most pleasant experience in the world, you can actually prolong your discomfort by trying to avoid it. "The best thing is just to stay home and try to go through it, and most of the time you'll stop getting sick within 12 to 24 hours," says Dr. Herrera. "If the vomiting isn't gone by then, that's the time to seek help."

• Get some rest. The reason doctors tell you to rest is because your nutritional intake is extremely low when you're heaving chunks because of a stomach flu or some other vomit-inducing ailment, even if you're slamming Campbell's Soup like cans of Miller Lite at a baseball game. Your body is running low on reserves and needs you to be lying down so you don't waste protein and calories that could be used to fuel your immune system.

• Think pink. Taking an over-the-counter stomach soother like Pepto-Bismol may actually help settle your stomach.

• Have an antacid. Ulcer-related vomiting will sometimes stop if you use an over-the-counter antacid.

• Chew it over. Chewing gum, long a remedy for middle ear pain during airline flights, may also help reduce air sickness and thereby prevent vomiting.

• Get serious. For severe cases of vomiting—like those caused by some cancer treatments—your doctor may prescribe an anti-nausea drug like Compazine or Reglan.

• Cook your own food. Chances are good that you'll get vomit-inducing maladies like the stomach flu virus by ingesting something outside of your home. There are so many opportunities to get ill in restaurants (either from gastroenteritis or food poisoning) that it's just better to stay home and cook for yourselves and/or your guests. Besides, cooking is a good life-skill to learn and you'll save a lot of money.

Although adults and adolescents have a larger electrolyte reserve than children, electrolyte imbalance and dehydration may still occur as fluid is lost through vomiting. Severe symptoms and dehydration usually develop as complications of medication use or chronic diseases such as diabetes or kidney failure, and symptoms may occur even in healthy people. In any case, the methods outlined above should cover all bases in regards to proper vomiting treatment.