Nausea. In my opinion, it’s the worst. There are a lot of things I can deal with when it comes to my body. But feeling sick to my stomach and throwing up are two things that make me the most miserable. Having already had a few surgeries in my life, plus trying just about every birth control available to treat endometriosis, you can say I’m no stranger to nausea. Luckily, there are ways to treat nausea at home. Check out these eight ways I’ve used to reduce nausea.
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How to Treat Nausea at Home
1. Try Ginger
One way to treat nausea at home involves teaming up with this spicy root. Try sipping a cup of ginger tea. You can either brew a mug of store-bought tea, like Twinings of London Lemon & Ginger tea, or you can try making your own with this great ginger tea recipe. Another option is to try eating ginger chews such as Tummy Drops natural ginger chews, which were made by a gastroenterologist.
Shop Twinings of London Lemon & Ginger tea.
Shop Tummy Drops ginger chews.
2. Sip on Canned Peach Syrup
You may not have heard of this idea before, but I swear by it! When I was growing up, my mom would make me sip the juice out of a can of peaches whenever I got a stomach bug. I don’t know how it works, but it often settled my stomach like magic and helped me stop throwing up. This is a great item to have stocked in your pantry for whenever you or someone in your home catches a stomach bug or food poisoning. Give it a try and see if it calms down your stomach, too!
3. Wear Sea-Bands
I’ve talked about this item on my blog before, but it’s only right that I bring them up again on a blog about treating nausea. For some people, wearing Sea-Bands can help alleviate nausea. These work by putting pressure on an acupressure point on the back of your wrists that’s associated with reducing nausea. I keep a pair of these in my medicine cabinet, but what’s also great about them is their size; you can toss them in a day bag or purse and take them with you for nausea relief anywhere.
Shop Sea-Bands.
4. Nibble on Bland Foods
When you’re nauseous, one of the last things you probably want to do is eat. But nibbling slowly on bland foods and getting something in your stomach may help settle it. Some of my favorites include oyster crackers, dry toast, plain white rice, or plain cheerios. But you can try anything similar that’s low in sugar and fat and isn’t spicy. Eating foods high in fat may make you feel worse as these take longer for the stomach to digest.
5. Use Ice Cubes
This easy way to treat nausea at home is one I’ve tried when I was dealing with nausea from trying a new birth control pill a few years ago. Mike recommended it to me, and I’ll admit, I was skeptical. But I felt so sick, I would’ve tried anything. So I drank a glass of water that was mostly ice cubes, and then, because I wanted to go all in on this ice method, I chewed on some ice cubes. To my surprise, it did calm down my nausea and lessen the feeling that I was about to dry heave at any moment. Ick.
6. Use Peppermint Oil
Did you know that peppermint oil can sometimes treat nausea, too? Well, the research is mixed, so it may work well for some people but not everyone. But according to one 2020 study, smelling peppermint oil with lemon effectively lessened nausea and vomiting in pregnant women. To try this way to treat nausea at home, put peppermint and lemon essential oils in a diffuser, or put a few drops on a cotton ball and let it sit near you so you can smell it. You can also add some drops to a bubble bath.
Shop peppermint essential oil.
Shop lemon essential oil.
7. Stay Still
One of the things that can make nausea worse for me is moving around too much. Sometimes, it seems like any sudden or wrong movement will be all it takes to make me actually throw up. So until you start to feel better, keep still somewhere cool and comfortable. I like to lie on my left side and either try to sleep or watch tv to distract myself.
8. Avoid Strong Smells
Similar to moving around, smelling strong scents can also make me feel much more sick than I already do. As a way to treat nausea at home, stay away from the kitchen, where strong smells likely live — especially if someone is cooking. It may also help to give yourself some fresh air by sitting near an open window or venturing outside if you feel up to it.
For severe and ongoing nausea that at-home remedies just don’t work for, ask your doctor about prescribing Zofran or another medication for nausea. I always ask my doctor for Zofran to take before and after surgery because anesthesia makes me super sick. And it works like magic. But it does have a drawback: One of its side effects is constipation, and in my experience, it definitely does that. (Not fun!)
Soon, I’ll be trying a new birth control after getting my IUD removed, so I’m going to keep this list handy for myself. Whenever I start a new birth control, I always—maybe naively—think to myself maybe it won’t be so bad this time. Most of the time, I feel some degree of nausea. Sometimes it was so severe I couldn’t get off the couch.
But on a few rare occasions, that sick-to-my-stomach, any-whiff-of-food-makes-me-gag feeling never happened. Call it luck? Maybe. But when other intense side effects led me to stop those nausea-free birth control options, I didn’t feel so lucky then. Hopefully, I’ll be able to tolerate this birth control until my body gets used to it — I don’t really have any other options left to treat my endo except for another surgery.
The next time you’re feeling a little queasy, give a few of these easy ways to treat nausea at home a try. You might find something that works well for you!
XO,
Laurie
