Causes of vomiting in women

Vomiting is a mechanism that helps the body protect itself from the penetration of dangerous substances of various kinds into it. This is a complex reflex act, which is formed due to the activation of special departments in the nervous system. Outwardly, vomiting manifests itself in the uncontrolled eruption of gastric contents through the esophagus and oral cavity (sometimes the nose) outward. Vomiting is more common in women than in men. One of the natural causes may be early pregnancy, when vomiting is one of the signs of toxicosis. However, for its development there are many pathological reasons that significantly affect health. How to define them?

Vomiting in Women: Digestive Causes

The gag reflex is a complex mechanism that includes several pathways. First of all, these are fibers that carry information to a special center (in the brain area). There, the information is processed and the command is received — to execute the reflex. This command is transmitted by nerve fibers suitable for the stomach, muscles in the chest and diaphragm. With irritation in any of the areas of this complex system, vomiting can form: it can be single or multiple, up to indomitable, depending on the strength and duration of the irritation. Often, not all parts of the reflex pathway are involved in the mechanism of vomiting. What — it is important to know to find out the reasons.

Vomiting that occurs in women can have a variety of causes. The most common of these include problems with the digestive tract. These, first of all, include such causes of vomiting as acute surgical pathology — peritonitis, intestinal obstruction, appendicitis, pancreatitis or cholecystitis, bleeding in the digestive tract.

If vomiting develops, the causes may lie in the inflammatory processes of the stomach or intestines, the presence of stones in the gallbladder, tumor neoplasms. Functional digestive disorders can lead to vomiting (against the background of stress, stress, poor nutrition). And of course, one of the leading causes of vomiting can be intestinal infections, poisoning, viral infections or helminth infections.

Vomiting in women: causes of a different nature

However, if vomiting occurs, the causes may be hidden not only in the digestive organs. Often, vomiting is provoked by problems from the nervous system. These include volumetric formations in the cranial cavity (cysts, tumors, hematomas), which leads to an increase in intracranial pressure. In addition, infectious lesions of the brain or membranes (encephalitis or meningitis) can lead to vomiting.

Vomiting sometimes develops against the background of pathologies of the heart or blood vessels, with hypertension or a heart attack. Often, vomiting is accompanied by lesions of the inner ear, disorders of the endocrine system. Vomiting can occur against the background of hyperthyroidism, with ketoacidosis in diabetics, against the background of adrenal insufficiency.

A separate variety is toxic vomiting, which occurs in response to exposure to toxins, drugs, the accumulation of metabolic intermediates, and exposure to alcohol. For women, psychogenic vomiting is relevant, which is formed during anxiety and stress. Women can also suffer from motion sickness in transport, due to hypoxia in stuffy rooms, especially against the background of low blood pressure. And of course, vomiting in the morning in a woman who has sex can be the first sign of pregnancy.

Symptoms of vomiting in various pathologies

Often, the symptoms of vomiting in various pathologies are also accompanied by other manifestations. Often an attack of vomiting is preceded by a period of nausea or «faintness», general malaise, headaches. In addition, vomiting does not always bring relief — it also largely depends on its causes.

So, in acute surgical pathologies, the symptoms of vomiting are usually accompanied by acute abdominal pain, increasing in intensity, there may also be diarrhea, fever and general unsatisfactory condition, up to shock. The pain can be extremely severe, vomiting does not make a person feel better, a woman can even lose consciousness. This requires an immediate call for an ambulance and hospitalization.

Pathologies of the liver in a woman give symptoms of vomiting attacks, with bile, bitterness in the mouth, a change in the color of the stool, its relaxation, and a change in the color of the urine. The skin may take on various shades of yellow, and sometimes there is itching or a mild rash.

In case of poisoning and intestinal infections, nausea with vomiting dominates, as well as profuse diarrhea, the temperature rises, and the general condition suffers greatly. There is a seething in the abdomen, there may be pallor. In addition to the woman herself, colleagues at work or at home can also get sick at the same time.

With problems with the digestive tract, inflammatory lesions of the stomach and intestines, symptoms of belching, heartburn, nausea occur, appetite is disturbed, and weight suffers. There may be skin and hair changes, anemia, stool disorders, halitosis, and tongue coating.

Presence of vomiting with blood

If vomiting is formed with blood, then this may indicate very serious health problems. The blood may be scarlet, fresh or clotted. If the blood is bright, scarlet, fresh — the cause of bleeding should be sought in the pharynx, esophagus or in the stomach itself. Sometimes vomiting with blood is observed with nosebleeds, when blood enters the esophagus and stomach (when the head is thrown back).

Blood that has been in the stomach for a long time reacts with hydrochloric acid, acquiring a typical appearance, which doctors call «coffee grounds». Blood can enter the stomach from the intestines, and this is one of the manifestations of bleeding ulcers of these organs. In the presence of vomiting with blood, you can’t hesitate, you need to call an ambulance and hospitalization, otherwise the woman may die from blood loss or related complications (perforation of the ulcer, peritonitis). Sometimes vomiting with blood occurs with liver damage, leading to varicose expansion and filling of the veins of the esophagus (this happens with cirrhosis). In this case, the vessels rupture, and blood flows into the lumen of the esophagus and stomach. If the blood impurities are insignificant, in the form of blood streaks, erosive gastritis or tears in the esophageal mucosa can be suspected (if vomiting lasts more than one hour). In any case, an examination is necessary.