IBS and nausea
The first thing to note about IBS is that the condition does not amount to a definitive set of symptoms that every sufferer will experience. Instead, it can be described as a 'syndrome' meaning there are a whole heap of symptoms associated with it, of which people experience only a small selection.
Sometimes this will include nausea but other times it will not.
Remember...
If you feel nauseous it doesn't mean you necessarily have IBS
If you don't feel nauseous then it doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have IBS
It's not a black and white issue.
The second thing to make clear is that there are arguably, often more things that can cause IBS than there are symptoms. Lots of different things work together to mess up an individual's digestion therefore, working out what's causing your symptoms can be a big part of improving them.
Causes of nausea with IBS
So, how can having an irritable bowel make you feel sick?
If you have ruled out the obvious reasons for feeling sick such as pregnancy or a the winter vomiting bug, then it could be time to look for clues.
Here are some of the possible causes:
- Low blood sugar
- Food intolerances
- Overfilling the stomach
- The liver struggling to cope with fatty, fried food
- The liver struggling to cope with rich, creamy food
- Constipation causing an overload on the liver
You’ll notice that quite a few of these things involve the liver, and this isn’t surprising when you realise that an upset liver is often a key cause of nausea.
1. Nausea in the morning
If you feel sick when you wake up (and you have ruled out pregnancy or a hangover) then it is often low blood sugar that is driving your system to despair.
It might not seem logical that just when you need to eat to push up your blood sugar levels, that’s the last thing you feel like doing. However, when blood sugar falls too low your body starts to make use of its emergency stores of energy. Although this will allow you to continue without eating in the short run, as time goes by it’ll make you feel increasingly nauseous.
Have you experienced this? You get up feeling sick, and then you may be more tempted to reach for the wrong things in order to quell this discomfort.
Well, here I've tried to come up with some alternative, and hopefully appealing ways of coping.
What can I do?
- As soon as you can, slowly drink a small amount of warm water with a slice of lemon or ginger. Follow this with a sip of fruit juice however, make sure it’s the pure stuff rather than anything that has lots of added sugar and artificial sweeteners. This slips down easily on top of water and the natural sugars in it are easily absorbed which will help to bring up your blood sugars gently.
- Next up try a little mashed banana or stewed fruit with a dusting of cinnamon as this is very good for stabilising blood sugar levels. This will allow you to get off to work or tackle the morning chores without sickness interfering. Also, as your blood sugar rises your appetite should reappear too.
2. Before a bowel movement
Many people report feeling queasy before having a poo but there are two major variations here.
- Feeling queasy for a while and then feeling better after experiencing movement in the bowel.
Movement in the bowel stirs up waste in the large intestine before getting rid of it completely. The liver helps in this process by producing bile which enters the small intestine then triggers the muscular action that propels wastes through the large intestine and out. As previously noted, liver activity can cause nausea, especially if the liver is a little overladen which can be the case if digestion is weak or the bowel is slow to move. Therefore, the more regular and brisk your bowel functions are, the less likely this is to happen.
- Experiencing pain just before and during (and sometimes after) having a bowel movement to the point that it makes you feel quite weak and sickly.
This occurs when nerve endings in your large intestine react a little hysterically to the muscular contraction that ripples through the gut to shunt waste along. Also, sometimes it occurs when the muscles experience spasms rather than contracting and releasing as they should.
Nerve endings become over-sensitive if there is any inflammation in your gut and muscles spasms arise when there is insufficient magnesium in your system.
What can I do?
- You can calm inflammation with Silicol®gel, just take half an hour before meals in a large glass of water. This product contains silicic acid which is a compound of the mineral substance silicon and oxygen in a colloidal (highly dispersible) and hydrated form. It has the ability to bind to a variety of harmful and toxic substances, including pathogens, and can help reduce the symptoms of IBS.
- To support magnesium levels I’d recommend turning to a liquid supplement such as Floradix which is easily absorbed by the body. On top of this try to focus on including more magnesium-rich foods in your diet such as green vegetables and dried fruit.
3. After eating
If you feel sick after eating then the first thing to consider if you might have overeaten, as this can be a common side effect.
However, next, if your digestion is insufficient, then it will not break down foods efficiently. This means that not only will your body fail to benefit from the nutrients these foods contain, but your body could continue to feel hungry, or that dreaded queasiness could set in if your system is struggling to cope.
What can I do?
- Eating slowly and chewing thoroughly is a great way to ensure that your body benefits from the food you’re eating, plus it switches off the hunger message. Try having one meal where you chew each mouthful at least twenty times, yes twenty, and see if you still feel as hungry afterwards.
Another easy way to overload your stomach is to drink with your meal so limit the drinks (even water) during and just after meals and see if your stomach feels more comfortable.
If the amount that you are putting in is fine, it may be that the content of the food you are eating that is the issue.
The liver finds it harder to plough its way through very fatty foods, foods full of cream, rich cheeses, or buttery sauces and pastries.
Imagine a dish that you have used to roast a particularly succulent piece of chicken. To table the grease, you fill the washing up bowl with hot water and empty some washing up liquid into it. Your digestive system does the same – heats up the small intestine as the fatty food enters, and pours bile from the liver to emulsify the fats. Without the bile you’d be as unable to break down the fats in food, just as you would be unable to cleanse the grease from your roasting dish without washing up liquid.
What can I do?
- To help here you could try using Digestisan tincture before meals, whilst gradually pruning away the fattiest foods in your diet.
- Also, consider cutting out common culprits for food intolerances such as dairy products, whilst swapping to the many dairy-free alternatives available, to see if you and your gut feel better.
4. No appetite
Understandably so, it can be unnerving when you don’t fancy your food, especially if you feel sick at the same time, and this is definitely something to check with your doctor if the problem is persistent.
The problem with not eating is that it lowers your blood sugar levels and this can make you feel sick – which can easily turn into a vicious circle.
If you are stressed, this can also add to the problem, as this can also switch off your digestion and can either kill your appetite, or cause on-going hunger in a bid to acquire more readily-availble fuel, – the direction of this effect can be somewhat individual.
What can I do?
- If you’ve been ill and you haven’t fancied your food for a while then taking Silicol® gel can soothe and ease your stomach so that you feel more able to face a meal. Start small and warm – don’t try to munch down a salad at this point. Warm food is easier to digest and something like a comforting vegetable soup will do you good. Another option is to try a baked sweet potato with a little olive or coconut oil and a sprinkle of Herbamare.
- Stress Relief Daytime contains a mix of Valerian and Hops which helps to ease mild stress and anxiety.
Originally published December 2015, updated September 2022.
