Why do migraines cause nausea/vomiting?And why does the headache usually go away after throwing up?
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It is not exactly clear why migraines cause these symptoms, but it is thought that the intense pain of a migraine can trigger a reflex in the brain that causes the muscles in the stomach and intestines to contract, leading to nausea and vomiting.
Some people with migraines may be more sensitive to certain smells, sounds, or lights, which can also contribute to feelings of nausea.
Serotonin has a role in both the headaches and the nausea. Serotonin is a hormone that is produced in both the brain and the gut, although most of it is found in the gut. In the gut, serotonin helps the food move along, and a drop in serotonin can cause the food processing to slow down or stop completely. At the same time, a drop in serotonin level causes a migraine attack. On the contrary, a sudden increase in serotonin production in the gut causes nausea and vomiting.
If your migraine ends after vomiting, it can be that the new, although sudden, production of serotonin, restores the serotonin shortage and the migraine is over.
To expand.. another clue is the medicine to treat migraine (with nausea); tryptophan. The body needs tryptophan to produce serotonin.
Another product made from tryptophan is kynurenine, which regulates the sensation of pain in the nerves in the head (trigeminal system). So there is more to it than serotonin alone, but it’s processing plays a central role in migraines.
Taken together, in a migraine attack there is a disturbance in the level of serotonin, usually begins with a drop in serotonin and ends with an increase of serotonin.
If you take the medicine tryptophan at the beginning of a migraine attack, this will help normalize the serotonin levels and this can stop the migraine attack.
Migraines are not well understood, but it is thought that sensory overload and pain in the head can cause uneasiness in the stomach and potentially vomiting. This could also be why after hearing bad news you suddenly get a bad stomach ache but then it goes away once you’ve calmed down. Doesn’t happen to everyone, but I’ve experienced these and label them as anxious aches.
Similarly, it is not known why vomiting eases the pain of a migraine, but is is theorized that endorphins (natural painkillers) will rush out after vomiting and quell the pain.
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