7 ways to combat anxiety nausea

When you get anxious, the body goes through some changes, including a racing heat-beat to shortness of breath, to even feeling light-headed and dizzy. But for some people, they might even feel nausea.

What is nausea ?

Nausea is the feeling that you are going to vomit. That uncomfortable feeling in your stomach that means that you can vomit very soon and can come during or after a bout of anxiety or an anxiety attack itself.

Nausea is caused by the effect of blood leaving the stomach area when the bodies response to the "fight-or-flight" state. In other words, when the mind gets anxious the body goes into, "fight-or-flight" which means that adrenaline is flooding the body which causes blood to be directed away from the stomach.

When your stress hormones are released, the stomach produces lower levels of enzymes and  higher levels of its acid, which causes the stomach to ache. You could say that this is the reason why some people with anxiety may also have irritable bowel syndrome, which can also cause anxiety nausea.

There are ways of tackling anxiety nausea so it doesn't have a crippling effect on you.
Some people use OTC medications, such as peppermint, Tums and Pepto-Bismol, which can be used for a temporary effect, but there are other ways you can help relieve yourself of feeling anxiety nausea.

Here is a list of the best ways to help yourself of anxiety nausea

1. The green smoothies

A good cup of jam-vegetable-packed smoothie will actually help your stomach reduce the anxiety nausea, as it provides the stomach with food. Keep the vegetables organic to reduce the risk of inducing wax and pesticides. Drinking green smoothies helps your stomach, provides you with nutrition and help reduce the risk of anxiety nausea.

2. Ginger root, or eating a ginger tablet

This can be a great way to reduce anxiety nausea, particularly if taken in a tablet form. While the taste may not be everyone's liking, taking ginger will help combat anxiety nausea and is a safe herb, unlike the side effects of taking medication.

3. Massage your tummy

Just by massaging the top part of your stomach area can help relax your stomach and reduce your anxiety nausea. Massaging the stomach promotes blood circulation and helps the stomach to increase the strength of its muscles.

4. Splashing cold water on yourself

Splashing cold water on your face gives a signal to your heart to slow the heartbeat down to try to maximize the time we can keep ourselves under water. By splashing your face, you are essentially reducing your heartbeats, which helps calm the mind. This helps reduce anxiety nausea.

5. Drinking water

Drinking water can be a great way to reduce anxiety nausea, as it helps nourish the body. Also when you are anxious, you can become slightly dehydrated which can lead to more anxiety. Drinking water therefore can actually promote more of an anxiety-free future.

6. Having natural supplements

Herbs like passionflower, valerian root and kava may be effective in reducing anxiety nausea and can be an excellent alternative to taking medication which of course can have some side effects.

7. Deep breathing

Control your breathing when you feel anxious or stressed have been shown to help relieve symptoms. By deep breathing you control the mind, which in turn helps to relieve anxiety nausea. Deep breathing also can induce a meditative-effect on your brain, relax faster.

Try to breath for 5 seconds through the stomach area, hold for a few seconds, and then breath out for 5 seconds. Repeat this 10 times. This should help calm down the mind and allow you to refocus.

The ultimate trick to reduce your nausea will be to control your anxiety, and find out which situations makes you more anxious and stressed and then find coping mechanisms to help combat those stressful situations. But as always, if it feels like it is too much, always consult your doctor or GP for help.