https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/what-to-do-when-your-medication-causes-nausea
What to do when your medication causes nausea
Taking your pills with a light snack or at bedtime may help reduce the nausea.
You take medication hoping it will make you feel better. But sometimes it makes you feel worse. "Nausea is one of the most common side effects of medications we hear about," says Joanne Doyle Petrongolo, a pharmacist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
About nausea
Nausea is a queasy feeling in your stomach — you may feel seasick, or you may feel you're about to vomit. Medications that commonly cause nausea as a side effect include antibiotics, such as erythromycin (Erythrocin); aspirin; nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve); and some blood pressure drugs, such as the calcium-channel blocker nifedipine (Nifedical, Procardia).
Other common nausea culprits: antidepressants, chemotherapy drugs, and medications for Parkinson's disease.
Nausea as a side effect
Why do so many drugs have the potential to make you feel nauseous? In some cases, it's the way a medication works. "For example, the pain medications Percocet and Vicodin act on the part of the brain that controls nausea and vomiting," says Doyle Petrongolo. "NSAIDs irritate the stomach lining, which can cause nausea and vomiting."
In other instances, nausea is linked to digestion. "The ability to absorb medications may decrease as we get older, or the medication itself may stay in the gut longer, causing irritation," says Doyle Petrongolo.
Drug interactions may also cause nausea, especially if you're taking several medications at a time. And sometimes the inactive ingredients in a tablet make a person feel nauseated.
What you can do about nausea
Report drug-induced nausea to your doctor if it's interfering with your daily activities, keeping you from eating properly, or causing weight loss or dehydration.
Ask your pharmacist if you should take your medication with food. "In many cases, it helps decrease nausea if you take it with a light snack, such as crackers, toast, or yogurt," says Doyle Petrongolo. She also recommends avoiding fatty or fried foods, which take longer to digest and may increase the risk of nausea; avoiding lying down flat when resting; and taking a medication at bedtime, to "sleep off" potential nausea.
If nausea persists, your doctor may prescribe an additional drug to reduce the intensity or frequency of the nausea, or switch you to another medication.
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