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Nausea is a common experience for many women, especially during pregnancy.
But the truth is this feeling can pop up at various points during your menstrual cycle. And one of those times is ovulation.
Not every woman experiences nausea during ovulation. But for those who do, we know it can be unpleasant.
Why does this nausea happen? Primarily due to hormonal fluctuations. The female body goes through massive hormone shifts throughout her menstrual cycles. Ovulation is one of those peak times.
Read on to better understand the potential causes of ovulation sickness and how you can manage it.
Key Takeaways
- Nausea during ovulation is normal and is most commonly caused by hormone fluctuations.
- The leading causes of nausea? Shifts in estrogen and progesterone levels, along with a surge in luteinizing hormone.
- Ovulation sickness can also be due to pain related to ovulation, medication side effects, and pre-existing conditions.
- Nausea during this part of your menstrual cycle tends to cause mild discomfort. And it typically goes away on its own within a couple of days.
- You can help speed up the process of feeling better by sipping on peppermint tea, drinking plenty of water, eating smaller meals, avoiding triggering foods, and considering medication.
- Other signs of ovulation include changes in cervical mucus, an increase in basal body temperature, Mittelschmerz, breast tenderness, heightened sense of smell, light vaginal bleeding, bloating, and mood swings.
- Nausea during ovulation is not a sign of pregnancy.
- If you experience severe nausea or severe pain, consult a healthcare provider.
Is nausea during ovulation normal?
We know nausea is never fun, and can cause concern. But the good news is the ovulation symptom of nausea is considered normal.
Let’s take a look at some of the reasons you may be experiencing pain during this part of your menstrual cycle.
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Causes for nausea during ovulation
Hormonal fluctuations
The main reason you’re feeling ovulation nausea is thanks to hormone shifts in your menstrual cycle. There are two key hormones responsible for this.
Estrogen
Leading up to your ovulation phase, estrogen levels rise to stimulate the growth of your ovarian follicles. This rise is key for triggering the release of luteinizing hormone (LH), which leads to ovulation.
Estrogen before ovulation: Levels are high to promote follicle growth.
Estrogen after ovulation: Levels fluctuate.
Progesterone
After ovulation occurs, the empty follicle transforms into the corpus luteum, which starts releasing progesterone. This hormone preps the uterine lining for a potential pregnancy. And if pregnancy does not occur, you shed your uterine lining and get your menstrual period.
Progesterone before ovulation: Levels are low.
Progesterone after ovulation: Levels rise significantly.
These shifts throughout ovulation from high to low and low to high, along with a surge in LH, create the most likely candidate for nausea.
Research supports this. One study found that both estrogen and progesterone slow down the rate at which your stomach empties. This, in turn, can make you feel both full and nauseous.
Ovulation pain
Another potential cause of your nausea may be pain — called Mittelschmerz. Around 40% of women experience this every month. This one-sided pain during ovulation can lead to nausea.
The good news is that this pain is normal, mild, and short-lived. It typically only lasts between a few hours and a few days.
Know more: Ovulation Pain: What to Know About Mittelschmerz
Side effects of medications
Are you using fertility meds like clomiphene, letrozole, or gonadotropins? They can cause side effects like nausea, abdominal pain or discomfort, or bloating.
What about pain relievers or anti-inflammatory meds? You may also experience nausea from these as well. This sickness may get worse around ovulation, thanks to hormonal changes.
Pre-existing conditions
Nausea during this part of your menstrual cycle could also be a result of pelvic conditions like endometriosis or an ovarian cyst. The pain and inflammation that comes with these conditions can manifest as ovulation pain. And this can lead to nausea.
That’s because when the body endures pain like this, the nervous system becomes hyperactive, triggering nausea as a side effect.
How to manage nausea during ovulation?
We understand that feeling nauseous is never welcomed. Thankfully, typically ovulation nausea goes away on its own fairly quickly. Within a day or two you can expect to feel better.
However, there are some things you can do to speed up the process and start feeling better, faster.
- Eat smaller meals. Swap out your three big meals for more frequent, smaller ones in this part of your menstrual cycle. This helps reduce strain on your digestive system.
- Avoid trigger foods. Fatty, spicy, and greasy foods are common triggers for indigestion. Do your best to avoid them during ovulation.
- Stay hydrated. Drinking enough water ensures that food moves through your digestive tract more easily.
- Sip on peppermint tea. Peppermint’s natural soothing properties make it a great addition to your ovulation routine.
- Consult a doctor. If your nausea is severe and/or lasts longer than a couple of days, talk to your doctor about antiemetic medication. These meds are used to treat nausea and vomiting and may be just what you need.
Other ovulation symptoms
While nausea can be a symptom of ovulation, it’s not the only one you might experience. Here are other signs of ovulation that could pop up during this part of your menstrual cycle.
- Cervical mucus changes: Rising estrogen levels prior to ovulation cause your cervical mucus to become clear, wet, and stretchy — like egg whites. This helps sperm move towards the egg.
Learn more: What can your cervical mucus tell you about your body?
- Cervical position changes: Your cervix elevates and softens during ovulation to help sperm enter.
- Basal body temperature (BBT) changes: Basal body temperature (BBT) slightly increases after ovulation due to rising progesterone levels. This can be used as an indicator of ovulation when you track it consistently.
- Ovulation pain: Like we talked about earlier, this sharp or dull pain, on the side where your ovary releases the egg, is normal and temporary.
- Ovulation spotting: Light spotting during ovulation happens due to follicle rupture.
- Breast tenderness: You may feel breast pain, swelling, and tenderness during ovulation due to a hormone spike.
- Bloating: Hormonal changes during ovulation can lead to fluid retention and bloating.
Learn more: Ovulation Symptoms: How Do You Really Know?
Please note that not all women experience all of these ovulation symptoms. In fact, few do. You may still be ovulating even if you don’t feel them.
A great way to better understand when ovulation occurs is to track ovulation. You can do this with Inito. This fertility monitor measures LH, estrogen, PdG, and FSH on a single test strip to track your fertile window and predict and confirm ovulation.
Inito also has a symptom-tracking feature that allows you to keep a close watch on your monthly cycle symptoms and better understand your menstrual cycle.
Does nausea during ovulation mean you’re pregnant?
Not really.
Nausea experienced during ovulation is not a reliable indicator of pregnancy.
For pregnancy to occur, fertilization and implantation have to happen. And both of these things happen after ovulation, not during.
When do I need to see a doctor?
Nausea around ovulation typically is mild and goes away quickly on its own.
However, if your ovulation cycle nausea is severe and is accompanied by vomiting, it’s time to talk to a healthcare provider.
It’s also a good idea to consult with a doctor about your ovulation nausea if you’re taking fertility medications or if you’re TTC and considering antiemetics.
FAQs
Ovulation nausea is normal. It’s typically mild and lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few days, and goes away on its own.
You can feel nauseous before, during, and after ovulation.
Ovulation symptoms can provide hints that ovulation is happening.
However, these ovulation symptoms are not enough to confirm. Confirmation comes via tracking your progesterone or PdG levels.
Ovulation sickness typically goes away on its own, so try and be patient.
You can alleviate some of the nausea by sipping on peppermint tea, drinking plenty of water, and avoiding foods that trigger the sickness.
In more severe cases, talk to your healthcare provider about antiemetics.
Ovulation signs include changes in cervical mucus, rise in basal body temperature, Mittelschmerz, breast tenderness, spotting, cervical position change, and increased libido.
No. Both fertilization and implantation happen after the egg is released.
Yes, nausea during ovulation is normal and is mostly due to hormonal fluctuations around ovulation. 40% women also experience ovulation pain which may cause nausea around ovulation. This is because pain can trigger nausea in some cases due to the connection between your nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. The pain signals tend to activate the areas of the brain responsible for nausea. This results in cortisol release in the body that further contributes to the nausea.
To reduce your nausea, you may try drinking a lot of water, sip on some ginger or peppermint tea, get some fresh air, take deep breaths, eat bland foods like BRAT – bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast, etc. You should also try avoiding trigger foods, and in case of severe nausea, consult your doctor for medical management with antacids, etc.
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- The Normal Menstrual Cycle and the Control of Ovulation | NIH
- Comparison of the prevalence and severity of nausea and vomiting in the first trimester between singleton pregnancies conceived from stimulated in vitro fertilization and frozen embryo transfer cycles | PubMed Central
- Mittelschmerz | NIH
- Endo Belly: What Is It and Why Does It Happen?—A Narrative Review | PubMed Central
- Susceptibility to Nausea and Motion Sickness as a Function of the Menstrual Cycle | PubMed Central
- Dietary fat intake and functional dyspepsia | PubMed Central
- Olfactory information processing during the course of the menstrual cycle | ScienceDirect
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