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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 undergoes significant hormonal changes throughout her menstrual cycle. 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 a normal occurrence and is typically caused by hormonal 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 that the ovulation symptom 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
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Hormonal fluctuations
The main reason you’re feeling ovulation nausea is 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 crucial for triggering the release of Luteinizing Hormone (LH), which in turn 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, are most likely to cause nausea.
In fact, 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
Fertility meds like clomiphene, letrozole, or gonadotropins can cause side effects like nausea, abdominal pain or discomfort, or bloating. Additionally, pain relievers or anti-inflammatory meds may cause nausea. This condition may worsen around ovulation due to hormonal changes.
Know more: Clomid vs. Letrozole: A Complete Comparison
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 one to two days, you can expect to feel better.
However, there are some things you can do to speed up the process and start feeling better more quickly.
- 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.
Are There Other Ovulation Symptoms?
Yes.
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 before ovulation cause your cervical mucus to become clear, wet, and stretchy — like egg whites. This helps sperm move towards the egg.
Know 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 serve as an indicator of ovulation when tracked 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.
Know more: Ovulation Symptoms: How Do You Really Know?
Note: All women don’t experience all of these ovulation symptoms. A 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 must happen. And both of these things happen after ovulation, not during.
When Should I See a Doctor?
Nausea around ovulation is typically mild and goes away quickly on its own.
However, if your ovulation cycle nausea is severe and is accompanied by vomiting, consult a healthcare provider.
It’s also a good idea to talk to a doctor about your ovulation nausea if you’re taking fertility medications or if you’re TTC and considering antiemetics.
FAQs
Yes, nausea is a somewhat common symptom for women to experience around the time of ovulation. The main culprit for ovulation nausea is changes in your hormone levels. Another reason you could experience nausea around ovulation time is if you have a condition like endometriosis or if you’re taking fertility medications that help with ovulation.
Common uncomfortable symptoms that women have around ovulation are cramping and fatigue. Some women may also experience nausea, light spotting, or tummy troubles like bloating or diarrhea.
The reason you may feel pregnant during ovulation has to do with your hormonal changes. Right before ovulation, your estrogen levels are high, and just after ovulation, your progesterone levels rise. These hormonal shifts can cause symptoms like bloating, breast tenderness, extra tiredness, and moodiness (which are considered common pregnancy symptoms).
While many unpleasant ovulation symptoms like cramping can be normal, bad or “concerning” symptoms during ovulation are: severe pain or bloating and intense vomiting or nausea. If you are on fertility medications, these more severe symptoms could be a sign of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a condition where the ovaries over-respond to these meds.
In general, the reason you may feel unwell during ovulation has to do with your fluctuating hormones. Your peaking estrogen levels prior to ovulation can cause you to have sore breasts and constipation. Meanwhile your rising progesterone levels just after ovulation can make you begin to feel premenstrual symptoms like fatigue and moodiness. On top of that, the physical releasing of the egg from your ovary can cause temporary cramping.
Some women may experience pregnancy-like symptoms around the time of ovulation. This is because a lot is going on with your hormones at this time. Estrogen levels peak just before ovulation and this can cause symptoms like bloating, headaches, or tender breasts. Then right after ovulation, progesterone begins steadily rising. And progesterone is the culprit for symptoms like fatigue, moodiness, breast soreness, and bloating.
There are no signs of pregnancy immediately after ovulation. This is because pregnancy doesn’t officially begin until a fertilized egg implants into your uterus (somewhere between 6 and 12 days after ovulation). However, if you’re experiencing “pregnancy” symptoms before that, these are likely due to hormonal changes in progesterone levels.
Yes, ovulation can mess with your bowels due to rising progesterone levels. When your progesterone levels increase, it can slow down digestion, making you feel bloated and constipated. On the other hand (though less common), some women may experience diarrhea around ovulation time due to their body’s response to all the hormonal changes.
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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
