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  • What Is Anxiety Nausea?What Is Anxiety Nausea?
  • Why Does Anxiety Cause Nausea?Why Does Anxiety Cause Nausea?
  • Tips on How to StopTips on How to Stop
  • Get HelpGet Help
  • ConclusionConclusion
  • InfographicsInfographics
  • Additional ResourcesAdditional Resources
Anxiety Articles Anxiety Anxiety Treatment Anxiety Types Online Therapy for Anxiety

Can Anxiety Cause Nausea?

Vivian Ireton, LCSW Headshot

Author: Vivian Ireton, LCSW

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Vivian Ireton LCSW

Vivian specializes in counseling services for couples and individuals, with a focus on Christian counseling. She integrates a range of therapeutic approaches to address the needs of her clients.

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Medical Reviewer: Kristen Fuller, MD Licensed medical reviewer

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Kristen Fuller MD

Kristen Fuller, MD is a physician with experience in adult, adolescent, and OB/GYN medicine. She has a focus on mood disorders, eating disorders, substance use disorder, and reducing the stigma associated with mental health.

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Published: April 6, 2022
  • What Is Anxiety Nausea?What Is Anxiety Nausea?
  • Why Does Anxiety Cause Nausea?Why Does Anxiety Cause Nausea?
  • Tips on How to StopTips on How to Stop
  • Get HelpGet Help
  • ConclusionConclusion
  • InfographicsInfographics
  • Additional ResourcesAdditional Resources

Physical symptoms of anxiety include sweaty hands, heat rashes on the face or body, rapid heartbeat, and nausea that ranges in severity from “butterflies in your stomach” to vomiting and dry heaving. These nausea-related symptoms, a result of how the brain and gastrointestinal system work together, often leave a person feeling exhausted.

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What Is Anxiety Nausea?

Nausea is a potential symptom of anxiety that can be mild or intense, depending on the situation and the individual.1 It may last for minutes, or it might last for hours or days. However long it lasts, depending on severity, anxiety nausea can leave a person physically and emotionally exhausted.

Why Does Anxiety Cause Nausea?

Anxiety is a bodily response to a perceived threat; it prepares the person for fight or flight.2 One part of the central nervous system, the enteric system, serves the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The gastrointestinal system is closely linked to the brain and this connection is known as the gut-brain axis. When someone’s stressed, hormones and neurotransmitters both in the brain and in the gut, are released that can negatively affect the way the intestines work, causing GI discomfort.3

How does a person know if their nausea is from anxiety or something else? One question to ask is, “Am I worried about something?” Worrying is a common symptom of anxiety that can cause nausea. Question whether you feel threatened or in danger. Are you being vulnerable? In these situations, anxiety could be the cause of nausea.

Unlike an upset stomach, anxiety nausea usually only lasts until the perceived threat is gone. If nausea is because of something like the flu, other symptoms such as body aches and fever will usually accompany it.

8 Tips On How to Stop Anxiety Nausea

While anxiety nausea is common, it does not have to be a continuous issue; there are ways to at least reduce its effect on the body. The most important thing to do is to recognize when anxiety is the underlying issue for your nausea.

Eight ways to prevent anxiety-induced nausea are:

  1. Avoid greasy food: making sure to avoid greasy food before a situation that might cause anxiety will help. Then the central nervous system won’t trigger the gastric tract to want to expel the offending greasy food.
  2. Wear comfortable clothing: when a person is nervous, the body often feels uncomfortable, and body temperature will rise. Wearing clothing that is loose-fitting and breathable helps keep the body from getting too hot, which can trigger anxiety nausea.
  3. Drink water: with nausea and vomiting, the body loses liquids. Slowly drinking water can help you stay hydrated so you’re able to keep up your strength.
  4. Eat smaller meals during the day: eating small meals throughout the day means that there’s not as much food in the stomach to cause upset. This also helps keep sugar levels stable so a person’s energy level is stable, too. If vomiting, it’s best not to eat until you’re done. It’s best to eat dry foods like crackers or dry toast until the stomach has time to settle.
  5. Breathing: take long deep breaths when feeling nauseated. This calms the anxiety and the central nervous system.
  6. Self-talk: reassuring yourself that everything will be OK can help calm the anxiety. Remind yourself that the situation can be managed to calm the central nervous system.
  7. Avoid alcohol/caffeine: when anxious it’s best to avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase the heart rate, thereby increasing the anxiety.
  8. Avoid physical activity: when nauseated, avoid physical activity. While exercise does help decrease anxiety, it only serves to increase existing nausea. Instead, try to find a calm place to relax.
Anxiety Worksheets

Anxiety Worksheets

Our anxiety worksheets are designed to help you understand your anxiety, develop effective coping skills, and better manage challenging moments.

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When to Seek Professional Help

If you’re anxious frequently and find yourself becoming nauseous more often than not, it is important to seek help. A therapist can help you identify techniques to decrease your anxiety and improve your wellbeing. Using a free online directory, you can begin the process of finding a therapist by location, expertise, price, etc. Once the therapist is chosen, they can help identify the best form of treatment to employ moving forward.

Therapy for Anxiety

Here are two common types of therapy used to treat anxiety:

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): this type of therapy helps change unhelpful thinking patterns. The person learns strategies to positively change their reactions to thoughts.
  • Psychodynamic therapy: this therapy addresses anxiety through self-reflection and self-examination. It might be useful for long term anxiety resulting from trauma or deep-seated emotional conflict.

Medication for Anxiety

There are several medications on the market today that can help decrease or control anxiety, including anti-anxiety medication and antidepressants.4 Talk to a doctor or psychiatrist about what medication they think will help you most.

Final Thoughts On Anxiety Nausea

Anxiety nausea is more common than you think. While many people suffer from it, it does not have to be debilitating. There are techniques to help control and manage your symptoms until they are gone. There are also professionals who can help you on this journey. If you or someone you know is experiencing anxiety nausea, seek help from a mental health provider.

Anxiety Nausea Infographics

Can Anxiety Cause Nausea? Can Anxiety Cause Nausea? Can Anxiety Cause Nausea?

Additional Resources

To help our readers take the next step in their mental health journey, ChoosingTherapy.com has partnered with leaders in mental health and wellness. ChoosingTherapy.com is compensated for marketing by the companies included below.

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Brightside Health – develops personalized plans that are unique to you and offers 1 on 1 support from start to finish. Brightside Health accepts United Healthcare, Anthem, Cigna, and Aetna. Appointments in as little as 24 hours. Start Free Assessment

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Mindfulness.com – Change your life by practicing mindfulness. In a few minutes a day, you can start developing mindfulness and meditation skills. Free Trial

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For Further Reading

  • Mental Health America
  • National Alliance on Mental Health
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Sources Update History

ChoosingTherapy.com strives to provide our readers with mental health content that is accurate and actionable. We have high standards for what can be cited within our articles. Acceptable sources include government agencies, universities and colleges, scholarly journals, industry and professional associations, and other high-integrity sources of mental health journalism. Learn more by reviewing our full editorial policy.

  • (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA. American Psychiatric Association.

  • Gupta, N. (2021). “Stress and stomach pain: Should you see a specialist?” U Chicago Medicine. At the Forefront -Gastrointestinal. Retrieved from https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/gastrointestinal-articles/stress-and-stomach-pain-when-should-you-see-a-specialist

  • (2021). “What is the link between anxiety and nausea?” Medical News Today. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326391

  • (2022). :Generalized Anxiety Disorder: When Worry Gets Out of Control” National Institute of Mental Health (NAMI). Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad

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We regularly update the articles on ChoosingTherapy.com to ensure we continue to reflect scientific consensus on the topics we cover, to incorporate new research into our articles, and to better answer our audience’s questions. When our content undergoes a significant revision, we summarize the changes that were made and the date on which they occurred. We also record the authors and medical reviewers who contributed to previous versions of the article. Read more about our editorial policies here.

April 24, 2025
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Primary Changes: Added Anxiety Workbook with nine worksheets.
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