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Written by
Stacy Miller
A woman’s menstrual cycle can bring a roller coaster of different symptoms. During each stage, your body undergoes hormonal changes that can impact you physically, emotionally, and even mentally. While there’s a lot of attention on how you feel during your period, it’s less common to discuss symptoms during different phases. Ovulation nausea is an interesting topic that’s not often talked about. Although you may have heard that it’s due to hormonal fluctuations, it’s more widely accepted to be connected to GI issues or psychological symptoms. In this article, we’ll discuss the truth about why you may experience nausea during ovulation and what you can do to feel better.
Ovulation is when the dominant follicle in your ovaries releases an egg that travels to the uterus for fertilization. During this time of your menstrual cycle, your hormone levels fluctuate, with a surge in luteinizing hormone to trigger the follicle burst, with estrogen levels dropping and progesterone increasing after ovulation. These fluctuations can produce a few side effects, like a light drop before ovulation and a rise after ovulation in basal body temperature, increased egg-white cervical mucus, and occasionally mittelschmerz or ovulation pain.
While these symptoms are more common, the question is, “Can ovulation cause nausea?” The short answer is “no,” ovulation and nausea are not directly linked. Of the possible ovulation symptoms nausea isn’t one of them. However, if you’re not feeling well and ovulation isn’t the cause, you’re probably wondering, “Why am I feeling nauseous during ovulation?” The answer is most likely tied to other causes.
If you’re feeling sick during ovulation, you may be tempted to think it’s due to the hormonal shifts in your body, but there is no evidence to support that claim. While possible, nausea while ovulating is uncommon. In fact, you’re more likely to feel great during ovulation than to feel sick. While feeling nausea when ovulating isn’t common, if it’s severe with ongoing vomiting, it’s considered abnormal and could point to a different underlying issue. That said, there are times when you could experience light nausea with ovulation. If it resolves on its own and doesn’t interfere with your daily routine, there should be no reason to worry.
Although nausea during ovulation week isn’t shown to have direct ties, if you’re feeling sick and tired during ovulation, you’ll want to try to determine the underlying cause. Having an upset stomach not only creates discomfort but can interfere with your daily life. To help you treat your symptoms, it can help to monitor them. Record information like:
Once you have a better understanding of when the nausea occurs and how long it lasts, you can start to determine what causes it.
Now that we’ve answered the question, “Can ovulation make you feel sick?” it’s time to discuss why you may feel nauseous at the same time as ovulation. When it comes to nausea, ovulation may not be to blame, so it’s important to try to determine the cause.
Underlying GI issues can be to blame for feeling nauseous during ovulation. While you can feel nauseous during ovulation, gastrointestinal problems are often the cause. These can be due to factors like food allergies, IBD, IBS, and GERD. While you may wonder, “Is nausea a symptom of ovulation?” identifying any possible GI issues can help you treat the true underlying cause.
One way ovulation can be tied to nausea is by hormonal fluctuations causing migraines, which in turn lead to nausea. Hormonal migraines are often triggered by ovulation, and more than half of women sufferers have migraines occurring during ovulation. When tied to hormonal migraines, ovulation can make you nauseous.
Before we cover diet as a reason, please keep in mind that ovulation is not fixed in time. While you may think it’s ovulation, you could actually be in the middle of your luteal phase. After ovulation occurs, your progesterone hormone levels increase to help support the implantation of a fertilized egg. While that’s great when getting pregnant, it could have an unwanted side effect: increased hunger. When you’re hungry, you may overeat or consume foods that can upset your stomach. For some, a change in their diet can lead to GI issues like nausea, bloating, and diarrhea. These symptoms are often tied to the menstrual cycle as well, so it’s understandable that you may think it’s the cause. So, is nausea a sign of ovulation? No, more than likely, it’s a result of changes in your diet.
If you experience nausea on ovulation day, your lifestyle could be to blame. If you’re under a high amount of stress, aren’t physically active, drinking large amounts of alcohol, or not getting enough sleep, it can impact how you feel. While questioning, “Is it normal to feel nauseous during ovulation?” it’s important to take a look at some of these factors. Reducing your stress levels and getting enough sleep can help keep your hormones in balance so you can feel better all month long. Limiting alcohol and keeping moving can also help reduce nausea.
Whether you struggle with fertility or are trying to get pregnant, you may know that ovulation and pregnancy symptoms can sometimes be similar.
During early pregnancy, it’s common to experience breast tenderness. As your hormone levels so does blood flow, and when paired with fluid retention, it can cause your breasts to swell and become more sensitive. Breast tenderness is also a sign of ovulation, but will subside quickly.
Many women experience a higher libido during ovulation as a biological way to ensure egg fertilization. Typically, a heightened sex drive isn’t a pregnancy symptom; in fact, women can often have a lowered libido during early pregnancy due to not feeling well.
Mild cramping can occur with both ovulation and early pregnancy. During ovulation, this abdominal pain is called mittelschmerz and usually occurs on one side. Implantation cramping in pregnancy can happen as the fertilized egg attaches to the uterus, but you’re unlikely to feel it.
Around ovulation, your cervical mucus becomes stretchy and watery, like egg whites. These changes can carry into early pregnancy, where it may remain watery or become more clumpy.
Breakthrough bleeding during ovulation isn’t common, but it can occur and generally isn’t a cause for alarm. Implantation bleeding happens when the fertilized egg attaches to the uterus and may be confused for a light period, however most women don’t experience it.
Now that we’ve answered the question, “Does ovulation make you nauseous?” It’s time to talk about how to deal with an upset stomach when it occurs. Although the two aren’t directly tied together, knowing how to stop nausea during ovulation can help you feel better and get back to your routine.
Eating small meals frequently can help calm your stomach by keeping it from becoming too empty or full.
When you’re feeling nauseous, avoid foods with too much spice or seasonings. Options like toast, crackers, rice, and bananas are easy to digest.
When you’re nauseous, you run the risk of becoming dehydrated, so be sure to drink plenty of liquids like clear broth, water, and ginger ale. Dehydration can make nausea worse, so continue sipping throughout the day.
Ginger and peppermint can help calm an upset stomach without the side effects of medication. Try drinking them in teas, aromatherapy, or oils to soothe and alleviate sickness.
So, does ovulation cause nausea? No, it doesn’t, so if you’re experiencing severe nausea and vomiting, it’s important to talk to your healthcare provider. These symptoms could be an indication of an underlying condition.
Understanding how your body works is the best way to take control of your health. Hormona is proud to offer comprehensive insights into your hormones so you can understand your body. The Hormona app is the award-winning hormone tracker offering tools that revolutionize women’s hormone health.
FAQ
There could be numerous reasons why you feel sick mid-cycle, including GI issues, stress, lack of sleep, and a poor diet.
No, ovulation doesn’t make you feel sick or like you have the flu. In fact, many women find that they feel great and have increased energy.
It depends on the cause of the nausea. If you become pregnant, you may start experiencing nausea 11 to 20 days after ovulation, depending on when implantation occurs.
Around 11 to 20 days after ovulation, you may start to experience pregnancy nausea, with the average time being 16 days. However, some women could experience symptoms as early as 8 days after ovulation.
Yes, women who experience cramping may feel nauseous as a result. The release of prostaglandins before menstruation can cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as loose stools, an upset stomach, and nausea. However, not all women experience these symptoms, and when they are a normal part of the cycle, they’re usually mild and don’t interfere with daily activities.
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Dr Singh is the Medical Director of the Indiana Sleep Center. His research and clinical practice focuses on the myriad of sleep.
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