Is Nausea After Eating an Early Sign of Pregnancy?

Morning sickness is one of the most common and unpleasant pregnancy symptoms in the first trimester, affecting an estimated 3 out of 4 moms. So if you’ve been trying to conceive (or even if you haven’t!) and feel a bit nauseous after eating, you might be wondering if you could be pregnant.

While there’s no way to know for sure that you’re expecting until a pregnancy test comes back positive, there is indeed a chance your nausea could be tied to the start of a surge in pregnancy hormones.

Is nausea after eating an early sign of pregnancy?

Nausea after eating is a common early sign of pregnancy. But morning sickness isn’t always the first (or only) pregnancy symptom women experience early on.

Some feel tired, bloated and moody, while others might just notice tender breasts. Still others may experience all of the above symptoms … or no noticeable signs of pregnancy at all.

What does it feel like, exactly?

During pregnancy, nausea after eating can feel like car sickness (minus the car) or sea sickness (minus the boat). Or you might liken it to a hangover. In other words, you likely feel like you want to throw up after meals, even if you never actually do (though you might wish you could).

Some women feel nauseous every time they eat or even all day long, while others have occasional queasiness. You may feel both queasy and hungry at the same time. You might also vomit a lot or a little, or you may never vomit at all.

These variations are likely due to a number of factors, including hormone levels, sensitivity, stress and fatigue.

When does it usually start?

Although nausea usually begins around week 6 of pregnancy, queasiness (including that after you eat) can start shortly after conception, around week 3 of pregnancy.

What causes nausea after you eat when you're pregnant?

There’s no official known reason for nausea after eating during pregnancy. But there are a lot of potential factors at play, including:

• Genetics

• High hCG levels in the first trimester

• Elevated estrogen levels

• An overactive sense of smell that plagues some women in pregnancy

• Pregnancy heartburn, which may begin when you’re around 8 weeks pregnant.

• Gastroesophageal reflux (GER)

• Less efficient digestion as pregnancy hormones relax the muscles of the digestive tract

• Fatigue and/or stress

• Eating too much food or eating high-fat foods, which tend to make an unsettled stomach worse

What can you do to relieve morning sickness after eating?

While it might seem counterintuitive, morning sickness often gets worse the longer you go without filling up your tank. That’s because when your tummy is empty, stomach acids churn away at your stomach lining, adding to the queasiness you experience when you do eat.

A few tips to relieve morning sickness after eating:

• Eat five to six smaller meals every day instead of three large ones. A very full stomach is likely to make nausea and heartburn worse, so aim for either six small meals or three medium-sized meals and two snacks.

• Don’t force it. If you can only stand pasta and peas for now, that’s certainly better for you (and your nausea) than eating nothing — or forcing down something that makes you feel like throwing up for the next few hours. If you can only stand sweet foods, a serving of yogurt with sliced fruit for dinner still gets you a healthy dose of protein, fiber and vitamins. And if all you can manage are ginger snaps, that’s okay too. While your goal is of course to eventually eat a well-rounded pregnancy diet, you’ll have plenty of time to make healthy choices in your second and third trimesters. In the meantime, continue to take your prenatal vitamins to cover your bases.

• Drink your nutrients. Some moms find that smoothies and soups (as well as chili or any warmed foods) are easier to stomach, and both are chock-full of nutrients. Plus it’s important to stay hydrated during pregnancy, and liquids in any form help with that.

• Try adding lemon or ginger to your cooking, since many women find these flavors help ease nausea. You can also keep a bag of real candied ginger by your desk to nosh on after meals or a half lemon or fresh-cut ginger to sniff. Sour or peppermint candies can also ease nausea for some women as well as with chilled almond milk.

• Brush your teeth right after you eat (or after you throw up), since that clean-mouth feeling might reduce the odds of feeling queasy.

• Avoid strong smells and flavors. Your favorite takeout might make you nauseous now, given your extra-sensitive sense of smell during pregnancy. So stay away from anything that makes you even slightly queasy.

• Switch it up. If bread is the only food you can stand for weeks on end, you might soon find that even the sight of a baguette makes you queasy. If that’s the case, ditch it for now and replace it with something else. Try out other options that are more palatable, like rice or quinoa.

• Snack before you go to bed. Think a mix of protein and complex carbs (like hard cheese on whole grain crackers), so your stomach has something to work on during the night.

• Keep a small snack on your nightstand (crackers, cereal, trail mix). That way you can munch if you wake up in the middle of the night and have a light bite first thing when you get up in the morning.

• Prioritize R&R, including sleep and stress-busting activities like meditation or yoga, since stress and fatigue both make nausea worse.

• Slap on a Sea-Band. This elastic band puts pressure on both wrists to possibly reduce nausea and is available at most pharmacies.

• Consider acupuncture. Some studies support the use of acupuncture to reduce morning sickness while others have found no effect. Still, it's worth a shot if you're feeling extra green. Just check with your practitioner first, and choose a licensed acupuncturist who has experience working with pregnant women.

• Talk to your doctor about supplements and medications. Prenatal supplements contain vitamin B6, which has been shown to ease queasiness. If swallowing a prenatal makes you nauseous, take yours whenever works best for you — whether that’s early in the morning or just before bed. For more persistent nausea, your doctor may also recommend a B6 supplement, a prenatal vitamin with extra B6 in it, Unisom SleepTabs (which contain the antihistamine doxylamine), and/or magnesium, all of which may help reduce queasiness. For severe cases of morning sickness, your doctor might prescribe a morning sickness medication (Diclegis or Bonjesta, both very safe and effective drugs that combine vitamin B6 and antihistamines) or an anti-nausea medication (like Reglan, Scopolamine or Phenergan).

Is there any way to prevent it?

Unfortunately for the many women who gag their way through the first trimester, it isn’t possible to totally prevent nausea after eating during pregnancy.

However, you may be able to reduce the severity and frequency of symptoms by noting anything that consistently makes you nauseated — spicy foods, strong odors, fatigue, sugary/greasy foods — and avoiding these triggers whenever possible. Also try to avoid eating large meals, which often makes nausea worse.

When does nausea after eating typically end?

Most women find that nausea after eating eases around the end of the first trimester, between weeks 12 and 14 of pregnancy. A few women, however, continue to feel nauseous throughout the second trimester and sometimes beyond.

Could nausea after eating be caused by something other than pregnancy?

Nausea after eating is often a very normal (if very unpleasant) early sign of pregnancy. If a pregnancy test hasn’t yet come back positive, however, that sick-to-your-stomach feeling could be due to a number of other factors, including medications you’re taking, a stomach bug, food poisoning, overeating, motion sickness or hormonal issues.

Sometimes, indigestion after eating can be caused by a problem with the digestive tract, like an ulcer or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Much more rarely, persistent nausea and vomiting may be linked to thyroid disease, liver disease, diabetes or gallbladder disease. If you’re concerned, talk to your doctor.

When to call the doctor

If nausea after eating continues for more than two weeks without a positive pregnancy test, check in with your doctor. It could be a sign of a more serious problem, especially if you have other unusual symptoms.

If you are pregnant and the nausea and vomiting is severe, call your practitioner. You may be experiencing hyperemesis gravidarum, which can result in dehydration and weight loss, and sometimes requires treatment at the hospital. Also check with your health care provider if you experience any of the following symptoms:

• Peeing only a little bit, or urine that’s darker in color (dark yellow, honey, amber or light orange)

• Not being able to keep liquids down

• Feeling dizzy when you stand up

• Racing heart

Nausea after eating may or may not be an early sign of pregnancy, so hang on until you’re far enough along to take a pregnancy test and get a positive result. And while the queasies aren't one of the most fun early pregnancy symptoms, they are a sign that your pregnancy hormones are well and kicking — and your baby very likely will soon be, too.