Headaches, Migraines, and Nausea Migraines are often accompanied by stomach problems. In fact, eight out of every 10 people in the U.S. who are diagnosed with migraines report that their headaches cause nausea.

Migraines are the type of headache most likely to make you nauseated. There are, though, other causes of head pain that can also result in an upset stomach. It's important to consult a doctor about your symptoms. Your doctor can determine the cause and the appropriate treatment for your headaches and nausea.

Recommended Related to Migraines/Headaches

Hemiplegic Migraine Headaches

Hemiplegic migraine is a rare type of headache. It's also one of the most serious and potentially debilitating migraine headaches.

Read the Hemiplegic Migraine Headaches article > >

What Headaches Other Than Migraines Can Cause Nausea?

In addition to migraines, there are multiple conditions and illnesses that can cause headaches with nausea or vomiting. The doctor will ask about your specific symptoms and history. What you tell the doctor will help determine whether your headache and nausea are migraine-related or the result of another condition or illness. Other conditions that might cause headaches and nausea include:

• Cold, flu, or stomach flu. Common viruses that cause cold, flu, and stomach flu -- or gastroenteritis -- can cause headache and nausea. Both can range in intensity from mild to severe. Unlike migraines, these conditions are often accompanied by other signs of viral illness. For instance, you may have a runny nose, diarrhea, chills, body aches, and fever. 
• Meningitis. A severe headache accompanied by extreme sensitivity to light and nausea may sound like a classic migraine. But if it is also accompanied by an extremely stiff neck, with or without fever, it could be meningitis. 
• Cluster headache. Nausea is one of the factors commonly used to distinguish between migraines and other types of headaches. That includes tension headaches and cluster headaches. But there is some evidence that suggests some people with cluster headaches do experience nausea when attacks occur. Cluster headaches are repeated, excruciating, one-sided headaches.

How Are Migraines and Nausea Related?

It's unclear why millions of people suffer nausea with their migraines.

Current thinking suggests that migraines occur when certain nerves in the brain signal blood vessels on the brain's surface to enlarge. Changes in estrogen levels are also thought to play a role. That may be why more women than men experience migraines. Blood vessels on the brain's surface also swell when levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin drop. It's possible that people with low levels of serotonin may be more likely to experience migraines. Low levels of serotonin may also be linked to motion sickness and nausea.