# Is it possible to vomit without nausea? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694 "2009-02-27T18:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diamonds02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Diamonds02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamonds02)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/1 "2009-02-27T18:02:18Z")
I know you can have nausea without vomiting (I do on a semi-regular basis), but its it possible to vomit without feeling nauseous? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/2 "2009-02-27T18:06:08Z")
Kids and dogs seem to be able to do it. 😃 There’s been times when I was brushing my teeth where I really tweaked my gag reflex and got that telltale feeling of imminent discharge, but wasn’t nauseous. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/3 "2009-02-27T18:08:53Z")
Yes. Nausea comes from your brain (the medulla, to be precise), vomiting comes when the muscles in your esophagus get out of order (that is, the peristaltic action is literally reversed because the lower bands of muscle squeeze too soon and move stuff up instead of down.) While the two are most often linked, they can happen independently. My son was a vomiter without nausea when he was little. Joyous times, those weren’t. It did make the doctors check him for lesions in his brain (which he didn’t have.) but it was ultimately just “one of those things he’ll grow out of”. And he did. ---
**Author:** ![Diamonds02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Diamonds02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamonds02)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/4 "2009-02-27T18:15:54Z")
So, this is uncommon for adults? I was eating dinner with my best friend last night, and suddenly it came back up, she said she wasn’t feeling sick at all. Totally freaky! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/5 "2009-02-27T18:25:28Z")
> [@Diamonds02](#): > > So, this is uncommon for adults? I was eating dinner with my best friend last night, and suddenly it came back up, she said she wasn’t feeling sick at all. Totally freaky! It’s uncommon in that it doesn’t happen often, but it’s not - for an isolated incident - really worrisome. If it continues to happen, it’s worth getting it checked out. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/6 "2009-02-27T18:27:06Z")
My girlfriend can toss her cookies if she eats something that’s too hot too fast. It just gets about halfway down and turns right back around. When I was a kid, I refunded something I ate so fast I didn’t even have time to stand up from the dinner table. I still can’t eat that dish. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/7 "2009-02-27T18:36:04Z")
Vomiting without nausea can also be caused by swelling in the brain case. It can be accompainied by a headache, and is usually projectile, meaning it can travel several feet. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/8 "2009-02-27T20:14:39Z")
Is your friend pregnant? I had that once in a while when I was. Walking along, feeling fine, all of a sudden “oops, gonna barf!” ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/9 "2009-02-27T20:29:38Z")
I’ve done it when I was cleaning up after one of the kid’s was sick. The impulse just when straight from my nose to my barf reflex. No real nausea involved. ---
**Author:** ![TheScogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@TheScogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheScogg)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/10 "2009-02-27T20:46:30Z")
There have been times when I’ve imbibed great amounts of alcohol, and it wasn’t so much a matter of nausea as it was a matter of internal pressure (and probably a number of other factors I don’t understand). ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/11 "2009-02-27T21:43:27Z")
Sometimes I burp, and it turns out it was partially digested food instead of gas. No nausea involved there. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/12 "2009-02-28T01:03:12Z")
I just did it. Ive been coughing for a week and as i was taking a leak, i coughed hard and threw up in the toilet. Feels good actually, ive been needing that. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/13 "2009-02-28T05:14:59Z")
There is a yoga that involves voluntary vomiting as a way of exercising bodily control. Practitioners advise using ice cream to start. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/14 "2009-02-28T07:54:59Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Sometimes I burp, and it turns out it was partially digested food instead of gas. No nausea involved there. The Vurp. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/15 "2009-02-28T08:01:07Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I just did it. Ive been coughing for a week and as i was taking a leak, i coughed hard and threw up in the toilet. Feels good actually, ive been needing that. Done that one a couple times. I find it more irritating than feeling good myself. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/16 "2009-03-01T03:12:20Z")
> [@Khampelf](#): > > There is a yoga that involves voluntary vomiting as a way of exercising bodily control. Practitioners advise using ice cream to start. That sounds really unsafe! Might this practice not lead to bulimia? Voluntary vomiting is the main bulimic activity, if nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/17 "2009-03-01T03:47:28Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > There’s been times when I was brushing my teeth where I really tweaked my gag reflex and got that telltale feeling of imminent discharge, but wasn’t nauseous. Yep, this happened to me the morning of my wedding day. Nerves might have played a part, but I wasn’t nauseous at all. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/18 "2009-03-01T06:06:50Z")
I’ve had the occasional coughing fit trigger my gag reflex. Fun times! ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/19 "2009-03-01T11:52:45Z")
Also, some people can intentionally vomit. My high school biology teacher once told us about a college roommate of his with the nickname “Albatross.” He could induce vomiting through some jaw motions that nobody else every understood. He did it as a party trick. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694/20 "2009-03-01T11:53:49Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > That sounds really unsafe! Might this practice not lead to bulimia? Voluntary vomiting is the main bulimic activity, if nothing else. Not really, because the reason for the vomiting is different. Vomiting doesn’t lead to bulimia, bulimia leads to vomiting. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-vomit-without-nausea/487694.md?page=2)