• MSN
  • Hotmail
  • More
    • Autos
    • My MSN
    • Video
    • Careers & Jobs
    • Personals
    • Weather
    • Delish
    • Quotes
    • White Pages
    • Games
    • Real Estate
    • Wonderwall
    • Horoscopes
    • Shopping
    • Yellow Pages
    • Local Edition
    • Traffic
    • Feedback
    • Maps & Directions
    • Travel
    • Full MSN Index
  • Bing
  • NBCNews.com
  • TODAY
  • Nightly News
  • Rock Center
  • Meet the Press
  • Dateline
  • msnbc
  • Breaking News
  • Newsvine
  • Home
  • US
  • World
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Travel
  • Local
  • Weather
Advertise | AdChoices
  • Recommended: Gymnophobics are real-life 'never-nudes'
  • Recommended: Swiss woman's esophagus twisted itself into a corkscrew
  • Recommended: Gray hair cure? Scientists find root cause of discoloration
  • Recommended: Your skin microbes prove you're a 'dog person'

Incredible stories about how wonderfully weird it is to be human. Curious about the way your body or brain ticks? E-mail The Body Odd or check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

  • ↓ About this blog
  • ↓ Archives
    • Icons Email E-mail updates
    • Icons Twitter Follow on Twitter
    • Icons Feed Subscribe to RSS
  • 2
    Mar
    2011
    7:28pm, EST

    This exists: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

    By Melissa Dahl, NBC News

    Oh, barf. Literally, though: Today, NBCLosAngeles.com reports on children with abdominal migraines, also called cyclic vomiting syndrome, a mysterious disorder that causes bouts of nausea and vomiting -- sometimes as often as six times an hour -- that can last for hours, or even days. (Days!) 

    It's a condition with no known cause or cure, according to the Mayo Clinic, but it most often occurs in kids ages 3 to 7. Typically, it's something kids grow out of by the time they're teenagers, but it can last into adulthood, which is when things get really icky: For adults, symptoms can last as long as a week.  

    The National Institutes of Health lists all the possible triggers for an episode of near-constant retching: emotional stress or excitement; anxiety and panic attacks; colds, allergies, sinus problems and the flu; eating too much or eating before bed, hot weather, physical exhaustion, menstruation and motion sickness. (In short: Being alive can trigger symptoms.) Medications are sometimes prescribed to stop all the barfing, but the NIH says most people learn to control their symptoms by staying in bed and sleeping in a dark, quiet room. 

    Quoth one small sufferer of cyclic vomiting syndrome: "I'll vomit up to about 40 times a day. That's just terrible, terrible. For being my age especially," Olivia Brown told NBCLosAngeles.com.

    Poor thing. Readers, have you ever heard of cyclic vomiting syndrome? And, just for fun -- tell us your grossest vomiting story, won't you? For Olivia's sake. 

    You can find The Body Odd on Twitter and Facebook, and follow Melissa Dahl @melissadahl.


     

     

    Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.

    9 comments

    Show more
    Explore related topics: featured, vomit, melissa-dahl

Browse

  • featured,
  • behavior,
  • psychology,
  • health,
  • melissa-dahl,
  • sleep,
  • diane-mapes,
  • neurology,
  • skin-and-beauty,
  • memory,
  • diet-and-nutrition,
  • curious-condition,
  • inquiring-minds,
  • brain,
  • mental-health,
  • mens-health,
  • alcohol,
  • music,
  • neuroscience,
  • allergies,
  • relationships,
  • smell,
  • senses,
  • science,
  • vision,
  • aging,
  • language,
  • diet,
  • brian-alexander,
  • speech,
  • dreams,
  • lying,
  • taste,
  • sex,
  • halloween,
  • fitness,
  • better-living-through-science,
  • singing,
  • phobias,
  • sexual-health,
  • jonel-aleccia,
  • skin,
  • laughter
Also
Advertise | AdChoices

Melissa Dahl, NBC News

Melissa Dahl is a health writer and editor at msnbc.com and TODAY.com.

Melissa Dahl, NBC News Blogroll

  • Boing Boing
  • FitSugar
  • The Beauty Brains
  • No More Dirty Looks
  • The Hairpin
  • Follow on Twitter

Archives

  • 2013
    • May (8)
    • April (22)
    • March (21)
    • February (18)
    • January (26)
  • 2012
    • December (17)
    • November (21)
    • October (26)
    • September (24)
    • August (33)
    • July (35)
    • June (25)
    • May (34)
    • April (24)
    • March (33)
    • February (29)
    • January (12)
  • 2011
    • December (18)
    • November (30)
    • October (29)
    • September (30)
    • August (33)
    • July (39)
    • June (46)
    • May (32)
    • April (28)
    • March (25)
    • February (19)
    • January (26)
  • 2010
    • December (23)
    • November (19)
    • October (20)
    • September (23)
    • August (24)
    • July (25)
    • June (22)
    • May (11)
    • April (2)
    • March (3)
    • February (2)
    • January (1)
  • 2009
    • November (1)
    • October (4)
    • September (5)
    • August (1)
    • June (2)
    • April (2)
    • March (3)
    • January (2)
  • 2008
    • December (3)
    • November (4)
    • October (4)
    • September (3)
    • August (4)
    • July (5)
    • June (3)
    • May (3)
    • April (4)
    • March (5)
    • February (5)
    • January (4)

Most Commented

  • Gymnophobics are real-life 'never-nudes' (188)
  • Fungus found in your nose, in the goop between your toes (30)
  • People with higher IQs filter out useless info faster, study finds (11)
  • Missing parts? Salamander regeneration secret revealed (3)

Other blogs

  • Cosmic Log
  • Red Tape Chronicles
  • PhotoBlog
  • US News
  • Open Channel

NBCNews.com top stories

3147,10
© 2013 NBCNews.com
  • The Body Odd on NBCNews.com
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Help
  • Site map
  • Careers
  • Closed captioning
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Advertise