Nausea and fatigue are the common symptoms of an upset stomach or fever. Both Nausea and fatigue occur one after the other or together, yet they are different.
Both these symptoms can occur because of an underlying condition or because of weird diet habits, insomnia, and stress.
Preventing or controlling these symptoms initially is essential, as they may lead to dire consequences.
Key Takeaways
- Nausea is the sensation of unease and discomfort in the stomach, accompanied by the urge to vomit, while fatigue is a persistent state of physical or mental exhaustion.
- Nausea can result from various causes, such as food poisoning, motion sickness, or medication side effects, while fatigue can be due to overexertion, stress, poor sleep, or underlying medical conditions.
- Treatment for nausea involves addressing the underlying cause and may include medications to alleviate symptoms, whereas managing fatigue may require lifestyle changes, stress reduction, or medical intervention.
Nausea vs Fatigue
A feeling of vomiting is called nausea. Nausea is not painful. Food poisoning can be one of the causes of nausea. Stomach pain can also cause nausea. There are multiple types of nausea. Fatigue is when a person feels tired or restless. Stress or low sugar level can be the causes of fatigue. Fatigue can be physical or mental.
Nausea is a condition wherein a person experiences extreme discomfort and a constant feeling of vomiting. It is not painful, but if not treated can cause severe issues.
The major or usual causes of nausea are indigestion, food poisoning, and low BP. Pregnant women experience nausea in their first trimester.
On the other hand, fatigue is a condition of extreme exhaustion which is not cured by medications. Fatigue can be sub-categorized into Physical Fatigue, Mental Fatigue, etc.
The usual causes of fatigue are insomnia, stress, and jet lag, and it is a very complex disease. Just like physical fatigue, mental fatigue could affect one’s performance.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Nausea | Fatigue |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Uneasy condition accompanied by the desire to vomit | Condition of extreme tiredness |
| Causes | Food poisoning, medications, chemotherapy, viral and bacterial intestinal infections, etc. | Anxiety, stress, insomnia, Jet Lag, Low Blood sugar level, autoimmune diseases, etc. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnostic tests- Abdominal X-rays, Studying Patient history, etc. | Medical history, sleep study, blood tests, etc. |
| Types | Acute Nausea, Nausea because of medications, Pregnancy Nausea, Chronic Nausea, etc. | Physical Fatigue, Mental Fatigue, Acute, and Prolonged Fatigue, etc. |
| Home Remedies | Consumption of cold drinks, ginger tea, distractions like books, movies, etc. | Reducing caffeine, increasing metabolism, regulating the Diurnal rhythm, etc. |
What is Nausea?
As mentioned above, nausea is a condition of extreme abdominal discomfort accompanied by the need to vomit. As this condition is non-specific, it has many causes.
The most common cause of Nausea is a disruption in the diet, food poisoning, sleep deprivation, etc.
Apart from these minor causes, there may be severe abdominal infections that can prove to be a disaster if not treated immediately.
The word nausea is derived from the Greek word- Nausia, which means motion sickness. Physical factors can cause nausea, but a person can experience nausea even through mental conditions like depression.
The vital causes of nausea are food poisoning and gastrointestinal infections. Minor yet frequent cases of nausea are reported due to pregnancy and medications.
Nausea is not a gender-specific disease. It can affect anyone. The only type of nausea that is women-specific is morning sickness in pregnancy.
Some medications can also cause nausea as a side effect. Majorly, patients undergoing chemotherapy during cancer treatment and patients undergoing migraine treatment face nausea as a symptom.
Sometimes, nausea can also be caused due to mental conditions like depression and anxiety, as patients facing these issues resort to over-eating, which leads to Nausea.
Severe cases of nausea are treated with proper diagnostic tests and treatment, while non-severe cases can be treated by some antiemetics (medicines used to treat nausea).
What is Fatigue?
As aforementioned, fatigue is a condition wherein a patient has extreme tiredness and does not improve even after sleeping for the required hours. Its major causes are stress, anxiety, etc.
We can majorly classify fatigue into physical and mental fatigue. Physical activity can cause physical fatigue or even through long hours of travelling- jet lag.
Mental Fatigue can have many reasons like stress, anxiety, depression, etc.
Physical Fatigue is when a person’s muscles and bones have no energy to perform better. Hence the physical ability to do any activity decreases.
Initially, the muscles slowly start degrading, and this phenomenon varies with every person. Some people have better metabolism and stamina.
Hence, their muscles don’t degrade in the initial phase of fatigue. It also depends on the number of hours a person gets to sleep. Better sleep guarantees lower chances of fatigue.
On the other hand, Mental Fatigue is a severe type of Fatigue, as it affects not only the cognitive ability but also the physical performance of a person.
It decreases the concentration span and increases lethargy.
Mental Fatigue can also cause many accidents, as patients suffering from it feel sluggish and sleepy. Mental fatigue can also be a symptom of a severe neurological disorder.
Patients suffering from Mental Fatigue cannot maintain consciousness for a prolonged period.
Fatigue is a complex disorder. Hence there is no peculiar cause for the disease. It has a wide range of causes, diagnoses, and treatments.
Patients suffering from Fatigue are instructed to regulate their sleep cycle also reduce their stress levels. In some cases, the patients are prescribed sleeping pills.
Main Differences Between Nausea and Fatigue
- Nausea is a condition wherein patients feel the urge to vomit and is accompanied by intestinal/ abdominal discomfort, whereas fatigue is a condition of extreme exhaustion/ tiredness.
- Indigestion, food poisoning, medications, and pregnancy, cause nausea., while anxiety, stress, jet lag, and sleep deprivation cause fatigue.
- Nausea is sub-classified into acute nausea, pregnancy nausea, etc., whereas fatigue is sub-categorized into physical and mental fatigue.
- The diagnostic tests for nausea are Abdominal X-rays, Gastrointestinal tests (Intestinal X-rays), while fatigue is diagnosed by studying the sleep pattern of the patient and also by running some blood tests.
- Nausea is treated by medications (antiemetics) and by regulating diet, while fatigue can be treated by regulating the body’s diurnal rhythm (biological clock).
References
- https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra0706547
- https://sigmapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1547-5069.1999.tb00420.x
Last Updated : 26 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
