Its typically accompanied bynausea, the feeling of needing to vomit.
In most cases, dry heaving isnt serious or long-lasting.
If your symptoms dont resolve independently, you’re free to usually relieve them with home remedies.
FG Trade / Getty Images
If you experience persistent dry heaving, it may be brought on by an underlying health condition.
FG Trade / Getty Images
What Causes Dry Heaving?
In many cases, dry heaving happens just after you vomit.
This includes dry heaving as well as nausea and vomiting.
Its especially common if you dont warm up before exercising.
This often happens during ahangover, a group of symptoms that often appear together after drinking heavily.
Medication
Nausea and/or dry heaves are often side effects of many different medications and treatments.
Most notably, many people experience vomiting and retching while undergoingchemotherapyfor cancer.
This side effect is known as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV).
It can cause heartburn and other symptoms, including nausea and retching.
You may experience dry heaves when you feel acid coming up into the back of your throat.
Its particularly common for people with CVS to retch repeatedly just after vomiting.
Low blood sugar can cause retching, typically alongside nausea.
For most people, nausea and vomiting (including retching) begin in the first nine weeks of pregnancy.
Symptoms usually begin to subside by around 14 weeks.
However, some people experience nausea and vomiting longer or even until delivery.
How Long Does Dry Heaving Last?
Dry heaving typically lasts only a few minutes or hours.
You may experience it on and off for up to a day.
Others may experience retching whenever they have a flare-up of other symptoms, such as acid reflux.
Talk to your healthcare provider about potential side effects or drug interactions with other medications.
If your symptoms persist, reach out to a healthcare provider to be assessed.
If your symptoms are accompanied by persistent vomiting, however, you may need help.
Usually, dry heaving resolves on its own or with home remedies like a bland diet and staying hydrated.
If your symptoms persist, you should seek help and advice from a healthcare provider.
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