The fastest way to stop throwing up is to rest your stomach, take small sips of liquid, and use one of several proven remedies depending on what you have available. Most vomiting from stomach bugs, food reactions, or motion sickness resolves within 12 to 24 hours. What you do in the first few hours makes a big difference in how quickly you recover.
Give Your Stomach a Break First
Right after vomiting, resist the urge to drink a full glass of water or eat anything. Give yourself a grace period of a few hours with nothing going in. Then start with ice chips or very small sips of water, about every 15 minutes. The goal is to let your stomach settle before asking it to do any real work.
Once you’ve kept down clear liquids for a few hours, you can begin eating small amounts of bland food: plain toast, crackers, bananas, applesauce, or plain oatmeal. The old advice to stick strictly to the “BRAT diet” (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) for days is outdated. Cleveland Clinic notes that this diet lacks calcium, vitamin B12, protein, and fiber, and following it for more than 24 hours can actually slow recovery. Eat what you can tolerate, and return to normal foods as soon as you feel ready. Your body needs the nutrients to heal.
The Rubbing Alcohol Trick
One surprisingly effective technique uses something most people already have in their medicine cabinet. Open a standard rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) pad and hold it a few inches from your nose, breathing in the fumes gently. In a randomized trial of 80 adults in an emergency department, people who inhaled isopropyl alcohol rated their nausea at 3 out of 10 after just 10 minutes, compared to 6 out of 10 for those sniffing a placebo pad. You’re not drinking it or applying it to skin for this purpose. Just a few calm inhales through the nose. It won’t cure the underlying cause, but it can take the edge off fast while you figure out next steps.
Ginger: More Than a Folk Remedy
Ginger has real anti-nausea properties, mostly from a compound called gingerol. Most clinical studies have used 250 mg to 1 gram of powdered ginger root in capsule form, taken one to four times daily. For pregnancy-related nausea specifically, the typical studied dose is 250 mg four times a day.
If you don’t have capsules, ginger tea or even ginger chews can help, though the dose is harder to measure. Flat ginger ale is a common suggestion, but most brands contain very little actual ginger. Look for products that list real ginger root rather than “natural flavors.”
Pressure Point on Your Wrist
There’s a spot on your inner wrist called the P6 (or PC6) point, located about three finger-widths below your wrist crease, between the two tendons. Pressing firmly on this spot for a few minutes at a time can reduce nausea. A large Cochrane review covering over 5,000 participants found that stimulating this point reduced vomiting by about 40% compared to sham treatment. It also cut the need for anti-nausea medication by roughly 36%.
You can press the spot with your thumb, or buy acupressure wristbands (often marketed for motion sickness or morning sickness) that apply steady pressure for you. It’s free, has no side effects, and works well enough that hospitals use it alongside medications for post-surgical nausea.
Over-the-Counter Medications
Several pharmacy options can help, depending on the cause of your vomiting.
Bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol) helps with nausea tied to upset stomach, food irritation, or mild stomach bugs. The standard adult dose is 2 tablets every 30 minutes to one hour as needed, up to 16 tablets in 24 hours. One important caution: this medication contains a compound related to aspirin. Don’t use it if you’re sensitive to aspirin, and don’t give it to children or teenagers with flu or chickenpox symptoms, as it carries a risk of a rare but serious condition called Reye’s syndrome.
Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine) and meclizine (Bonine) are antihistamines that work well for motion sickness and vertigo-related vomiting. Dimenhydrinate comes in 50 mg tablets; meclizine in 25 mg tablets. Both cause drowsiness, with meclizine slightly more so based on user reports, but meclizine also lasts longer, which makes it better for situations like a full day of travel. Take either one 30 to 60 minutes before you expect motion sickness for the best effect.
Prescription Anti-Nausea Medication
If over-the-counter options aren’t cutting it, doctors commonly prescribe ondansetron (Zofran). It works by blocking serotonin receptors in both the gut and the brain’s vomiting center, essentially interrupting the chemical signal that triggers the urge to throw up. It was originally developed for chemotherapy patients but is now widely prescribed for severe nausea from many causes. It dissolves on the tongue, which makes it practical when you can’t keep a pill down. If you’re vomiting repeatedly and nothing else is working, this is worth calling your doctor about.
Staying Hydrated While Vomiting
Dehydration is the main medical risk from prolonged vomiting. Plain water helps, but it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium you’re losing. The World Health Organization’s oral rehydration formula uses a specific balance: 75 millimoles each of glucose and sodium per liter, at a total concentration that your gut absorbs efficiently. You don’t need to mix this yourself. Products like Pedialyte and similar oral rehydration solutions are designed around this ratio.
If you don’t have a rehydration product handy, diluted juice, broth, or sports drinks (diluted by half with water) are reasonable stand-ins. The key is small, frequent sips rather than big gulps. Drinking too much too fast can trigger another round of vomiting.
Signs That Vomiting Needs Medical Attention
Most vomiting passes on its own, but certain signs point to dehydration or something more serious. Watch for no urination for eight hours or more, sunken eyes, dry or wrinkled skin that doesn’t bounce back when pinched, rapid pulse, rapid breathing, or cool and blotchy hands and feet. Confusion, slurred speech, or fainting are urgent warning signs in both adults and children. A fever above 103°F (39.4°C) alongside vomiting also warrants prompt medical care.
In infants, fewer than six wet diapers per day, a sunken soft spot on the head, or no wet diapers for eight hours are signs to get help quickly. For anyone, vomiting blood, vomiting after a head injury, or vomiting that lasts more than 24 hours without improvement deserves a call to a doctor or a trip to urgent care.