People with CHS describe their symptoms as overwhelming and incapacitating, according to a 2011 study published in the journal Current Drug Abuse Reviews. According to a 2015 study published in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine, drug addiction emergency cases of CHS in two Colorado hospitals have nearly doubled since 2009. Researchers are still trying to figure out exactly what causes CHS in some people who regularly use cannabis but not others.
- Other known complications of forceful and uncontrolled vomiting include aspiration and subsequent pneumonitis or aspiration pneumonia as well as injury to the esophageal wall such as Boerhaave’s syndrome.
- “If you want to talk about a recreational drug, I’ll tell you right now, I spend a lot more of my time taking care of patients who have problems with alcohol and methamphetamines than with cannabis,” he said.
CHS Symptoms
On the basis that only a small number of regular and long term users of marijuana develop CHS, some researchers suggest that genetics might play a role. Other researchers theorize that the effects of marijuana can change with chronic use. Hot baths may relieve the nausea for a while, but they don’t cure CHS. Taking too many hot baths can increase dehydration due https://ecosoberhouse.com/ to sweating.
What are the symptoms of Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome?
Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is characterized by repeated and extreme vomiting that results from long-term, excessive cannabis use. Although rare, the condition has become more prevalent as more states legalize medical marijuana. The only treatment that what is chs can get rid of CHS symptoms for good is to stop using cannabis completely. But there are some other treatments that may help manage your symptoms and make you feel better.
What Are the Possible Complications of CHS?
Smoking extra marijuana won’t help your nausea but will make it worse. People with CHS also tend to have a strong urge to take very hot showers or baths. That’s because hot water can help ease cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome symptoms like nausea. The hot temperature affects a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which regulates temperature and throwing up. In the early phase of CHS, the individual may experience more subtle abdominal pain and nausea, especially in the morning. The condition seems to intensify over the course of months or years, and symptoms may escalate to more debilitating nausea, episodic vomiting, abdominal pain, weight loss, and dehydration.
CHS happens exclusively among those who have used marijuana for years, and, typically, on a daily basis. It involves severe stomach pain and bouts of vomiting that can last days, only to abate and reemerge weeks or months later. While there are treatments to ease the pain and discomfort, there’s only one cure, and that’s cutting off cannabis use. He see patients in the emergency departments at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus and at UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital. Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) is a medical condition believed to be connected to heavy, chronic cannabis use.
It is characterized by episodes of nausea and vomiting, which may be relieved by hot baths and showers or by discontinuing cannabis use. Very little is known about this condition, including its causes, but researchers hypothesize that an oversaturation of cannabinoid receptors in the body could lead to these complications. Others suspect that certain pesticides used in cannabis cultivation might be the cause. Hot bathing has been shown to relieve abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting in people with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. A 2017 report published in the journal German Medical Science showed that 60 percent of people with the disorder reported that hot bathing reduced CHS symptoms.
Patient Stories
By Anna GiorgiGiorgi is a freelance writer with more than 25 years of experience writing health and wellness-related content. Treatment that helps prevent dehydration and loss of electrolytes can help reduce your risk of many of these problems. The best and only way to prevent or reduce your risk for CHS is to avoid or quit marijuana use. One study looking at Reddit posts on the subject found that spicy food, greasy food, coffee, black tea, and alcohol were frequently mentioned as CHS triggers. These foods/beverages are mostly acidic, but relationships between them and CHS have not been studied scientifically, although the co-use of weed and alcohol is well-known, the study authors said. This word is a combination of “screaming” and “vomiting.” You’re in so much pain that you’re screaming while you’re vomiting.
Some theorize that using cannabis strains rich in THC for an extended period of time increases a person’s risk for the disorder. In states where recreational marijuana is legal, some brands of marijuana contain up to 30 percent THC. Researchers have only recently discovered CHS, so some doctors or healthcare professionals may not recognize the condition. After stopping cannabis use, symptoms generally resolve within days or months. Research suggests that CHS is a permanent condition that can only be effectively treated by quitting cannabis. Continuing to use cannabis despite CHS can lead to potentially life threatening complications.
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- Doctors have also noticed that people in the hyperemesis stage take frequent showers and baths, which seem to relieve nausea.
- THC and other chemicals in cannabis also bind to molecules in your digestive tract.
- During the hyperemesis stage, doctors focus on preventing dehydration and stopping the symptoms of nausea and vomiting.
“If you want to talk about a recreational drug, I’ll tell you right now, I spend a lot more of my time taking care of patients who have problems with alcohol and methamphetamines than with cannabis,” he said. Anecdotally, Heard says, the number of CHS patients whose symptoms are serious enough that they end up at a hospital for treatment has leveled off at one or two per day at University of Colorado Hospital. As CHS is a relatively recently recognized and studied phenomenon easily confused with other diseases, there is a paucity of sizeable randomized control studies.