Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome CHS: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

If you’re interested, reach out to a mental health professional like a licensed psychologist or therapist. If you have symptoms, your doctor will do a physical exam and ask for your detailed medical history. Let your doctor know how much marijuana you use and how often you use it. It’s a serious medical problem that can cause major health issues if you leave it untreated.

• Within 10 minutes, nausea and vomiting stopped, and the person no longer felt abdominal pain.
• If you have any symptoms of severe dehydration, like dizziness, confusion and a rapid heartbeat, call 911 right away.

Prodromal stage

Our people work side-by-side with market-leading entrepreneurs, game- changers, disruptors and visionaries. As an organisation, we are investing more time, technology and money, than ever before in skills and learning for our people. At EY, you will have a personalized Career Journey and also the chance to tap into the resources of our career frameworks to better know about your roles, skills and opportunities. If you do use cannabis, quitting can ward off future episodes of CHS. This article will explain the causes of CHS and the available treatment options. Hagler, who has been cannabis-free for five years, said she started a Facebook group to help others who say they are dealing with the condition.

• One 2018 study found that 32.9% of self-reported frequent marijuana users who’d gone to the emergency room (ER) had symptoms of CHS.
• Your doctor may ask you questions, like how long you’ve been using cannabis and what type of products you normally use.
• This rare illness is being reported more often around the same time as the rising legalization of marijuana and higher potency of cannabis products, from vaping to edibles.
• Taking too many hot baths can increase dehydration due to sweating.
• It is more common among those who use cannabis daily for years.

Some Costco cold and flu medicine recalled due to potential foreign material contamination

Most resources and recommendations come from case studies and expert opinions. In addition to appropriate antiemetic therapy, fluid resuscitation, and management of the patient’s symptoms, patients must recognize behaviors and exposures that place them at risk for their pathology. For supportive care, a clinician should work together with the pharmacist to see if any medications could contribute to the patient’s presentation.

What can you do at home to relieve CHS symptoms?

Researchers have identified two receptors called CB1 and CB2 to which marijuana molecules attach. Receptors are specialized cells that respond to specific stimuli or changes in the https://ecosoberhouse.com/ environment. It tends to affect people who use cannabis at least once a week and happens more often in adults who’ve been using cannabis since their adolescent years.

They can begin as mild problems that make you feel sick in the morning. Belly pain and a sense that you are going to vomit are also common. The diagnostic criteria for CHS were ill-defined prior to the establishment of the Rome IV criteria of 2016.2223 Per the Rome IV criteria, all 3 of the following must be met to be diagnosed with CHS. They must be present for at least the last three months and the beginning of symptoms must be at least 6 months prior to the diagnosis being made. Although this information comes from case reports, doctors can use these criteria to diagnose the condition more quickly.

Patient support

• Right now, the only known effective treatment for CHS is to stop using cannabis.
• As more states legalize cannabis, more people are learning whether cannabis is right for them.
• Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is a rare problem that causes constant vomiting.
• Others suspect that certain pesticides used in cannabis cultivation might be the cause.
• This stage can last for days, weeks or months if no marijuana is used.
• Intravenous fluids and an antiemetic (medicine to stop vomiting) are two standard approaches, Heard says.
• Another doctor reported using a combination of injectable lorazepam and promethazine, another antinausea medication.

Some researchers have published their findings from their personal experience with the condition in clinical journals. The only proven way to prevent cannabis hyperemesis syndrome is to avoid cannabis (marijuana). Researchers are currently studying several treatment options to manage the hyperemetic phase of CHS. Some people call certain symptoms of CHS “scromiting.” The term combines “vomiting” and “screaming.” You may have intense pain, which causes you to scream while you vomit. Symptoms of CHS typically come on several years after the start of chronic marijuana use. But not everyone who uses marijuana long-term experiences CHS.

Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS)

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is a rare condition that develops in people who use cannabis frequently over a period of several years. Treatment involves stopping cannabis use and symptom management. In older patients, especially those with hypertension, cardiovascular illnesses such as aortic pathology and atypical coronary artery syndromes may present as vague abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. CHS is a condition what is chs caused by chronic and repeated cannabis use that leads to severe nausea and vomiting.

• Speak with a doctor or healthcare professional if you or someone you know has symptoms of CHS.
• Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is a condition that sometimes develops due to the long term use of marijuana.
• Symptoms of CHS likely won’t return if you’ve completely stopped using cannabis.
• Nausea and vomiting tend to return if they start using marijuana again.
• An increasing number of cases are being reported of a mysterious, rare condition possibly linked to cannabis use that has caused some people to become severely ill, according to an ABC News investigation.

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. In one 2018 study, a group of researchers surveyed 2,127 U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 49 at an emergency department in New York. Of those surveyed, 155 met the criteria of smoking cannabis at least 20 days per month. Many researchers feel that CHS is underrecognized and underdiagnosed. Symptoms of CHS can resemble those of other conditions, such as cyclic vomiting syndrome. To make a diagnosis, your healthcare provider will conduct a thorough physical examination and ask you about your past health and current symptoms.

Prodromal Phase

If you have cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), the best treatment is to stop using weed, even if you’ve been doing it for years with no previous side effects. Once you do that, your repeated nausea and vomiting should go away and alcoholism symptoms not return. Since THC is stored in your body fat, it can take weeks to months before all the symptoms go away and you notice a difference.

This factor is a key distinguishing feature from cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, where the toxicokinetics of cannabis itself influence the course of the disease. CHS is a rare condition that affects some habitual cannabis users. It causes severe bouts of vomiting, nausea, and stomach pain. Certain therapies, such as taking hot showers or using prescription medications, may help relieve symptoms.