Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

[123zzaann]

Hey guys,
looking for some support from the community and advice here on CHS. I was diagnosed in the last month however have had two attacks at this point (one in august and another last week when i figured it out it was CHS). I have read all the medical observations online but was hoping to get some advice from fellow sufferers. I am trying to understand if others have found this to be a toxicity issue with THC as many studies think, or is this a permanent physiological change in brain chemistry?

Those of you who have CHS and went back to smoking, even if infrequently, how long did you wait before trying again? Did you go back to your old method of smoking? (i.e. joints, bongs, vaps etc) or did you stick to exclusively vaps or another method of smoking?

How long did you wait before trying to smoke again? - After starting again did you find the affects coming back?

Did anyone try switching to a more mild weed strain, one with maybe not as much THC content but rather higher in CBD? If so, did this have any affect?

Thanks so much for the support and really looking forward to hearing what you guys think. Cheers,

 

[Glass004]

I suffered from CHS for ten years. Finally I realized it went away when I started vaping.
A few observations for me:
Your brain cleans up its chemistry during sleep. Waking up too early from an late night session of vaping gives me HA and mild GI issues but not full blown CHS. Going back to sleep for 5 hours heals me.

Smoking alters the chemical profile of many substances we consume, often with an increased toxicity profile. Vaping is much safer in this regard.

Your hypothalamus is involved with conditions of nausea and GI motility. It is loaded with receptors for cannbinoids.

I am a health care scientist and for me.....I am convinced of the following;
If you smoke pot you expose yourself to more substances toxic to the hypothalamus. Vaping produces less of these substances.
Deep sleep cycles, or transcendental meditation, generating alpha waves allows detoxification of brain chemistry.
Pot helps with my chronic nerve pain, I do not have a choice in stopping. I cannot binge vap, or miss sleep.
Vaping side effects present more as a migraine, and are more easily resolved.
Smoking even a few puffs several times in a weekend can trigger another CHS attack for me. Otherwise an ounce of high potency stuff over two weeks gives me no problems if I vape it.
I have gone from an every 2-3 weeks of having attacks, to only one in two years (when I smoked in a weekend).
I believe most people with CHS from smoking pot could resolve their problems with vaping pot instead. IMO

 

[Frank Reynolds]

I agree with @Glass004.

When I used to smoke I definitely had CHS. Ever since switching to totally vaping the worst that happens is my stomach kinda hurts once in a while in the early morning.

I tried to smoke a joint the other night and only took one big hit and was done, woke up the next morning with the worst stomach pain you can imagine and almost instantly vomited.

No more smoking for this guy.

 

[No.fears]

I need help.
I am displaying all symptoms of caniboid peremesis. Hot showers nausea vomiting. It has been going on for four days now. The first two days I used alot of Marijuana to help with nausea and vomiting. But after discovering this I have started to abstain from Marijuana hoping that my symptoms go away. Well they arnt. It has been 30 hours since I smoked how long until I stop feeling sick? Should I smoke in moderation through this?

 

[Glass004]

I need help.
I am displaying all symptoms of caniboid peremesis. Hot showers nausea vomiting. It has been going on for four days now. The first two days I used alot of Marijuana to help with nausea and vomiting. But after discovering this I have started to abstain from Marijuana hoping that my symptoms go away. Well they arnt. It has been 30 hours since I smoked how long until I stop feeling sick? Should I smoke in moderation through this?

I know you are suffering terribly, But there is good here in that you have discovered the cause of your suffering.
Cannbinoids are fat soluble and stay in your system a long time. Be patient. Do not smoke pot ever again. Most likely you will be able to vape pot or eat it.
About the showers, if there is chlorine in your water supply, the hot steam with chlorine will burn and destroy your lungs. I put a chlorine filter on my shower, I have a CT scan showing my damaged lungs. The heat of the shower will mess up your body's thermal regulation. Suck on ice chips in the shower. Try not to get too overheated. Often the sweating during the shower contributes to your dehydration.
Ondansetron is the best antiemetic for the nausea. Use an over the counter acid blocker to reduce stomach irritation, and protect your teeth from acidic stomach contents. I find smoked or vaped pot is useless to control this toxic cannbinoid induced nausea.
You need to get some deep sleep to allow your brain to clean up its chemistry. I find that gentle massage, touching and quite are useful as distractions to help you get to sleep. Transcendal meditation is an ideal way to help your altered brain chemistry, and calm you down. The suffering does a big head job on you.

Once the nausea goes away you will straighten up. Typically people stay sick for 4-7 days, longer if they smoke pot for the nausea.

I hope you feel better soon.

 

[No.fears]

Thank you so much for responding. I will continue to abstain since that will not help. I just hope the struggle is over for me soon. It's has been a solid 96 hours of on and off nausea and vomiting at times I didn't think I'd make it. This chs stuff is hell on earth if there was one.

 

[grokit]

Should I smoke in moderation through this?

NO don't smoke, VAPE. You came here for a reason

 

[Tboulanger12]

Hey guys I posted on here before and just giving a follow up, I had every test done possible and they can't find out what's wrong with my stomach, ct, endoscopy, colonoscopy, ultra sound, medicine for ibs, tests for gluten, the doctor sent me away with no answers he's clueless I tried quitting weed before for about 2 weeks which was miserable pain because the weed was the only thing that helped, my stomach still hurt so bad and not smoking wasn't helping so I started to again :/ I know I probably shouldn't have but then I just recently quit again trying for longer it's been a month and in the first 2 weeks I smoked about 3 bowls and I haven't smoked anything for another 2 weeks and still got the pain every day. Any clue how long I have to stop for the pain to go away? All I hear everyone say is stop forever which I'm willing to do if it works but I see no sign of getting better after 2 weeks clean

 

[Tboulanger12]

It doesn't help living in Washington lol it's everywhere

 

[Detonator]

I am keeping a record of my CHS symptoms here... It's too hard to describe all this to a doctor,, maybe I can just print them out and take it to him? I don't really go to doctors but I did and tried to tell him all this like 2 years ago,,,,, Of course he essentially did nothing but charge me 100$ and told me to take Ratodine which is Zantac... If I'm the first to die from CHS like accidental hot shower drowning, just keel over, over shoot myself I want the other forum member to get together and chip in some big money to have some scientist cut me open and get to the bottom of this.



I am going through another bout of this... I cant remember when the last episode was,,, I noted it in this thread,,,maybe a year ago?

anyway it so horrible when its happening. I woke up at 2:30 am tuesday and felt ok but couldn't sleep. About an hour later I had to go #2 but felt constipated then quickly go from that to feel nauseous... Throwing up then just dry heaving when there was nothing to throw up and then getting extreme body chills..

This is when the hot showers come.. Living in the hot shower for hours.. I have to turn the water up so hot it is just below scalding.. lay on my back and with the tub stopper in a put the water all over my body... The chills are so bad it seems I cant get warm enough... Then I get too hot and need to get out, then I'm freezing again... This went on from 3am to 12noon.. Finnally I got some sleep woke up that night and was ok.. I ate some soup and thought it was over..

The next day I went to work and was ok ate bacon and eggs breakfast... By lunch I wasn't hungry and made the mistake of having a strong Latte.. But in the afternoon and started having diharea and then I could feel my stomach start to turn nauseous... I knew another bout of it was coming ... I was about 40 min from home.. On the drive home I was getting chills and feeling like throwing up. I pulled over on the side of the highway and threw up a little...

Finally back home to the hot Shower. It seems to be the only relief.. I was in the hot shower from 3:30 to about 10:30 pm.. I almost fall asleep in the hot shower when I 'm started to feel better... I have fallen asleep in there before and I kinda worry about accidentally drowning myself...

I woke back up at 5 am again with stomach pain...Got back in the hot shower but didn't seem to need to stay in as long this time... I ate a little oatmeal vaped two scoups of some cherry cookies... and I'm feeling better but not fine...I think I'm starting to feel worse again actually and will probably end up back in the hot shower... but I'm hoping I don't..

 

[lemmeadem]

This is all personal experience and in no way backed by medical opinion/facts.

I had sporadic bouts of CHS way back when I was smoking pretty heavily and even slight CHS symptoms when I was vaping heavily. The only way I saw to reduce was to reduce frequency and dosage of intake. I noticed that CHS would spring up pretty predictably after use of heavy Indica strains high in CBD and was comparatively light when using a higher THC, more Sativa-dominant strain.

Just throwing something out there - does anyone see a correlation between this and the "ABV farts" that people get when eating ABV edibles? Perhaps the higher temperature cannabinoids/more degraded cannabinoids like CBN are to blame?

Good luck all.

Again, this is all speculation.

 

[grokit]

Perhaps the higher temperature cannabinoids/more degraded cannabinoids like CBN are to blame?

That'a my theory as well

 

[Glass004]

I have just a couple of points to make after reading recent posts.
Do not spend a long time a chlorinated water shower. The chlorine in the hot steam will actually harm your lungs and cause significant damage to your lungs. Falling asleep in a hot chlorine steam shower might kill some people with compromised respiratory function. Vent out shower steam, get a chlorine filter if you must takes hot shower. Bottom line is stop smoking grass, vaping and eating grass is not toxic, so showering is not necessary unless you stink.
Combustion of grass produces toxic cannbinoids causing CHS.
If you are experiencing pain and symptoms beyond a week after stopping combustion of grass, get to a good hospital, it's most likely not CHS.
Migraine like headaches frequently occur as a CHS symptom. After years of CHS suffering, my body is sensitized to toxic cannabinoids, just a few bong hits can cause headaches and CHS symptoms.
I am one of the first to link combustion of grass to CHS. I am so happy that the info has spread and suffering is decreasing for potheads......who are my favorite peeps.

 

[CarolKing]

It sounds like what some of you are going through is horrible. It reminds me of my anxiety when it kicks in, in full force. If this happens very often I would quit what's causing the problem. If it's cannabis, if you are able and not a medical patient stop using it. That's my motherly advice. Cannabis feels good at the time but later on you are suffering from this problem of CHS. Is cannabis really worth it?

I've heard others say that they had this problem more when they smoked cannabis. That vaporizing helped them.

All of you take care of yourselves and do what you need to do to get well.

 

[killick]

This is when the hot showers come.. Living in the hot shower for hours.. I have to turn the water up so hot it is just below scalding.. lay on my back and with the tub stopper in a put the water all over my body... The chills are so bad it seems I cant get warm enough... Then I get too hot and need to get out, then I'm freezing again...

So I've been chasing these symptoms, and a couple of others, for awhile now. Pre MM even. The longest episode was 6 weeks, and I lost ~65 lbs. Good times...

Anyways, a doc who was helping me chase this wanted me to go directly to a hospital at the first sign of this starting again and get enzyme levels checked. A few weeks ago it happened at the right place and time. I don't have the results but my vague recollection is 'Lipase should be around 300, and you are around 1500. I think it's pancreatitis'. I've been checked for pancreatitis before, but not during, and after is too late apparently.

Anyways, not trying to play doctor or anything, it's just that there are some similarities is all. Good luck

 

[Detonator]

I have just a couple of points to make after reading recent posts.
Do not spend a long time a chlorinated water shower. The chlorine in the hot steam will actually harm your lungs and cause significant damage to your lungs. Falling asleep in a hot chlorine steam shower might kill some people with compromised respiratory function. Vent out shower steam, get a chlorine filter if you must takes hot shower. Bottom line is stop smoking grass, vaping and eating grass is not toxic, so showering is not necessary unless you stink.
Combustion of grass produces toxic cannbinoids causing CHS.
If you are experiencing pain and symptoms beyond a week after stopping combustion of grass, get to a good hospital, it's most likely not CHS.
Migraine like headaches frequently occur as a CHS symptom. After years of CHS suffering, my body is sensitized to toxic cannabinoids, just a few bong hits can cause headaches and CHS symptoms.
I am one of the first to link combustion of grass to CHS. I am so happy that the info has spread and suffering is decreasing for potheads......who are my favorite peeps.

I don't Smoke only vape,,, but at high temps for last 2+ years... I'm old school like drink from the rubber garden hose and jumped my bike without a helmet so I kinda doubt the chlorine could hurt me... lol

So I've been chasing these symptoms, and a couple of others, for awhile now. Pre MM even. The longest episode was 6 weeks, and I lost ~65 lbs. Good times...

Anyways, a doc who was helping me chase this wanted me to go directly to a hospital at the first sign of this starting again and get enzyme levels checked. A few weeks ago it happened at the right place and time. I don't have the results but my vague recollection is 'Lipase should be around 300, and you are around 1500. I think it's pancreatitis'. I've been checked for pancreatitis before, but not during, and after is too late apparently.

Anyways, not trying to play doctor or anything, it's just that there are some similarities is all. Good luck

thanks for the input... it's very hard to describe this to anyone...

I feel like I'm saying - I think I have a terrible marijuana related stomach problems, and I'm a life long user that will not stop using the thing that is hurting me.. Makes no sense to anyone but a pure fucking Stoner like me.. I just aint going to stop getting stoned so go fuck yerself with that shit... too blunt? sorry...

My girlfriend thinks its just some stomach virus,,, maybe she is right... Its seems to be getting over now and I'm feeling a lot better.. She says shit has been going around..

I have found that taking Zantac at the first signs may help.. Eating Nothing but Oatmeal... And Hot Showers are the key to feeling better.... That is the thing that led me to believe what I have could be CHS...

When I first read about it the one thing that linked people was getting in a hot shower to feel better..?

Edited- eating oatmeal only helps

 

[grokit]

@Detonator, do you get the same symptoms from using concentrates as you do from flowers?

 

[Detonator]

@Detonator, do you get the same symptoms from using concentrates as you do from flowers?

When this first happened several years ago I was only using flower.... still smoking tho

A couple years ago when it happened again I was using a lot of concentrates... and some were probly questionable ,,,, since the whole BHO thing was new..

This last week still using both flowers and concentrates

 

[killick]

@Detonator I was just trying to imply that MM might not be the issue at all, like your GF said...

 

[grokit]

This last week still using both flowers and concentrates

I would try using the most pure (shatter?) concentrate you can find, exclusively for a while. Also if it was me (I had certain symptoms when smoking as well), I would want to make it indica shatter because vaping certain sativas can also give me symptoms. There's one called pineapple that is really terrible for me!

 

[Glass004]

When this first happened several years ago I was only using flower.... still smoking tho

A couple years ago when it happened again I was using a lot of concentrates... and some were probly questionable ,,,, since the whole BHO thing was new..

This last week still using both flowers and concentrates

If you combust cannabinoids, consider that toxic cannabinoids are produced by the combustion process, just as with tobacco. It does not matter what form you use, it's how you ingest it.
Very few people who vape exclusively or eat herb have CHS

 

[newVaper420]

Hey All,
I have been dealing with chronic abdominal pain for 15+ years now. I use marijuana as my primary source of relief from this pain. Some doctors claim IBS, some claim Crohn's. No definitive diagnosis.

However, every year or so I get a terrible case of gastroenteritis (or so I thought), and have to go to the hospital.

This past Friday, I recently experienced another bout of this, but this time I didn't go to the hospital, I stayed home. Now, it's been 5 days, and I'm still having very bad pain and nausea. I went to my gastroenterologist who suggested I waited a few more days.

But then a friend of mine, sent me this link.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_hyperemesis_syndrome

"Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is characterized by recurrent nausea, vomiting and crampy abdominal pain. These symptoms have been reported to be improved temporarily by taking a hot shower or bath or more fully by stopping the use of cannabis.

The syndrome was described by Allen and colleagues (2004), and Sontineni and colleagues (2009) who offer simplified clinical diagnostic criteria. A subsequent, larger study reported a case series of 98 subjects with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, confirming the earlier reported findings."

On Friday night, the only thing that made me feel better was staying in the shower for 2 hours.

1. I now think I am in the throngs of this right now, and this is what happens to me every year. However, this year I'm not getting better because I have not went to the hospital, so therefore I haven't stopped using.

2. Do you think this condition could cause chronic pain for 15 years? Do you think my use of cannabis is what has been causing my abdominal pain this entire time?

What do you guys think?

newVaper420

 

[z9]

I dont know if you've read through it but there's a dedicated thread for CHS here: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/cannabinoid-hyperemesis-syndrome.7776/


Hopefully you can find some helpful information there. I cant speak for those that have experienced CHS but your symptoms don't sound abnormal based on some of the things I've read.

 

[newVaper420]

I dont know if you've read through it but there's a dedicated thread for CHS here: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/cannabinoid-hyperemesis-syndrome.7776/


Hopefully you can find some helpful information there. I cant speak for those that have experienced CHS but your symptoms don't sound abnormal based on some of the things I've read.

Briefly looking threw that thread, it appears nausea and vommiting are the main conditions and I only have that during this time that I got sick (like my yearly gastroenteritis). Not throughout the 15 years of pain. Also, when I do go, I do have inflammation I my colon. I'm beginning to think it has nothing to do with what I got. I haven't thrown up since Friday night. And I haven't had a zofran since Tuesday 2am. I don't wake up nauseous.

Just having this intense pain and diarrhea (sorry for being explicit).

Doesn't look like diarrhea is a part of CHS either.

 

[johnychaos]

My wife has some major stomach issues and what you explain is very similar. We found out her rare stomach disorder (Eosinophilic gastroenteritis) boils down to allergens to some common foods we all eat in this day and age. She can eat them sometimes but eventually it'll build up to where she's in the hospital due to pain and dehydration brought on by the constant vomiting. She had to cut out night shade foods. Potatoes, Garlic, Peppers, tomatoes all fall under the nightshade category. I'd suggest visiting a naturopath or nutritionist and look at your gut health. There are blood tests you can take to find out what foods you are allergic to.