Future studies following patients longitudinally for extended periods of time are needed. To make a diagnosis, your healthcare provider will conduct a thorough physical examination and ask you about your past health and current symptoms. It’s helpful to volunteer your history of cannabis use with your provider if you are not asked about it. Since there are so many active cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome chemicals in cannabis, the exact cause of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is unknown. Substances like THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and other chemicals in cannabis bind to molecules in your brain to trigger the “high” that can occur when using cannabis products. Cannabis can both induce and subdue vomiting, a paradox doctors don’t fully understand, Camilleri said.
Deterrence and Patient Education
In women, a pregnancy test is necessary to assess for any pregnancies, especially ectopic pregnancies. Imaging is up to the discretion of the clinician, depending on various specific factors of history or physical exam, which may be concerning for surgical processes. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) happens when you have cycles of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain after using cannabis (marijuana) for a long time. People with CHS often find temporary relief from these symptoms by taking hot baths and showers.
What Are the Health Complications of CHS?
CHS is a relatively new disorder that is not only difficult to diagnose but to manage. To lower the morbidity, CHS is best managed by an interprofessional team. 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.
Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS): Causes, Symptoms, Treatment
If you’re interested, reach out to a mental health professional like a licensed psychologist or therapist. Because CHS is a fairly new medical condition, not all doctors know about it. Or they might think it’s something else, since repeated throwing up is a sign of many health problems. You may need to see a gastroenterologist, a doctor who specializes in the digestive tract, for a proper diagnosis.
Complications
- Symptoms of withdrawal can include disrupted sleep, increased heart rate, sweating, irritability and mood swings, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Doctors have a lack of knowledge of CHS, and this makes it hard to identify people with the condition.
- The effects of this learned behavior are temperature-dependent [6], fast acting [6], but short-lived [6,56,62].
- They start to feel better when they stop using marijuana but can feel bad if they use it again.
- 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.
A large reservoir of stored THC in fat tissue may produce a “reintoxication effect” secondary to increased lipolysis during times of increased stress or food deprivation [23]. Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States with over 16.7 million users in 2009 [1]. The 18–25 year old age group has the highest prevalence of marijuana use [1]. The majority of these individuals are less than nineteen years of age [2]. Similarly in Europe, cannabis use is prominent among young adults, with a prevalence that has increased from 5% in 1990 to 15% in 2005 [3].
The Endogenous Cannabinoids (Endocannabinoids)
- The signature symptoms of Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome seem to be temporarily relieved by hot baths and showers, suggesting that temperature may play a role in regulation.
- A lack of long-term follow-up is also a major shortcoming in our knowledge of CHS.
- THC-COOH, in contrast, is a non-psychotropic metabolite that possesses anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties [26].
- Another proposed explanation is that in susceptible individuals the pro-emetic effect of cannabis on the gut (e.g. delayed gastric emptying) overrides its anti-emetic CNS properties [62].
- It was so bad she thought it might be a recurrence of her severe pancreatitis, the illness for which she once had been hospitalized and put on life support.