I want to make this post to tell my story with Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome.
I have smoked weed for almost 2 years now (started smoking regularly around January 2016). My friends and I started smoking daily through a bong and joints/blunts. This continued through summer of 2016. During summer 2016, my friends and I smoked heavily (I would guess I was smoking around an 8th of weed per week). We also were taking chops (weed and tobacco) consistently. I never experienced any negative side effects from smoking until about august of 2016. I was just moving into the dorms for my first year of college when I woke up one morning feeling nauseas. I started to throw up and developed a very sharp, constant pain in my lower abdomen that would not go away. I was vomiting uncontrollably and the pain in my abdomen was unbearable. I could not stop throwing up and eventually was in so much pain that my parents had to take me to the ER. I could not keep any liquids or food down so I was very dehydrated and in pain. The doctors ran many tests (blood, urine, CT scans) but everything showed that I was healthy. I am a very healthy person and have never had any prior medical conditions/history. I am about 5’11 165 lbs. They suggested that I had Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, something I had never heard about. I read up about CHS and concluded that it was ridiculous I could have such a thing considering that weed had always been super beneficial and something that I could count on to relax myself. It was also a very social thing amongst my friend group. Thus, my stubborn self continued to consume marijuana pretty much daily, usually smoking a joint or two at night. At this time I was in the dorms for college and did not have access to a bong, so I would only smoke bong if I was at a friends house. My parents obviously were very concerned and seemed to think that I did actually have CHS, but the doctors could not officially “diagnose” me with it. It was not until about 2 months later when one night, I had the same nausea from the start of school. I began to throw up again and the excruciating pain returned. Having experienced this before, I attempted to “tough it out”. I stayed up all night in my dorm bathroom, constantly taking hot baths to try and subside the pain. Eventually the morning came and I could not bear it anymore, I was also so dehydrated that I thought I would pass out. I returned to the ER and the same thing happened again. The doctors gave me some anti-nausea medicine, fluids, and eventually painkillers to stop the stomach pain. My parents were understandably pissed, knowing that I had still been smoking. again the doctors said they thought it was CHS and said I needed to stop smoking. (P.S. after both visits to the ER I generally felt fine the next couple days and did not have recurring symptoms besides my stomach being weak from throwing up so much) Once again, I did not want to give up smoking so I continued again. I smoked daily for about 11months with no visit to the hospital and no signs of CHS. Thinking I was in the clear, I had another incident very recently, this time being worse. I had to visit the ER 3 days in a row, each morning repeating the same cycle of vomiting, pain, etc. As of now, I have stopped smoking because I have finally realized that CHS is real and unfortunately I have developed it. Along with the excruciating pain, going to the ER every so often is not something I want to be doing.
It has been about 5 days since my last ER visit and I have not smoked weed since then, nor do I plan on starting. But, it kills me to think that weed will forever be something I must abstain from. Speaking to any of you who have CHS, is there any chance I will be able to consume marijuana every so often, maybe a joint or bong hit every week or two? I have accepted the possibility that I will never be able to smoke weed again, but I also was curious to try using only CBD? I have heard of the benefits of CBD and I think it would be something very helpful to me. Am I able to consume strictly CBD without instigating another hyperemesis breakout? I am worried to try anything because I really do not want to experience it again. If you have any insight - please respond with your experience with CHS. Thanks
