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Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

Certain therapies, such as taking hot showers or using chs syndrome prescription medications, may help relieve symptoms. For temporary relief, many people with CHS turn to hot showers or baths, and that has become a main indicator that doctors look for when diagnosing cannabis hyperemesis syndrome. 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.

When to Seek Emergency Medical Help

They may also prescribe antipsychotic medications such as haloperidol (Haldol) or olanzapine (Zyprexa) to help you calm down as you switch to the recovery phase. The only way to end CHS symptoms is to completely stop using all marijuana products. After you quit, you may still have symptoms and side effects for a few days to a few weeks. If you have symptoms, your doctor will do a physical exam and ask for your detailed medical history.

What happens if cannabis hyperemesis syndrome is left untreated?

Some patients use hot water bags across the center of their belly and can burn the skin if done a lot. While symptoms can be managed, the only way to stop CHS for good is to quit using cannabis in any form. Addiction rehab programs or CBT may be helpful resources for quitting cannabis. Speak with a doctor or healthcare professional if you or someone you know has symptoms of CHS. In one study, about 84% of people who received treatment for CHS stopped using cannabis, and of those, about 86% reported resolution of symptoms. The only way to stop CHS and its symptoms is to completely quit using cannabis.

Practice Management

• Medical experts can ease distressing symptoms and expedite the recovery stage.
• 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.
• Further studies are also necessary to determine the causes of CHS and its risk factors.
• Psychological stress, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or a history of physical and sexual abuse, are potential triggers for disrupting the expected anti-emetic effects of THC.
• This results in the persistent vomiting and nausea characteristic of CHS.

This stage can last for months to years, and during it patients tend to increase cannabis use to ease their nausea. Doctors are gradually getting better at recognizing the signs of CHS. Still, the condition may remain under-reported, especially in places where discussing marijuana use is less accepted.

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If the patient quits cannabis consumption, vomiting due to CHS largely subsides. It’s possible that with lower amounts or lower frequency, patients might be able to use cannabis again, but the science is unclear. Doctors at the hospital ran tests and ordered scans but could not name the source of her unrelenting nausea and vomiting. 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. Most people with CHS who stop using cannabis have relief from symptoms within 10 days.

ADDICTIONS WE TREAT

The onset of CHS appears to be related to the way marijuana interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system, which helps regulate bodily functions like sleep, digestion and pain perception. As cannabis legalization continues to spread across the country, doctors are sounding the alarm about the potential health risks of the quickly changing drug. One rare condition is sending chronic marijuana users to emergency rooms.

The hot temperatures may provide some relief as they affect your hypothalamus, the part of your brain that regulates both vomiting alcoholism and your internal body temperature. Doctors have only identified cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome in the recent past. That means a lot of research is still ongoing to figure out exactly why it happens. Current findings suggest that the body’s naturally stored cannabinoids might eventually overwhelm receptors in the gut or other systems, flipping the usual script where cannabis often helps with nausea. They should also have the freedom and empowerment to speak up to other team members if they feel that this may be getting overlooked in the diagnostic picture.

Thus, hot shower bathing may be more closely related to CHS, but is neither specific nor sensitive in its diagnosis. This is probably the reason for its non-inclusion in the Rome IV diagnostic criteria for CHS. This phase begins with severe symptoms that intensify rapidly within a few hours 54. Patients present with distressed stomach, intense, persistent nausea, and frequent vomiting, feeling as though a relapse is imminent in this phase.

Diagnosing CHS might take time https://ecosoberhouse.com/ because not all medical professionals are familiar with it yet. You might need to share specific details or request a referral to a specialist, like a gastroenterologist, if symptoms persist. But once you and your provider identify CHS, you can start working on an effective plan to stop the cycle of vomiting.