If Weed Makes You Extremely Nauseated, You're Not Alone

Lena Papadopoulos wrote for the Vice portal about her relationship with marijuana. Check out the article:

In the fall of 2016, I became an egg donor. After my hormone treatments and egg retrieval, I began experiencing unusual bouts of nausea. At first, I didn't think much of it, assuming it was an intermediate experience attributed to the hormonal changes my body was going through. I also found that marijuana, typically used to treat insomnia, provided temporary relief from the stomach discomfort.

But over time, the rounds of nausea became prolonged and more severe. The sight and smell of food repulsed me. I couldn't eat, sometimes for days on end, and started losing a lot of weight. I scheduled an appointment with a gastroenterologist to see if we could figure out what was happening.

I had noticed that the more I used Cannabis to treat my nausea, the sicker I felt during the hours when I wasn't smoking. It seemed counterintuitive that marijuana could be playing a role in my illness, as it is often recommended to relieve nausea, but I felt compelled to tell the doctor that I was smoking regularly.

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, or CHS, is an intriguing condition that occurs in long-term Cannabis users. The most common symptoms include extreme nausea, intractable vomiting, and abdominal pain. Many patients report finding relief by taking hot showers. It is an uncommon illness, given that medical marijuana is often used to treat nausea in patients with cancer, for example. But it turns out that, while the plant is often effective against nausea and vomiting, it can also trigger these effects.

CHS symptoms sometimes take years to surface. The first course of action for marijuana users suffering from severe nausea and/or uncontrollable vomiting should be to stop using the plant and see if the symptoms disappear within 2-3 days. I was advised to do this, and within two days, I was back to normal.

The cause of CHS is unknown. Because Cannabis has complex chemical properties, it is difficult to identify what leads to this seemingly paradoxical syndrome. Some research is focused on the body's receptors affected by marijuana use. It is thought that intense and frequent use dysregulates the receptors, causing CHS symptoms.

Plant consumption, however, has been common for centuries in countries like India, and CHS symptoms only began to be reported in the last two decades. Additionally, there are no reports of CHS from chronic users in some regions, such as South Asia, at least not to the extent seen in the United States.

This has led some doctors to be skeptical of the idea that marijuana itself is the problem, theorizing that additives may be the issue. In the case of Asia, however, the lack of reports may also be due to the fact that herbs remain strictly illegal in many of its largest countries, even as they gain acceptance in the West.

In my case, my fertility specialist believed that CHS was directly linked to changes in my receptors caused by the hormones I was taking. I was scheduled to undergo a second round of egg donation, and he thought it was possible that my receptors would return to normal afterward. Sure enough, after the second procedure, I no longer felt CHS symptoms when using marijuana.

Cannabis use is increasing across the country as states not only legalize its recreational use but also as it becomes increasingly seen as an effective alternative treatment to many commonly used pharmaceuticals, including opioids.

Regardless of its cause, doctors expect to see an increase in CHS cases coinciding with its rise in use. Hospitals nationwide have already seen a growing number of CHS cases in states where marijuana has been legalized.

Marijuana was illegal in my state, so I hesitated to tell the doctor that I was using it. And due to my unique situation, it would have been easy to blame my symptoms on recent hormone treatments, especially since marijuana provided temporary relief. But if I hadn't been transparent, I would have remained sick.

Be honest with your doctor if you use marijuana regularly and start exhibiting these symptoms. Also, be aware that many doctors may still not be aware of CHS, and you may need to be the one to bring this possibility to their attention.

However, it probably won't stay under the radar for long. As marijuana continues to become more acceptable and accessible in the United States, we need to work on developing a better understanding of what causes CHS and how to avoid it.

Source: Vice