Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome CHS: Causes and Treatment

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. Most people who quit using cannabis experience no more CHS symptoms within 10 days, but sometimes it may take weeks or months for symptoms to stop. Symptoms of CHS likely won’t return if you’ve completely stopped using cannabis.

Drugs & Supplements

THC is excreted mainly as acid metabolites, with 60–85% cleared through the feces and 20–35% in the urine [20,21]. Research is ongoing on the exact way that cannabis triggers this problem. In the meantime, the best way to relieve CHS symptoms is to stop using the drug.

What is cannabis hyperemesis syndrome?

• Despite the scarcity of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on optimal treatment approaches for CHS, a holistic care plan can significantly enhance patient outcomes and well-being.
• While any amount of long-term cannabis use can lead to CHS, daily cannabis use seems to be more likely to cause CHS than using it less often.
• Upon further questioning, he reported the hot showers significantly helped the nausea and abdominal pain.
• This can happen when you are stressed, excited, have an infection or when women have their period.
• He was also on liraglutide, but his symptoms predated this medicine use.

THC and other chemicals in cannabis also bind to molecules in your digestive tract. These chemicals can change the time it takes your stomach to empty food. They can begin as mild problems that make you feel sick in the morning. Belly pain and a sense that you are going to vomit are also common. The throwing up can be bad and can cause you to be low on body water.

The Effects of Cannabinoids in the Gastrointestinal System

While the precise physiological mechanisms underpinning this phenomenon continue to be explored, several theories shed light on why hot showers might hold therapeutic value for CHS patients. Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is a rare condition cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome that develops in people who use cannabis frequently over a period of several years. Initially patients present with prodromal symptoms of abdominal discomfort and nausea. Patients are still able to tolerate a liquid diet in this prodromal phase.

Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) and Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS)

• Ultimately, the treatment of any illness is the removal of precipitating factors, not merely the management of its symptoms.
• Initially patients present with prodromal symptoms of abdominal discomfort and nausea.
• The patient strongly felt as though these symptoms aligned with his clinical course over the prior 8 years.

Over time, the symptoms will go away completely unless you start to use again. One 2018 study found that 32.9% of self-reported frequent marijuana users who’d gone to the emergency room (ER) had symptoms of CHS. And a 2022 Canadian study found that ER visits for CHS-related problems had increased 13-fold between 2014 and 2021.

• Aprepitant is a Neurokinin 1 (NK1) receptor antagonist and similarly to capsaicin is involved in the regulation of substance P to alleviate N/V in CHS [35].
• After stopping cannabis use, symptoms typically start to disappear within one to two days though individual results can vary.
• A clinical study from Philadelphia, PA states that the average duration of cannabis use before the onset of symptoms was around 16 years, and the earliest symptoms had developed in a patient was after around three years of smoking weed.

What are the symptoms of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome?

• For example, in two recently published series of adult patients with CVS, approximately one third of patients reported daily marijuana use [65,66].
• However, our understanding of its effects has unfolded significantly over the last 3 decades.
• At time of writing, the patient had gone 20 months without requiring hospitalization; however, he had a recent relapse of marijuana use and subsequently required hospitalization.
• This characteristic partially explains its prolonged elimination half-life.

CT for Evaluation of Acute Abdominal Pain is Less Accurate Without Contrast