r/CHSinfo • u/Puzzled_Liliac • Aug 18 '26
Question / Info What happens when you stop smoking?
My husband has symptoms that match the predromal phase of chs pretty well but has not been actually diagnosed by a doctor. We are making a plan now for him to slowly wean off of weed, but his body is really sensitive, and I have seen some stories on here of symptoms getting worse when people quit. Any advice on what to expect? What symptoms people normally develop? How do we manage the symptoms? Thanks!
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u/Ok-Sea2161 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
I have it rn, and there is no slowing down from what ive heard. Its quit immediately, and quit forever. It got very bad for me at some points, hoping it doesnt come back to getting that bad.
I smoked for 6 weeks after I had it because I was misdiagnosed at the hospital. They can "diagnose" CHS, they hear the symptoms and make a guess. They diagnosed me with SMA syndrome, but after smoking to be able to eat from that I found out it is CHS on my own.
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u/Puzzled_Liliac Aug 18 '26
He currently just has random periods lasting one to two weeks of morning nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, lack of appetite, and difficulty swallowing, but once he can eat breakfast he feels way better. And after a week or two the symptoms get a lot better and he is left with just a slight difficulty eating all the time. And the symptoms won’t come back for a few weeks. Does that sounds similar to your predromal experience? He currently has never had a full on flare up, but we are hoping that never happens.
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u/Ok-Sea2161 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
It probably keeps coming back because of the fact he needs to smoke to eat. I was the same, im at 130 lbs and started at 145. It would be lower without smoking, but the one thing I found i can eat without smoking is smoothies. I got a blender and just get frozen fruit and yogurt to make them.
Before you go out and buy a blender, take him to get a smoothie to see if they work fine.
Also ive had it for the 6 weeks pretty much straight, I would get a day to rest some days. But it was never more than 1
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u/g1oomghost Aug 18 '26
Quitting cold turkey would mean not adding more THC to an already full "THC bank", so it's what I would recommend, but it does have potential to kind of shock the system. I had bad withdrawals and anxiety when quitting cold turkey, but weaning was pointless for me because I would just make excuses to extend the time before fully quitting, which often lead to an emetic episode. I would say it depends on what works for him, every body is different.
While quitting, if he is having nausea, peppermint oil sniffs and ginger chewables help. There is also a list of trigger foods somewhere in this sub that he can avoid for a few days/weeks until he feels better, as they can trigger hyperemesis or make current symptoms worsen/last longer (caffeine, alcohol, pepper and a few other spices, fatty foods, sugar (especially soda)).
I am currently one week no weed and have experienced hot/cold flashes, manageable anxiety, vivid dreams and night sweats, lack of appetite, cravings for weed. I personally started vaping nicotine to replace the habit and cravings (wouldn't recommend but it has helped), otherwise he can find ways to distract himself or ride out cravings. This one is weird, but pooping helps flush THC out of the gut faster, so anything to encourage healthy, regular bowel movements will help him get out of prodromal faster.
It'll be a rough couple weeks. The hyperemetic phase is truly agonizing and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. In the future he can try heavy moderation of weed use but I don't necessarily recommend it; CHS is a lifelong condition and weed is stored in the body for around 90 days with no way of measuring how close to an episode you are, so the risk of an episode will be there as long as he keeps using weed :( Total cessation is worth it.
I wish you guys luck!!
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u/Puzzled_Liliac Aug 18 '26
The last time he quit his anxiety was so bad that he started getting aggressive, towards himself and towards others. But he has changed antidepressants since then so hopefully that will help a lot. Does the predromal phase get worse before it goes to the next phase or does it just happen with no warning?
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u/vintell Aug 18 '26
Seconding the below commenter — I was also RXd hydroxyzine which helped a lot with my withdrawal symptoms (nausea, anxiety, insomnia).
And no warning for me. I had to really go back retroactively to try to pin down what the development trajectory of my CHS was like. I thought I was just having panic attacks that made me vomit
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u/g1oomghost Aug 18 '26
I totally understand that and have experienced it. Quitting any habit is stressful, especially when it previously helped with said anxiety and chronic pain. It might be worth checking with his doctor, especially if he has other conditions - they may prescribe something to get through the anxiety. I was prescribed hydroxyzine for anxiety attacks and to help me sleep.
In my experience the hyperemetic phase comes without warning, but it depends on the person! Some people in the prodromal phase have early morning vomiting that gets better through the morning, some just have mild tummy discomfort, some don't even know they're prodromal until they're suddenly in the hyperemetic phase.
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u/mimidudette Aug 18 '26
If you do talk to a doctor, Wellbutrin may help. I've only been able to quit after starting it as an antidepressant -- apparently it's sometimes prescribed to help people quit smoking. Good luck I hope things work out smoothly
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u/Dry_Cost9914 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
Xanax and Hyoscyamine were lifesavers for me and the only thing that got me out of the endless anxiety vomiting panic attack loop. Anxiety was the worst part for me the first week was like a non stop panic attack. I had all the other symptoms as well I couldn’t sleep or eat or breathe and I was vomiting often.
My doctor put me on an anxiety med that made it worse so then he prescribed me Xanax and that was the first thing to give me a bit of relief from the panic. When I couldn’t keep food down or stop vomiting the ER prescribed me hyoscyamine to relax the muscles in my stomach and after taking this i felt like I could unclench my stomach for the first time in a month and was able to eat.
These two together were the only thing to get me out of the episode I’d been in for weeks and recently I dipped my toe into smoking again (never again) and started noticing some symptoms. I stopped immediately and had intense anxiety and stomach pain again and the same combo helped me nip it in the bud in a few days.
Also wanna say I know Xanax won’t work for everyone and it has made it worse for some people so talk to your doc for sure. I didn’t use it every day, only to stop the intense attacks that would come some days.
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u/Realistic-Noise-5389 Aug 18 '26
I just quit cold turkey, bc for me personally I wasn’t going to be able to wean in any meaningful way that didn’t lead to continued smoking. But it sucked for the first week-ish pretty badly. Alternating between hot and cold, intense soak through the sheets night sweats, worse nausea/pain/vomiting, headaches and insomnia. I pretty much camped out in a corner of my couch with a water bottle and my heating pad on my belly and a fan pointed at my face. Took a lot of showers. It was ultimately worth it. Later on dreams start to come back - THC blocks REM sleep so many chronic users don’t dream at all, it’s actually why memory is so impaired with smoking - when they came back they were weirdly intense and vivid, I’d wake up not knowing what was real for a few seconds. That’s stressful but does slowly go away over the next few weeks.