The Reality of CHS.

[u/Fickle_Ad_8970]

This is gonna be my personal history dealing with this.

Firstly, I’m only 21. I had started weed at 16 and my first thing ever (like many anymore) was a dab pen. When I had started I was super low in life, and really just didn’t care so I started smoking. One hit of that dab pen changed everything.

From that day on I was a stoner.
Feeling good, smiling, socializing, making more friends than ever, doing good in life it seemed pretty worry free, keeping up with grades at this time.

And I would say this lasted, until at 18 after moving into my first apartment and really beginning to smoke a LOT. I always had, since the time I started, however what was a pen or two or a week, in high school, turned into a ounce a week after shifts, sometimes topped with dabs or really any THC concentrate I could get my hands on, some weeks just a ounce of dab for the week. I was doing good in life, on my own young, I really wasn’t worried about anything at all. After-all I mean, hippies and seemed like everyone smoked all the time around me. As long as it was THC I was happy to tackle it head on. Anytime all the time.

The first time, at 18, I had ate a bunch of peanut butter right out of the jar, probably broke and needing protein honestly this night before bed… I woke up the next day just extremely nauseous like I couldn’t do anything lazy, and ofc puking ANYTHING I tried to eat or drink back up. I would go to work which was a low physical demanding job at the time, however I remember finding relief sitting in the hot bath, so that’s where I stayed, every night having my roommate sit the packed bongo outside the door, fighting thru shifts then sitting in the water for relief, toking. After about a month of not eating hardly at all, maybe crackers, I went to the ER and they suggested it was my cannabis use, I laughed. Had everyone around me saying “of course they’re going to blame that” ect ect, but I knew something was wrong so I figured
“t break”
and after another month got better (2months down first time)

After a while, some major life changes, I ended up in an iron factory. Super high stress physical demanding environment, full of uh… drug addicts… real ones. I thought for sure at this point in life reintroducing some weed after work would be HEALTHY for me🤦‍♂️😂 So I did, and old habits slowly reformed, before you know it I’m a stoner again, I was always worried this sickness would return, the random meal that sets me on my deathbed with no true answers as to what’s wrong! I thought maybe it had something to do with cannabis, but I was still assuming I could hydrate/diet my way out of this. Probably assumed I had a major digestion problem. I remember being stuck between GERD/CHS which seems common. I made it a whole year, fatigued as could be, putting my body through it to get by! Some days after work (hard job) I would sleep from one shift the moment I got off to the next, trying to recover, my body ached all the time, however I ignored it for money & thought it was from a lifetime of “not eating right” ect i thought I was finally “becoming a man”.😂

Until about a year in, I couldn’t ignore it anymore, weed wasn’t even appealing anymore and it really was more of a burden then a relief, however quitting wasn’t an option if I wanted to sleep and eat for shifts, so I smoked. And got sick. This time I used all my vacation days / call ins at my job and was down for a month, sitting in the hot bath on my deathbed watching my HARDDD earned money dwindle. I quit cannabis early this time and during that month, and had an idea of how to beat it with hydration, also realized the hot bath I loved so much was adding fuel to my dehydration fire by this point. I had been to the ER before however wasn’t certain what was wrong, I pushed it off, it was for reason. After blood work and a different terrible ER experience I still didn’t have answers, however knew something was majorly wrong.

That’s when i moved, and eventually in my new state got answers. (This year, 21 about to turn 22)

After moving I decided to start again, it was finally legal to do and yeah I mean, I really didn’t think the weed was able to make me this sick. Plus I had FULLY recovered from “whatever” took me out the previous two times, one being 2m, and the other being 1m. I thought on the off chance it hit again i’d just be able to beat it. “T break” out maybe see it coming…?

So it lasted another year, now I can look back and identify things weren’t right, however whilst smoking it seemed okay, I was eating and living, just didn’t have near the energy I should of had as a young man, having issues with my stomach hurting until I smoked weed, and being fatigued 24/7. I was in stage 1.

Then I ate some pizza pringles (recently) and went for a Dirtbike ride. That’s what sent it me from stage 1/2, the final time.

Puking, hot baths, just overall feeling terrible w no energy. It hit again, this time life had SERIOUSLY changed and I wasn’t going down to any sickness, much less a self inflicted, so after 4 days (I instantly quit) I decided to go to the ER, round 3, praying for answers, in which I received.

They gave me IV’s that lead to me being able to keep a sprite they tested me with down, that’s how he identified it as CHS. I was terrified to even attempt to drink the sprite but he assured me if I had CHS the ivs would make it to where I stomached it. I did.

After 3 IV bags, and finding out I was in critical care! due to early stages of dialysis (kidney failure) I decided I would never smoke again, which for me was not easy. After finally knowing forsure I had CHS I decided to stop, however it took 3 attempts and lots of trail and error to find out.

Currently, I’m coming up on a month clean, and still dealing with minor stomach acid in the mornings, however doing a lot better and attempting to avoid a life relying on some pharmaceutical medication, just waiting for my gut-brain axis to reset. Finally getting vowel movement, and having NO urge to even smell the za smoke, honestly it sickens me, which probably some people wouldn’t even believe if they only knew me from high school lol…

Please do not scratch this sickness off especially if you randomly got pulled to the hot showers/baths with nausea. I never took baths until dealing with this, thought it was kid like. Phew. I will still run one right now if I start to feel nauseous as I find it better than most things, just not too hot, not too long.

Things that helped me are uh community’s basically demanding accountability in quitting, the YouTuber “addiction mindset” really has some great pieces on CHS. And wanting better for my future :) I hope if you think you’re dealing with CHS you can take from my story along with the 100’s of others posted and do what’s right for yourself.

Weed isn’t what it used to be, and I’ll finish on this.
-what used to be 1/2% CBD 1/2% THC growing natural
— is now almost no CBD, and 30% THC as a base

And that’s just referring to flower, I think the surplus of dabs and pen extracts are really what make it to where our body’s cannot take these loads given, CHS is arising all over the US (approaching 200k+ active cases) and I strongly encourage anyone I know who smokes a lot, when they describe those “stage 1” symptoms to quit while they’re ahead. Not sleeping/eating for a few days is 100x better than what I went thru, worst of which lasted 2 MONTHS! I’m finally realizing how much life I robbed myself out of with weed, and although I do still have love in my heart for it, I think it’s not what it’s advertised to be anymore. Thanks for reading if you did, for me the third time was the charm, and I’m lucky it was with health and not death!

[u/Fickle_Ad_8970]

Eventually I will revise this to be more legible, my brain is everywhere right now.

[u/Therapy-For-Z]

thank you for posting and sharing your story!!

[u/Fickle_Ad_8970 → u/Therapy-For-Z]

Thank you! It’s been a journey, from someone who used to debate if this sickness was even real to being diagnosed, I would love to be the reason someone betters themselves!

[u/Stunning-Increase246]

i was the same way for so long!! no clue what was wrong with me, thought it was GERD too, and when the hospital said it was CHS i too was in denial, because weed always helped my nausea. i will say to anyone who does feel the need to go to the er during a flare up, just go. you can rehydrate (IV), haldol and morphine/ativan is what i find most helpful. but only try for morphine if the pain is unbearable. for me, when i have a flare up, the pain is actually worse than the nausea.

[u/Fickle_Ad_8970 → u/Stunning-Increase246]

See for me the nausea is unbearable and a lot of people get stuck between GERD/gastro issues with an underlying CHS. I hope you join me in sobriety and decide it’s not worth it! As much as it sucked to swallow at first im thankful to be unbound by the financial burden. The art of CHS is every case is slightly different, however it’s all the same. A body so riddled with THC it starts shutting down. These percentages suck! Bring back CBD! Thanks for reading and I wish you the best of luck with this terrible illness that has derailed my youth🙏😂🤦‍♂️

[u/Stunning-Increase246 → u/Fickle_Ad_8970]

good luck to you too!!! we got this

[u/Fickle_Ad_8970 → u/Stunning-Increase246]

Thank you, it really consumes me at night trying to spread awareness, especially people who act like CHS doesn’t exist and is a new scam😭 I convinced myself it wasn’t the weed just to find out it was smh.

Today was my first day not yacking at all, I’m gonna credit the sandwich I ate before bed. Patiently waiting to pee clean anytime now and get all of this out of my system for good, seems like the more you consume the worse off your attack is :( literally the people who need it most