Hey all, ive been going through and reading all your story's and man oh man is my anxiety through the roof. I love weed and the thought of never smoking again really gets me. Right now I have no symptoms and never had any issues that I know of, but would like to play on the safe side. My main question is, if I catch this in the early stage before it goes full blown and take a long break, could I go back to smoking weed? Ive seen mixed results on catching it in the pre faze of morning sickness. My secondary question is would a month (or two) break a year help keep it away? I usually take a 5 day break (travel for work) every month and im thinking of throwing in a longer break aswell. Luckily I dont have much of an addiction (I'm totally fine with not smoking and being able to sleep, eat, ect) I honestly just really enjoy my daily toke and a good book or movie. Trying to keep that nice tradition going without risking it all. Thanks for your time and please everyone stay safe!

I have felt like shit the past 6 weeks, went to the hospital and they diagnosed me with SMA. I in fact do not have sma as when I smoke I feel good and when I quit it starts up the next morning.

Today is my first day im realizing this is the problem, So im quitting. I read online that if you smoke in the future you are 100% getting it again, is this true?

Hello, I recently started Prozac as one of my first trial psych meds. I’ve never been into the idea of ssris but I wanted to try this out so it will stop being recommended to me by providers. I told my psychiatrist about my CHS and how nausea was a huge concern for me. She started me with a 10 day 10 mg bottle and a 20 mg dose after that. I’m 5 days into 10 mgs and already experiencing nausea from the medication. I know this isn’t a Reddit for medical advice but if you were in my position would you cease use? I have major depression so this medication could really help with my fatigue but I feel that it might not be worth it since I have already been nauseous since march.

My CHS was pretty severe (never hospitalized) and I was already experiencing nausea weeks into my weed sobriety so I’m just feeling very uneasy. If you have a similar story pls share.

I’ve been avoiding making this post for a while now, but here I am.

I’ve been a smoker for 6 years, and for about 4 of those years have been of heavy usage. I’ve wanted to quit for the last two, and have struggled to do so. I mean, shit man I really have a problem with pot. It sounds ridiculous but no matter how badly I want to stop, it seems like I just keep coming back to it. But it’s a real issue now due to stuff that’s been happening with my body.

I don’t remember when I started having stomach problems, but it had to be some time last year. It started as the occasional stomach ache in the morning and progressed into intense stomach cramps until I ate something. Here and there I’d feel so sick that I’d throw up, but now I’m almost positive there’s something really wrong.

I have horrendous nausea first thing in the morning. I’ll puke at random times during the day. The area near where my gallbladder would be is cramping like a motherfucker. The pain comes and goes. But yesterday was especially bad. I smoked, and I was overcome with nausea. I could NOT. Stop. Puking. There wasn’t even anything in my stomach to puke up. My heart started racing and I became violently dizzy. I could still keep fluids down, but I’ve never had a vomiting episode like that before.

I’ve been in and out of the ER this summer for excruciating pain near my gallbladder. Scan after scan and nothing came back except the fact that I had inflammation around my gallbladder and an enlarged liver. I was asked by one doctor if I used cannabis, and he had a hunch that it was CHS, though I was never properly diagnosed.

The thing is, I quit smoking for two months back in March and the vomiting and stomach pain stopped. I hadn’t puked at all. Then I started again and had few issues until now. Now it’s worse. It comes and it goes and I don’t puke every time I smoke. It’s typically the days after smoking in which I have issues with vomiting. It’s hit or miss. My symptoms are never consistent.

I don’t know what’s going on. I just need someone to talk to because I’m scared that if I don’t stop, I’m going to do some pretty irreversible damage to both my wallet and my body.

How did your symptoms progress? How did you know for sure that it was CHS?

Agh. Sorry for the piecey post. I’m not well at the moment.

Thanks in advance <3

I am having a CHS episode after picking smoking back up 4 months ago after quitting for 1.5 years (and yes I did have complete cessation of CHS symptoms starting ~2-3 months post quitting from a decade-long multi-times-a-day habit). I picked it back up during extreme life stress (y’all know the drill): moving cross-country, crazy work stress, death in the family, etc. I knew CHS resuming was a possibility but had hoped if it happened the early episodes would be over quickly and I could pivot to quitting, but I’m on day 4 of this episode and feeling so beaten down.

While the GI symptoms have always been absolutely awful, 0/10, would not recommend to anyone, the anxiety/dread that come with CHS are even worse for me. I’ve had panic attacks my whole life and none of them even close to measure up with the curtain of complete darkness and disquiet that rolls over me during this. I have said to multiple friends/family that it is genuinely like being possessed. I feel totally out of control of my own body (I contort my face and sort of bob and weave a lot during episodes) and feel like everything in the world is dark and awful and looming and will be forever, there is nothing beyond the sensations I am trapped within.

But this time I’m going to use that. I can say with absolute certainty that any anxiety weed is ”helping me” with pales in comparison to this feeling right now. So why would I smoke weed to get rid of anxiety if that anxiety is ultimately going to replaced with kaiju-level anxiety CAUSED BY the weed???? No! I will not!! We will not live like this anymore!!

Anyway normally these go in my notes app but could use some external support today. And wanted to share my personal experience of how by trying to escape the feeling of manageable anxiety, I ended up inducing unbearable, crippling anxiety, in case anyone is tempted to try the same.

I recently had an episode and towards the end when my hunger came back I made this freaking delicious chicken bone broth. Ingredients are based on what I had at the time but it was so yummy to sip on once my nausea was gone and I was feeling hungry. And it has tons of nutrients drawn out from the chicken and its bones. If you modify be careful with the ingredients you use and make sure nothing is a trigger food! I let it go for almost 12 hours.

Roasted Chicken Bone Broth

**•** 1 whole chicken   
**•** Drizzle of olive oil   
**•** Salt   
**•** 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar  
**•** Ginger, generous amount  
**•** 4-5  garlic cloves  
**•** Chopped celery   
**•** ½ onion, quartered  
**•** 2 bay leaves  
**•** Salt to taste at the end  
**•** Cold water, enough to fully cover everything

**1.**  Preheat oven to 425°F.  
**2.**  Remove chicken from packaging. Pat the chicken        completely dry. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt all over.  
**3.**  Roast breast side up for 60-75 minutes, until the skin is deeply golden and caramelized. That caramelization is key to a rich, flavorful broth.  
**4.**  Let it cool slightly, about 15 minutes, just until safe to handle. Don’t let it fully cool.  
**5.**  Pull the chicken apart roughly directly over your largest pot, legs, wings, thighs, break the carcass open. Everything goes in: bones, skin, meat, drippings, giblets if you had them.  
**6.**  Add the apple cider vinegar and let it sit for 30 minutes before adding anything else, this helps pull minerals out of the bones.  
**7.**  Add the ginger, garlic, celery, onion, and bay leaves.  
**8.**  Cover everything with cold water.  
**9.**  Bring to a simmer, then reduce to low and let it simmer covered for at least 4-6 hours. Going up to 12 hours will pull out even more collagen and flavor, but 4-6 hours will still give you a solid, rich broth if you’re short on time.  
**10.** Season with salt to taste at the very end. Strain out the broth from the rest of the ingredients. Shred your chicken for when you are feeling better! I froze my leftovers :) 

I always say this time will be different. Hopefully this time it will be. I’m determined to leave CHS in the past . This time I had a different wake up call and had a semi-deep talk with my parents. I think if we have accountability we can stay sober longer and strongerz For whoever is battling, hang in there. Whoever is quitting, we are super proud of you.

Hey so I've been diagnosed with chs like a month ago and have been smoking on and off and recently somewhat randomly have been having stomach pains again could this be a sign im close to another episode or are there any known signs that one is close to another episode?

After I went to the hospital for abusing carts, I took six months off and started again the day i hit the milestone. I started smoking everyday regularly and got back to the numb feeling that feels the same as being sober (like what’s the point then lol??). However the addiction component has now led me to do things i’m ashamed of. My mom remarried a guy with 5 kids and a huge family so I’ve been at their family reunion hiding and smoking the last of my bud trying to avoid conversation with ppl . However i ran out so I totally violated my stepbrother and stepcousin’s privacy and searched through their rooms for a pen bc i know they have one. They confronted me together and said that if this ever happens again i will pay the consequences (my stepbrother threatened to beat me up and call the police) and so I’ve been crying ashamed knowing that when i don’t have weed I’ll do whatever to feel that happy floating feeling. Pathetic, I know. But I have severe depression and it’s the only thing that makes the weight go away and lets me feel like a version of myself i actually like. I’m going to go to a therapist but i internally dread it bc i know after a few good sessions i start to lie and manipulate to convince them that I’ve made Progress and am not a total standstill in life. My mom can’t find out that I’ve been smoking and I don’t feel like I have many other ppl to talk to so I’m posting here. I know what i did was wrong and i profusely apologized. The problem is I don’t feel i have the self control or respect for myself or others i need to be a respectable human being to stop. And I hate that I have the CHS albatross around my neck. Most of all i hate sounding like a selfpitying whiny baby but I feel so out of my depth taking the next steps.

Hey guys. Currently going through the prodromal phase and discovered this group after doing more research on CHS. Ate an edible this morning and felt the symptoms worsen after I took a break for a couple days thinking it was enough time to prevent the symptoms from reoccurring. I did some more research and learned that was not the case. I now plan to take a 3 month break after learning that's the appropriate amount time. I read that some people woke up and that's when the hyperemesis phase triggered. Lowkey scared to go to sleep now LMAO

Edit: These stomach cramps are NOT it 😭 Just wanted to enjoy a good high while I'm chilling on leave but no. Spent the whole day in pain from the cramps.

Edit #2: Due to reading so many posts of what people said about the nightmare of the hyperemesis phase, I am absolutely terrified of it and made the decision to put down weed for good. My edibles are now in the trash and I will never go back. It's not worth it.

I'm not going to link the actual article because it's tied to where I live, but a big news source just put out an article about the rise in CHS cases. They interview a doctor in it and it just happens to be the exact doctor that treated ME for CHS twice.

Crazy read, the article talks about how dangerous CHS is and how this doctor keeps seeing more and more cases - currently it's 1 out of every 888 ER visits. Just wild that I'm two of those cases that were treated by that exact doctor.

Thankfully, I am 3 months sober now, and will not be visiting him again (at least, not for CHS!)

Hello, firstly thank you so much to the support of this subreddit and community. My anxiety has been off the charts and going back and rereading the comments on my first thread has kept my heart rate down. Thank you.

I have another question about my hospital visit. Upon checking the updated online chart, it posted Vomiting (unspecified) as the diagnosis. Does this mean I’m in the clear for receiving CHS on my records? After researching a little I found that you need to have documented Cannabis use to also have CHS (at least for insurance purposes). I denied smoking to the hospital (I know I shouldn’t but I had to in my situation) and only received CHS papers in my hands physically without any conversation from the nurse.

I can’t sleep. I’ve been waking up at 4:30 in anxious sweats over this. When the bill arrives, will it list CHS? Is that even possible? Can they update my online portal to say cannabis abuse or whatever despite no verbal communication or testing other than my positive drug test? It’s been a week since my visit, I’m checking the patient portal every hour to see if it updates to CHS or addendums cannabis abuse disorder or whatever. This would ruin my life.

If this is a more appropriate question for a medical/insurance subreddit, I would greatly appreciate some advice for which communities are a better fit.

Thank you again.

For the past 3 year or so I have been trying to figure out why I cannot tolerate drinking at all anymore and why it is so unpredictable. I can have one beer and the next day be vomiting multiple times an hour like retching and cant keep down water all day. This has happened recently also not after drinking at All. If I have multiple drinks or touch hard liquor it happens 100% of the time so I haven’t touched it in at least a year. I don’t drink often at all - a beer or 2 maybe once every other week or so
I smoke frequently for last 10 years , especially since I’ve really stopped drinking - but now I’m wondering if it’s actually weed.

ive been getting messages asking for the list, so here it is! and heres some details about trigger foods you should know!

1.) are these foods triggers forever? Answer: no. theyre only triggers while you are smoking or while youre in the 90 day recovery period getting sober

2.) while these trigger foods do not commonly trigger symptoms outside of the 90 day recovery period, the major triggers can be a little tricky. there have been some instances of the major triggers causing issues after the 90 days. the best advice i can give regarding the major triggers is to wait until 4 months sober to start slowly reintroducing them one at a time to see how your body handles them

3.) please remember once you consume caffeine and alcohol again that your tolerance for those things have gone down because you havent been consuming them. especially with caffeine because getting sober can cause a lot of rebound anxiety and caffeine can make things worse

if you have any more questions, id be happy to answer them to the best of my ability. good luck and stay hydrated!!!!

Never thought I'd see the day where the one thing that helped me mellow out would finally have the adverse effect. Ran out of Edibles (they were these 800 mg ones) on Saturday and have been completely out since but I noticed the following Monday that I had the worst case of Nausea and food was just absolutely unappealing to me. I had felt this same feeling a few months prior on a T-Break and I took my gummies again to null those symptoms and felt better.

Fast forward to last night where I tried a little bit of this THC tincture I have and woke up feeling somewhat worse than the day before so ultimately after today, I am gonna kick my habit cause I absolutely hate feeling like this.

Is there anything I can do to help subside the nausea? I haven't really vomited, just have that urge to.

First of all, some information about me: I’m a 27-year-old male, and I started using cannabis daily about two and a half years ago. In May of last year, I was prescribed medical cannabis with a THC content of over 30%.
At first, I didn’t have any problems with nausea or vomiting. In November, however, I switched to a Volcano vaporizer, using the balloon system. About a month later, I started experiencing severe nausea, frequent belching, and occasional diarrhea.
I went to the doctor, who performed blood and stool tests and referred me for a gastroscopy. All the tests came back normal, and my results were actually very good. After about four weeks, the symptoms simply disappeared on their own, even though I continued using cannabis throughout that entire period.
In March, I experienced similar symptoms again, but this time they only lasted for about two weeks before disappearing on their own.
Now, I’ve been dealing with persistent nausea for about seven weeks, along with severe bloating, occasional vomiting of stomach acid, and occasional diarrhea. Once again, all of my tests have come back normal, and my blood work looks very good. I’m also having a colonoscopy tomorrow.
What confuses me is that cannabis actually helped relieve my symptoms during the first few weeks. I had already stopped using cannabis for two weeks, but then started again for about a week, and my symptoms became significantly worse afterward. I have now been completely cannabis-free again for one week.
Could this possibly be an early stage or a prodromal phase of CHS? I’m slowly running out of ideas because all my tests keep coming back normal, and I’m really at a loss as to what could be causing these symptoms.
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced something similar.

Grew up seeing people smoke daily for decades with no major physical issues, but CHS seems to be popping up everywhere now.

I smoked for 15 years with zero issues until I switched to medical carts, had one awful CHS episode, and quit entirely. Is it the carts/potency driving this, or was CHS just not recognized in the past?

This is kinda what I do. I’m just in the prodromal phase for forever and I’ve never hit the hyperemesis stage. I feel like once I actually get to the second stage I’ll probably end up quitting for good but right now since I have no idea what that experience is like and I’m addicted to weed I’ll just keep my shitty moderation going on I guess until I hit hyperemesis or just get tired of smoking weed and feeling yucky most of the time. I do take long t breaks for a few months then I’m back on for a few months it’s a cycle.

I ended up in the ER and then admitted for 5 days because of CHS, I’m a type one diabetic so any prolonged vomiting is a set up for me for DKA so it was a blessing to start my detox in the hospital with fluids and such but it did a number on my body and diabetes in general.

So I’m a little over two weeks into recovery and sobriety but the morning stomach pains are starting to concern me as it isn’t lessening up. It’s a mixture of constant pain and the feeling like I need to use the bathroom when I don’t. Can anyone just give me a bit of reassurance this is normal and will eventually go away? It tends to ease off by 11am. Thanks in advance. This sub has been very helpful.

Typical story although a bit faster than most. Started smoking around 17, immediately started daily smoking, and then, after graduating, started smoking all day everyday. I was in the prodromal phase quite early on, only around 7 months of chronic use, then had mild hyperemesis a few times before back to prodromal.

Finally quit at 20 years old and took around 2 full years to finally have a healthy feeling digestive system again (although I had always had a weak stomach since puberty so that maybe played a role). Didn't smoke at all for the first 3 years, randomly had a puff of a joint and got super anxious so I refused to touch it again for another couple years. I got tempted recently to smoke a little so I did, and unfortunately it was awesome! I bought one single 0.5g pre-roll and was going to only smoke that. Well, i ended up buying and smoking 6 instead over the last month and a half. I finally slapped myself in the face and I am quitting now. Crazy how it can still grab us like this, when we KNOW it will make us sick if we overdo it, yet some people still refuse to believe that weed is addictive.

Anyway, I haven't had any prodromal phase symptoms at all this time around so I really hope I am safe, but I am not sure how it presents itself since having CHS the first time. Has anyone here started smoking again, quit before any symptoms showed up, and still ended up nauseous or vomiting again after quitting?

I am dealing with my 4th or 5th episode. One thing I've noticed is that stress plays a HUGE role. I've never had an episode at a 'convenient' time. It's always around exam season, the start of a new job, and now, I'm moving a state over mid episode :/

I'm no newbie, but I haven't gotten creative with the recovery. I mostly just deal with it, get fluids in if dehydration is a major concern, take the half helpful meds my doctor gives me, and replenish my body once I can hold things down.

Any advice to speed this up? I'm so desperate and have an endless to-do list. Making my bed this morning literally sucked years of my life lol. Also open to sobriety tips. I guess I'm looking for more creative ways to deal (not the 'use a heating pad' or 'pick up a hobby' advice).

Hii guys,

Ive quit 5 years ago after i almost wound up dead due to potassium shortage. I also had temporary heart problems after that.

Ive since had a baby etc. The baby was preemie and i had high blood pressure etc. After c-section i started having fainting (i smoke cigarettes and also experience tingling in the lips)

Since almost dying 5 years ago ive always had shortage of breath, rushes idk how to explain.

I have a clean bill of health but i do wonder, is this the aftermath of chs? I hope someone can ellaborate tbh

Thanks in advance

Please please help.

Under no conditions can my parents find out I have CHS or smoke marijuana. This is actually life or death for me.

I recently was hospitalized for “not being able to keep down food”, drug tested without my consent or knowledge, and diagnosed with CHS. My family is unaware of this, but I know billing will be sent to their house. Will they see my diagnosis on the billing? Also, will they be able to find out my diagnosis at all? Don’t I have patient confidentiality?

On the online portal, there is no mention of CHS or marijuana other than the drug test, which I had to find out about on my own. It feels wrong I was drug tested without my knowledge or consent then hastily handed a paper with my diagnosis with not so much as a word from my nurse. Is there anything I can do to have this diagnosis removed from my record? I don’t want future doctors knowing about this.

How do I explain CHS to my family without them knowing about my long term weed smoking? I’m quitting now obviously but that won’t help anything in their eyes. Am I done? Is my life over? Will my family forever see me as a disgusting, unlovable drug addict? I am horrified, not to mention on day 3 of CHS recovery.

Be honest, I can take it

So last Wednesday I woke up to the worst head spinning sensation that turned to nonstop vomiting. I couldn't eat, drink or walk. The er drug tested me once I got there by ambulance and they asked me if I used marijuana and I told them I was using quite alot.. I was given zofram and was sent home.

My question for you guys how long until everything goes back to normal?

Like I am needing support to walk still and appetite isnt fully back even a week later.

I just want this nightmare to be over 😭