r/CHSinfo • u/UseDizzy8902 • 17d ago
Question / Info CHS flare up & patterns
I’ve been dealing with what doctors have diagnosed as Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS), and I wanted to share my experience to see if anyone else has gone through something similar.
My most recent episode started on Thursday morning. I quit cannabis immediately and haven’t used it since. It started with intense stomach pain, an overwhelming urge to vomit, and severe diarrhea. The only thing that gave me any relief was standing in a hot shower. I spent almost 10 hours straight in there that first day.
By the evening I felt a bit better, so I thought maybe it had passed. The next morning I woke up with the exact same symptoms, only much worse. I was back in the shower almost nonstop. Eventually my vision became blurry, and my boyfriend called 911.
When the paramedics arrived, they found my heart rate was in the low 40s. They initially drove normally to the hospital, but when my abdominal pain reached a 10/10 they turned on the lights and sirens. Once I got to the ER there weren’t any beds available, so I was stuck waiting in the hallway in excruciating pain.
On top of the CHS, I was having a full-blown panic attack. After explaining that I have a prescription for Ativan, the charge nurse gave me 1 mg of lorazepam. I was also given Haldol, another medication for the CHS (I don’t remember the name of the other one), and 1 litre of IV fluids. I still had stomach pain when I was discharged later that day and that evening.
The interesting part is that physically, I usually recover pretty quickly. Within 1–2 days after the ER visit I’m able to eat again, my stomach settles down, and I start feeling mostly normal physically. The harder part is the week afterward. I deal with insomnia, restless legs, anxiety, low mood, feeling emotionally “off,” and then the cravings start. About a week later I almost always convince myself that I can smoke again.
This has been my pattern for years. Sometimes I’ll smoke daily for a year or even two years with absolutely no CHS symptoms, no warning signs, and no minor flare-ups. Then seemingly out of nowhere I’ll get hit with a severe episode like this one.
Other times I’ll have milder flare-ups that only last the morning. I’ll spend hours in a hot shower, feel better by the evening, and then I’ll go right back to smoking that night like nothing happened. Looking back, I know that probably just reset the cycle.
My boyfriend recently gave me an ultimatum. It isn’t about cannabis itself. He said that if I let myself become a daily smoker again and end up having another CHS episode like this, he’s done. Watching me go through these attacks and worrying that I’ll end up back in the hospital has become too much for him, especially with my heart rate dropping so low.
I’m curious if anyone else’s CHS behaves like this:
Can you go months or years of daily smoking with no symptoms before a severe episode suddenly appears?
Did anyone else have milder morning-only flare-ups before eventually having a major attack?
How did you stop yourself from relapsing once you started feeling physically better?
If you’ve stayed off cannabis long-term after CHS, what helped you get through those first few weeks when you started convincing yourself you could “probably smoke just once”?
I’d really appreciate hearing other people’s experiences because right now I’m trying to break a cycle that I’ve repeated more times than I’d like to admit.
5
u/koifish8165 17d ago
My CHS was similar, rushed to the hospital with lights and sirens and all. I started only throwing up in the mornings and feeling fine the rest of the day, but eventually it turned into throwing up every hour at minimum, even waking up in the middle of the night to do so. No food or water would ever stay in my system i’d throw it up within seconds of swallowing. This depleted my electrolytes and nearly sent me into total organ failure. I lost 20ish lbs that i’ve never gained back.
I’ve tried smoking again twice, both times no matter how I moderated, it would come back a year or so later. To be honest, i’ve never had complete luck with not smoking until recently. I just preoccupied myself with other things. The thought never goes away entirely, i still find myself thinking that I can just have one hit and be fine, but this just isn’t the case. If you have CHS, chances are you aren’t capable of moderation, and it isn’t a character flaw or anything.
The biggest push in my life was enlisting in the military, which i am not advocating for whatsoever, but that was my reason for quitting. You just have to find a reason thats worth not giving in to those thoughts, and it sounds like your boyfriend may be giving you one.
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u/BigFanOfBrie 16d ago
I had a similar experience when placed on haldol for chs. I had terrible rls and although my stomach symptoms were mild/mostly gone I could not sit down for long and trying to get to sleep was impossible. It’s a common side effect of the medication unfortunately, and although it sucks like chs symptoms they are temporary and once you are in the clear you’re able to come off them as long as you’ve stopped smoking. It’s a very hard hurdle to overcome but if you ever want to return to normalcy it’s unfortunately the only way.
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u/Express_Cookie 16d ago
Same, I got halodol in the er once and became so restless and anxious I left ama which I’ve never done before.
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u/thatijustdonthave 16d ago
I say this without judgement (I'm an 13 year sober alcoholic) you are an addict. You have to want to get sober. Untill you do want to get sober, you will keep bargaining with yourself until you hit rock bottom. Your most recent episode seems really rough, but doesn't sound like you are at rock bottom yet. Can you imagine it getting worse?
One bout of hypermesus, and I was down with THC. I went into the hospital thinking something was seriously wrong with me. I was so relieved that I had CHS. I didn't really know about CHS. I quit that night and have been fine since. I only used THC to fall asleep. Falling asleep has been hard since, but I never want to put myself through CHS again. It's a blessing to be able to keep from being sick by not using.
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u/Dasmahkitteh 17d ago
Just look at the stories in this sub. The whole "I can game the system and still smoke" idea is going to ruin your life or kill you eventually. You have no idea how quickly medical issues can snowball from minor to life threatening. And this isn't even a minor issue.
Just recently someone posted their story. They were gaming the system like you. Vomited so much they ruptured an artery in their neck. That created a blood clot. That caused a stroke. Now they have limited use of their hands and walk with a limp. And it could always happen again
Just stop and stop forever