Cannabinoid Hyperemesis vs Cyclical Vomiting

March 1, 2017 9:43 AM

How long after stopping use of marijuana should we expect to see relief in the case of cannabinoid hyperemesis? anecdotal evidence sought. Special snowflake details inside.

My wife has had intractable vomiting for 30 years, having first been hospitalized for same when she was about 5. About 6 years ago this dis-ease shifted gears, going from a periodical issue to a full time kind of show. We have worked extensively with GI's across this fine crazy continent of ours and now, western medicine having sort of shrugged and said, hey, could it be the pot? We're giving this a try. However, I have doubts.

1) she has had this problem since she was a small child and easily a decade or more before she tried using marijuana for symptom relief.

2) The illness has persisted wether or not we were smoking pot and has been noticeably worse during times when we did not have access to pot.

3) There is absolutely an inherited component, as her mother has the same problem.

So, I have questions.

If you were diagnosed with it, how long did it take before you have symptom relief?

Have you been told not to use CBDs?

posted by ottergrrl to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

From what you've described, her diagnosis may not actually be CHS, as she had the vomiting before using pot. One clear distinction of CHS seems to be that vomiting ceases when the person takes a hot shower or bath (raises core temperature). Is this true of her? If not, I'd definitely continue to seek a proper diagnosis.

My brief search at PubMed did not turn up any statements about how long after cessation the condition might pass, unfortunately, but you could search there some more.
posted by Riverine at 10:38 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Yeah, her actual diagnosis is cyclical vomiting syndrome. For the most part we thought we had this under control, as much as you can. However out of the past 20 days we've been in the hospital or ER 16 times. The fun part of this is that we live in Colorado, so they are having something of a flurry of CHS diagnoses, which is understandable yet intrinsically frustrating at about the 20th conversation with some well meaning PA who clocked that we use marijuana to ease her symptoms but then didn't continue to read her history.

So, we're checking out the CHS for 2 reasons:

1, we would love to just be able to say, firmly, hey look we've excluded this, so can you move on and get back to taking care of her? and
2. at this point, she's so sick that we're desperate and well, what if she has BOTH chs and CVS? I mean, it would be like the biggest bad joke ever from God after menopause.

Anyway I'm just putting it out there because there is so much information out there and most of it seems in conflict with itself. Thanks for answering.
posted by ottergrrl at 7:28 PM on March 1, 2017

Best answer: This is just more information on CVS, but a pretty strong review article, in case it should be of any use as you continue to search for an answer. The abstract states something you are experiencing:

"CONCLUSIONS:
Cyclic vomiting syndrome in adults is an entity that is being increasingly recognised, but the need to educate Internists, Gastroenterologists and Emergency Department staff remains an ongoing challenge."

My good thoughts to you and your wife.
posted by Riverine at 11:21 AM on March 3, 2017