I recently read a CBS news story about CHS, or Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, describing a 100% increase in cases in Colorado since the legalization of marijuana there. A search for ‘THC’ and ‘CHS’ pulls stories from a range of sources including High Times, Wikipedia, Fusion.net, and Current Psychiatry. A broader search reveals articles calling the disorder ‘fake news‘.
Most articles about CHS describe the condition as rare, but becoming less rare as the legalization movement takes root and grows. The syndrome occurs in heavy, long-time users of marijuana who first notice reduced appetite, mild nausea, and sometimes weight loss. Those symptoms, and the symptoms that follow, are relieved by smoking marijuana, leading those with the condition to become heavier users who come to see marijuana as beneficial to their health.
Over time the symptoms worsen to include paroxysms of severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Patients often seek help from a number of health practitioners, including alternative health treatments. Tests come up negative, and patients continue to turn to marijuana to treat the symptoms– along with hot baths and showers, which for some reason make the pain and nausea more-tolerable.
Since we live in an era of social media I’ll point out that I have no strong feelings toward marijuana. I don’t kick people off buprenorphine products for testing positive for THC, as it makes little sense to stop treating a potentially fatal disease because the patient smokes pot. I doubt doctors would withhold cancer treatment because of marijuana use either. I’m describing my observations only to get the word out about something that doctors are missing. Over the past 2-3 years I’ve had several patients with symptoms identical to those described in stories about CHS, so I suspect the condition is more common than thought.
The Current Psychiatry article describes possible mechanisms for symptoms of CHS. The nausea and vomiting may be caused by accumulation of cannabinoids in the lipid tissue of the gut, causing activation of the CB1 receptor in the intestine to override the anti-emetic effects of CB1 activation in the hypothalamus. Activation of CB1 receptors in the gut slows peristalsis (the motion of the intestines that propels food forward) and dilates the blood vessels to the intestinal system. Hot baths and showers may provide relief by dilating blood vessels in the skin and redirecting blood flow away from the gut. Other possible causes relate to the effects of specific cannabinoids, or perhaps herbicides or pesticides.
One of my patients had classic symptoms of CHS for several years. A year ago I had not yet heard of the condition, but noticed that he repeatedly talked about marijuana being a ‘wonder drug’ for disabling stomach pain and nausea, even as he lost weight and his general health deteriorated. When I asked if he considered that marijuana may actually be harming his health he became angry and defensive, and never returned for follow-up.
Another patient talked about his spouse’s health problems, hoping I would have ideas about the cause of her symptoms that weren’t found through visits to many specialists. Marijuana wasn’t even part of the discussion as he described her severe pain and nausea over the past year that caused her to go to the ER several times each month. At his last appointment, armed with new knowledge about CHS, I asked him if his wife smoked marijuana.
He said that she not only smoked it, she recently got her ‘medical marijuana’ card because smoking was the only thing that relieved her nausea. I asked if she ever felt better after a shower, and he said “oh my gosh, she is in the shower for three hours or more every day with the hot water turned up!”
The big question, of course, will be whether people with similar symptoms will try going without pot for a month, the length of time required for symptoms to fade, and whether clearing their systems of THC actually relieves their symptoms. But other heavy marijuana users with pain and nausea should read up on CHS, and consider a trial off THC. One month without pot isn’t going to kill you.
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