That causes the drug “high” and other effects that users feel. CHS can cause severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. If you experience scromiting and have used cannabis, it is likely that you have CHS.

The prodromal phase is characterized by morning nausea and abdominal discomfort, and it can persist anywhere from four months to five years. For example, a study in an urban New York City Emergency Department consisting of 2127 patients showed that 32.9% of patients who smoked marijuana 20 days or more per month met the criteria for CHS . These studies were analyzed and synthesized to provide an overview of CHS, its clinical features, and the evolving understanding of its relationship to chronic cannabis use. Additionally, studies that did not discuss cannabis use in relation to CHS symptoms were not considered.

What are possible complications of CHS?

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is severe nausea and cyclic vomiting that can occur after long-term and frequent cannabis use. As cannabis legalization continues to spread across the United States, healthcare systems may face an increasing burden from cannabis-related conditions like CHS. Policies promoting a non-judgmental, open discussion about cannabis use in healthcare settings could help overcome this barrier. Standardized guidelines would help healthcare providers identify CHS more efficiently and reduce the likelihood of misdiagnosis. Finally, the recovery phase occurs when patients return to their baseline health status, regardless of whether they resume cannabis use. However, the true prevalence is likely underestimated due to misdiagnosis and limited awareness among healthcare providers.

• CHS is marked by persistent vomiting and ongoing abdominal pain, primarily affecting long-term, daily cannabis users.
• That said, treatment often involves more than just quitting—especially if you’ve been using cannabis to cope with anxiety, trauma, or other mental health challenges.
• It causes recurring bouts of nausea, vomiting, and abdominal discomfort.
• Often, patients undergo costly procedures such as CT scans and a battery of lab work to ensure their symptoms aren’t indicative of something much worse.

Management and Treatment

As CHS becomes more widely recognized, policymakers should consider its long-term effects on healthcare costs, lost workdays, and the potential need for long-term care or behavioral interventions. Adequate training and resources should be provided to healthcare professionals to ensure that CHS is correctly identified and treated, and also to help manage the increased patient load. The challenge of diagnosing and managing CHS, coupled with the resource strain of frequent hospital visits, may exacerbate the pressure on healthcare facilities.

With around 15% of Americans currently using marijuana and the industry rapidly booming, it is important to note any health concerns that may arise through cannabis usage. In the acute phase, supportive care may include IV fluids for dehydration, anti-nausea medications, and rest. That said, treatment often involves more than just quitting—especially if you’ve been using cannabis to cope with anxiety, trauma, or other mental health challenges. Recovery begins when cannabis is out of your system—and for most people, that’s when the vomiting stops and the healing begins. But the truth is, there’s currently no medication or treatment that can fully resolve CHS symptoms unless cannabis use is removed from the equation completely. For many people, this can feel confusing or even overwhelming, especially if they’ve relied on weed for stress relief, sleep, or chronic pain management.

How CHS Symptoms Progress Over Time

Most patients improve within days to weeks, but full recovery can take months. The earliest CHS symptoms include morning nausea, reduced appetite, and abdominal discomfort. Some scientists also believe TRPV1 receptors (the same receptors affected by capsaicin, the compound in chili peppers) play a role — explaining why applying capsaicin cream or taking hot showers temporarily relieves symptoms.

Recognizing the signs and phases of CHS

People with CHS often find temporary relief from these symptoms by taking hot baths and showers. Nursing CE Central is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation (ANCC P0614). One in 10 people aged 60 and older who live at home might experience abuse. The challenges of patient care intensify for nurses who also must manage their…

These are the first signs of CHS:

Nurses should know how to identify CHS, educate their patients, and provide resources non-judgmentally. Upon discharge, patients are often dissatisfied since they feel only mildly better or sometimes see no improvement. There is also continuous cleanup needed due to constant vomiting.

However, 10% of CHS patients do not report this behavior, despite it being central to the diagnosis 11,17. Abdominal pain is a key feature of CHS, although it is also present in a significant proportion of CVS cases . Both conditions predominantly affect younger individuals, with CHS showing a higher prevalence in males, which aligns with the higher 5 types of alcoholics according to the niaaa rates of cannabis use among men.

Most people with CHS who stop using cannabis have relief from symptoms within 10 days. You may use home treatments to relieve CHS symptoms immediately after quitting cannabis. Without knowing this background, providers often misdiagnose CHS as other conditions, like cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS). One study found that 32.9% of self-reported frequent marijuana users who came to an emergency department for care met the criteria for CHS. Not everyone with the condition seeks medical help or tells their provider that they use marijuana. CHS causes frequent, severe nausea and vomiting.

Since vomiting and nausea are common to so many other conditions, people often go through a long, frustrating journey of tests, misdiagnoses, and hospital visits before landing on the right answer. The most prominent symptom is repetitive, severe vomiting—often described as coming in waves and resistant to typical anti-nausea medications. Over the last two decades, Karen has taught hundreds of patients and caregivers how to select strains, infuse oils, and extract cannabinoids. With cessation, patients usually see complete resolution of symptoms, often regaining health and stability within weeks. CHS symptoms range from mild morning nausea to relentless vomiting and dehydration. If you are a long-term cannabis user experiencing cyclic vomiting and find relief from hot showers, you may have CHS.

Most people who develop CHS have been using marijuana daily for years. Visit our cannabis treatment page for more details. Inability to keep fluids down for 24 hours, severe abdominal pain, or signs of dehydration warrant an emergency department visit.

Labs need to be drawn at each visit to screen for electrolyte imbalance, and the patient’s nurse is monopolized as more and more medications are auditioned to try and control CHS symptoms. This proves frustrating for ED and EMS staff, who are responding to and treating the same patients week after week. One woman I had seen in the ED weekly for over a month did accept it was her cannabis use causing her daily debilitating abdominal cramps, throwing up, and dry heaving. Some patients are relieved that they feel better after being sick for so long without a known cause.

Questions To Ask Your Provider

It’s important to be honest about your marijuana use if you have symptoms of CHS. This may lead to issues with your body’s natural control of nausea and vomiting. Many people with CHS will compulsively shower or bathe — often for hours every day — to relieve CHS symptoms. Symptoms of CHS typically come on several years after the start of chronic marijuana use. It’s a condition that can lead to serious health complications if you don’t get treatment for it.

How long after quitting weed do CHS symptoms last?

These remedies may help you feel better while you transition to the recovery phase. Researchers are currently studying several treatment options to manage the hyperemetic phase of CHS. If you have cannabis use disorder and need help quitting, professional treatment is available. You may have symptoms and side effects of CHS for a few weeks after quitting cannabis. The only known treatment to permanently get rid of CHS is to stop cannabis use completely.

• These studies were analyzed and synthesized to provide an overview of CHS, its clinical features, and the evolving understanding of its relationship to chronic cannabis use.
• Importantly, patients are advised to stop cannabis use immediately to break the cycle.
• Many people take a lot of hot showers during the day.
• Despite its widespread reputation for alleviating nausea and stimulating appetite, chronic cannabis use has been linked to a paradoxical condition known as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS).
• The only treatment identified to fully resolve the symptoms of CHS is cannabis cessation.

However, their use is approached with caution due to the risk of dependence, especially in patients with a history of substance use. In emergency settings, benzodiazepines have demonstrated significant efficacy in reducing acute symptoms, providing symptomatic relief when conventional anti-emetics fail. Benzodiazepines have been shown to be effective in managing acute symptoms of CHS, particularly for their rapid-acting anti-emetic and anxiolytic properties. The response to stress is important in survival, but long-term stress can have negative effects on one’s health . Stress is regulated and controlled partially by the endocannabinoid system, and the HPA axis is the main neuroendocrine system activated by the stress response and therefore cannabinoids . If the endocannabinoid system gets disrupted by excessive use of cannabinoids, the stimulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system may occur.

Public health responses to CHS are hampered by a lack of comprehensive data and research. These long-term societal costs should be considered when evaluating the broader impact of cannabis legalization. These products often contain much higher levels of THC than traditional cannabis flower, potentially increasing the risk of developing CHS and other adverse effects. While marijuana use is becoming more widespread and socially accepted, there remains a limited public awareness about the adverse effects, including CHS. While several treatments provide symptom relief, it is important to be cautious with certain medications.