Too Much Herb Can Cause Nausea and Vomiting
Weed is known for its ability to relieve nausea, but in people who smoke it a lot, it can have the opposite effect. A little-known condition called syndrome cannabinoid giperemezii ( SNA ) includes episodes of severe nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, and it can be temporarily relieved by a hot shower.
This condition was known to scientists only a few years ago, and is still rare. But it’s also difficult to diagnose: many doctors are unaware of this, and many cannabis users find it hard to believe that something they’ve been using for years could suddenly cause problems.
Recent research has shown that CHS may be more common than we thought. The researchers handed out a questionnaire to people who were in the New York City emergency room for other reasons and are not currently nauseous. (Many illnesses can cause nausea, so they wanted to rule out the possibility that people were suffering from something else. If you have chronic heart syndrome, it tends to come and go.)
Of 155 patients who completed the survey and used cannabis for at least 20 days a month, 33 percent said they found hot showers to be an effective way to relieve nausea. If these numbers turn out to be representative of cannabis users in general, it means that several million people in the US could be exposed to CHS, and probably most of them have no idea.
We don’t know exactly what causes HF or why hot showers help. Our digestive system contains receptors for endocannabinoids, our body’s natural chemicals that mimic cannabis. Meanwhile, the region of the brain that controls body temperature, the hypothalamus, also has cannabinoid receptors, so there may be a connection between this region of the brain and a hot shower.
If you think you have CHS, see your doctor – your nausea may be due to something else. But if cannabis is really to blame, the only known cure is to stop using it. You can read more about cannabinoid hyperemesia syndrome here .