Are you a daily marijuana user? Well, area doctors are finding an increase in Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome cases coming into emergency departments.
Despite the condition being medically recognized for the last 20 years, it’s still somewhat of a mystery to the medical community.
Cannabinoid Hyperemesis is a symptom of using marijuana daily for a year or more. Symptoms include sharp abdominal pain and non-stop vomiting that can last days, weeks, or even months. Northeast Ohio emergency department doctors said they are seeing cases in their emergency rooms every day.
Researchers believe that ingesting marijuana daily has profound impacts on skin receptors, including a part of the brain that manages body temperature and control of the digestive system.
Symptoms come on gradually with feelings of nausea, sharp, severe abdominal pain, and then repeated vomiting.
Dr. David Streem with the Alcohol And Drug Recovery Center at Cleveland Clinic’s Lutheran Hospital said the condition is rather difficult to treat and can take a while for symptoms to alleviate. It impacts people mostly between the ages of 15 and 35.