Health/Medical
See other Health/Medical Articles
Title: Wrecked And Retching: Obscure Vomiting Illness Linked To Long-Term Pot Use
Source:
KOED News
URL Source: https://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/ ... s-linked-to-long-term-pot-use/
Published: Nov 21, 2017
Author: Pauline Bartolone
Post Date: 2017-11-22 07:45:11 by Gatlin
Keywords: None
Views: 6962
Comments: 78
For 17 years, Chalfonte LeNee Queen suffered periodic episodes of violent retching and abdominal pain that would knock her off her feet for days, sometimes leaving her writhing on the floor in pain. “I’ve screamed out for death,” said Queen, 48, who lives in San Diego. “I’ve cried out for my mom who’s been dead for 20 years, mentally not realizing she can’t come to me.” Queen lost a modeling job after being mistaken for an alcoholic. She racked up tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and her nausea interrupted her sex life. Toward the end of her illness, Queen, who stands 5-foot-9, weighed in at a frail 109 pounds. Throughout the nearly two decades of pain, vomiting and mental fog, she visited the hospital about three times a year, but doctors never got to the bottom of what was ailing her. By 2016, she thought she was dying, that she “must have some sort of cancer or something they can’t detect,” Queen said. But she didn’t have cancer. She had an obscure syndrome called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a condition only recently acknowledged by the medical community. It affects a small population — namely, a subset of marijuana users who smoke multiple times a day for months, years or even decades. There’s no hard data on the prevalence of the illness. But in California and Colorado, which have loosened marijuana laws in recent years, emergency physicians say they’re seeing it more often. One study in Colorado suggests there may be a link. Dr. Aimee Moulin, an emergency room physician at UC-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, said she has seen a rise in the number of cases since California voters legalized recreational marijuana last November. She expects to see another increase after commercial sales are permitted starting in January. Doctors say it’s difficult to treat the condition. There is no cure other than to quit using marijuana, and many patients are skeptical that cannabis is making them sick, so they keep using it and their vomiting episodes continue. Doctors can do little to relieve the symptoms, since traditional anti-nausea medications often don’t work and there are no pills to prevent the onset of an episode. Patients may need intravenous hydration and hospital stays until the symptoms subside. “That’s really frustrating as an emergency physician,” said Moulin. “I really like to make people feel better.” Diagnosing the syndrome can also be frustrating — and expensive. There is no blood test to link the stomach ailment with marijuana use, so physicians often order pricey CT scans and lab tests to rule out other medical problems. Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome was first documented in Australia in 2004. Physicians have historically misdiagnosed it as the more generic cyclic vomiting syndrome, which has no identifiable cause or, as in Queen’s case, acute intermittent porphyria (AIP). “Five years ago, this wasn’t something that [doctors] had on their radar,” said Dr. Kennon Heard, an emergency physician at the University of Colorado in Aurora, who co-authored the Colorado study showing a possible tie between the liberalization of marijuana and a surge of the vomiting illness. “We’re at least making the diagnosis more now.” One surefire sign of the illness is when patients find relief in hot showers and baths. Queen said she would vomit repeatedly unless she was in a hot shower — so she’d stay in there for hours. Toxicologists say the heat may distract the brain from pain receptors in the abdomen but, like the syndrome itself, that phenomenon is not well understood. The exact cause of the condition is still a mystery. Toxicologists say the chemical compounds in marijuana may throw off the normal function of the body’s cannabinoid receptors, which help regulate the nervous system. Some people may be genetically predisposed to the syndrome, or marijuana’s potency or chemical makeup may have changed over time, said Dr. Craig Smollin, medical director of the San Francisco division of the California Poison Control System, who also works as an emergency physician at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. The vomiting link to cannabis is counterintuitive to many, because of its widely known reputation as an anti-nausea remedy for cancer patients. “A lot of times, people just don’t believe you,” said Dr. John Coburn, an emergency physician at Kaiser Permanente in south Sacramento. Even after being told that quitting may help, some patients will visit the hospital multiple times before they stop smoking marijuana, Coburn said. “I can’t really tell you why. I mean, why do people ride motorcycles without helmets on?” Cameron Nicole Beard, 19, of East Moline, Ill., said she struggled to believe her doctors about the link between pot and severe vomiting. “Who wants to be told you can’t smoke marijuana, when you think marijuana can help?” said Beard, while recovering from a marijuana-related vomiting episode at a University of Iowa hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, last month. She said she had lost 20 pounds in 10 days. Although there’s still no magic cure for a patient’s marijuana-related hyperemesis, Moulin and other doctors say they’re getting better at treating the symptoms, using old anti-psychotic medications and cream for muscle aches. Dr. Heard said the cases in Colorado seem to have leveled off. But without hard data, and because the overall numbers are small, it’s hard to say for sure. Heard said he doesn’t believe cases of the pot syndrome increased after recreational use was legalized in 2012, because chronic users probably already had medical marijuana cards. Chalfonte LeNee Queen is still struggling to completely quit marijuana, but her symptoms are down to a dull stomachache. She now smokes a couple of times a day, compared with her near-constant use in the past. She said it’s the only thing that works for her depression and anxiety. Queen is back to a healthy weight and hasn’t been to the hospital in a year. She said she wouldn’t want to discourage anybody from smoking weed; she just wants people to know heavy use can bring them some serious misery. “Now, if I get sick, as sad as I’ll be and as upset and disappointed with myself as I would be, at least it’s a freaking choice,” she said. Poster Comment: Suffering from cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome? Suggested treatment? Medical marijuana….ya think?
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 32.
#6. To: Gatlin, splash, hurl, Sterno (#0)
It's the Sterno, stupid!
Tater's problem is that he lives in paralyzing fear that someone, somewhere may be enjoying themselves without asking permission from the gooberment first.
There can no longer be any question on the scientific certainty of marijuana being addictive or having a profoundly deleterious degradation effect in the brain synapses. Confirmation of this is readily available on the Internet through numerous scientific studies. The argument against the use of marijuana is left with the conclusion that tax revenue from the sale of marijuana is a viable trade-off for funding government expansion at the expense of public health. It is insane to argue that the 88,000 deaths each year from alcohol should be augmented and increased with additional opiate like mind altering substances. Now two are becoming legal and one remains illegal….while the call for legalizing opiates and all drugs is being prepared. The drug problem in America is every bit as evil and insidious as one can imagine.
But, tater, I am making a lot of money investing in legal marijuana farms. Its the old fashioned way for a capitalist such as myself.
A study of 129 college students found that, among those who smoked the drug at least 27 of the 30 days before being surveyed, critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning were seriously diminished. One such study was published in the Hippocampus journal, which found that teenagers who smoked pot every day for three years had “abnormally shaped” hippocampal regions when they reached their early 20s. A study of postal workers found that employees who tested positive for marijuana had 55% more accidents, 85% more injuries and a 75% increase in being absent from work. Some people will tell you marijuana is not dangerous and investing in marijuana stocks is profitable. Stop and consider who is telling you that and the reason why …
Expressed individual liberties in a free market is the goal. I agree, that it is a requirement to understand personal responsibility for the world around ourselves. Otherwise we cannot learn and grow. Your continuous attempt to repress individual liberty to choose FREEDOM TO MAKE AND CREATE INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS while simultaneously agreeing to a suppressive government that picks & chooses restraints on individual liberties is a serious flaw in your BS dialog.
Only the gooberment can make decisions for us - just ask Gatlin. Personal responsibility used to be one of the mainstays of conservatism. Your continuous attempt to repress individual liberty to choose FREEDOM TO MAKE AND CREATE INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS while simultaneously agreeing to a suppressive government that picks & chooses restraints on individual liberties is a serious flaw in your BS dialog. Now, being a conservative means you support government interfering in the lives of free individuals because - "the children". More and more, with each post he makes, the Major sounds like Hillary.
Cannabis is the most commonly abused drug in the United States. Since 2008, Cannabis use has significantly increased, in part because of legalization for medicinal and recreational use. It’s flagrant use and abuse has resulted in a marijuana associated illness identified as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS). CHS is characterized by years of daily Cannabis use, recurrent nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, compulsive bathing for symptom relief, and symptom resolution with cessation of use. Marijuana can harm a person’s memory—and this impact can last for days or weeks after the immediate effects of the drug wear off. In one study, a group of heavy marijuana users was asked to recall words from a list. Their ability to correctly remember the words did not return to normal until as long as four weeks after they stopped smoking.39 Students who use marijuana have lower grades and are less likely to get into college than non-smokers. They simply do not have the same abilities to remember and organize information compared to those who do not use these substances.
DickTard loves the sheep living in servitude to a drug... controlled by government ALLOWING recreational legal weed. An addicted populace needs to be fed while homeless... and we all know how DickTard hates laws against feeding the animals.
I simply cannot understand why Deckard wants to promote drug use and addiction. What in his misguided life led to using psychoactive substances and spreading propaganda to entice others to also use these drugs? The idiot must know that marijuana has proven to be a gateway drug. It should come as no surprise that the vast majority of heroin users have used marijuana not only long before they used heroin but while they are using heroin. Like nearly all people with substance abuse problems, most heroin users initiated their drug use early in their teens, usually beginning with marijuana and alcohol. There is ample evidence that early initiation of drug use primes the brain for enhanced later responses to other drugs….look no further than Deckard for evidence of this.
OMG - you're still pushing that discredited bag of malarkey? Marijuana Is Not, Repeat Not, a Gateway Drug US Attorney General Finally Admits Weed Isn’t a Gateway Drug — Prescription Pills Are Marijuana is not a gateway drug. People who have tried marijuana may eventually go on to try harder drugs in search of a stronger high, and experimentation may lead them down a dangerous path toward addiction. However, the science shows overwhelmingly that for most people marijuana is not a gateway drug. Many people mistakenly believe that marijuana use precedes rather than follows initiation of other illicit drug use. In fact, most drug use begins with alcohol and nicotine before marijuana, making nicotine and alcohol the two most common drugs of abuse. Evidence indicates marijuana is usually not the first substance abused before more dangerous illicit drug experimentation. A study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of School Health has concluded that the theory of a gateway drug is not associated with marijuana, but rather one of the most damaging and socially accepted drugs in the world, alcohol. The findings from this investigation support that alcohol should receive primary attention in abuse prevention programming, since the use of other substances could be impacted by delaying or preventing alcohol use. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ending-addiction-good/201408/marijuana-the-gateway-drug-myth Major Study Destroys Drug War Fear Propaganda – As States Legalize Marijuana, Teen Use Plummets
Fake news put out by those becoming millionaires by getting kids hooked on marijuana. Why do you bother to believe such shit …
And the rampant idiocy continues unabated.
And the rampant idiocy continues unabated. Yes it does, unfortunately. Your millionaire drug lords are the cause of so much suffering and despair. It is their mission in life to feed the habits of those they have caused to become addicted with the uncontrollable cravings for marijuana and illicit drugs. They create new drug habits in those who are not informed about the terrible dangers of the drugs and laugh all the way to the bank. They do it for one reason. They do it solely for the money….misery money, an income from the devastation of lives. They, like you , may see the horrors these drugs cause, but the drug pins push off the guilt when they hold cash in their hands. Your only satisfaction is that you can continue to live in blissful ignorance as lives are ruined forever. Sooner or later though, you need to stop your wayward ways to figured out that you’re helping to kill people….some of whom no doubt are your friends.
#35. To: Gatlin (#32)
No one gets "hooked" on marijuana. People get hooked on heroin, alcohol, nicotine and painkillers. Marijuana is actually LESS addictive than coffee.
They create new drug habits in those who are not informed about the terrible dangers of the drugs and laugh all the way to the bank. They do it for one reason. They do it solely for the money Not my drug lords - yours. How the CIA Turned Us onto LSD and Heroin: Secrets of America's War on Drugs The CIA, Afghanistan’s Poppy Fields and America’s Growing Heroin Epidemic CIA Fueling New U.S. Drug Epidemic Using Cheap Afghani Heroin
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#7. To: hondo68 (#6)
#12. To: Deckard (#7)
Tater's problem is that he lives in paralyzing fear that someone, somewhere may be enjoying themselves without asking permission from the gooberment first.
I have no problem and I do not live in fear, but I will express concern about the underlying problem of the drug epidemic drugging down Americans.
#13. To: Gatlin (#12)
The drug problem in America is every bit as evil and insidious as one can imagine.
#14. To: buckeroo (#13)
I am making a lot of money investing in legal marijuana farms
The use of marijuana is not only harmful to the pot smoker himself….the pothead can also become a risk to society. Scientific research has clearly shown that pot has the potential to cause problems in daily life.
In Australia, a study found that cannabis intoxication was responsible for 4.3% of driver fatalities.
#15. To: Gatlin (#14)
The use of marijuana is not only harmful to the pot smoker himself….the pothead can also become a risk to society. Scientific research has clearly shown that pot has the potential to cause problems in daily life.
#16. To: buckeroo (#15)
(Edited)
Expressed individual liberties in a free market is the goal. I agree, that it is a requirement to understand personal responsibility for the world around ourselves.
#17. To: Deckard (#16)
#18. To: Gatlin (#17)
#19. To: GrandIsland (#18)
#22. To: Gatlin (#19)
(Edited)
marijuana has proven to be a gateway drug.
#24. To: Deckard (#22)
Major Study Destroys Drug War Fear Propaganda – As States Legalize Marijuana, Teen Use Plummets
#28. To: Gatlin (#24)
...getting kids hooked on marijuana.
#32. To: Deckard (#28)
...getting kids hooked on marijuana.
Replies to Comment # 32. ...getting kids hooked on marijuana.
#36. To: Gatlin (#32)
Your millionaire drug lords are the cause of so much suffering and despair.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 32.
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]