A Michigan teenager who began using cannabis at just 15 has been left battling a debilitating illness that triggers uncontrollable vomiting, agonizing stomach pains and potentially dangerous heart complications.
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that → begin → vomiting
Andy Timmons, 19, from St. Clair Shores, outside Detroit, has been hospitalized twice after developing symptoms associated with Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS), a condition linked to prolonged, frequent marijuana use.
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Timmons → hospitalize → use
The syndrome can cause relentless bouts of nausea and vomiting, leaving sufferers severely dehydrated and, in extreme cases, vulnerable to life-threatening complications.
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syndrome → cause → complications
One of its most extraordinary symptoms is an overwhelming urge to take long, steaming-hot showers, which can temporarily ease the discomfort.
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which → take → discomfort
Timmons' mother, Mindi Giorlando-Timmons, said her daughter had been using cannabis since she was 15 but had no idea the drug could be responsible for such devastating symptoms.
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drug → say → symptoms
The teenager initially complained of feeling 'off' before developing severe abdominal pain, headaches and repeated vomiting.
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teenager → complain → pain
Her condition deteriorated so dramatically that she was rushed to an emergency room last month and admitted to hospital.
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she → deteriorate → hospital
Andy Timmons, 19, began using cannabis at just 15 before developing a debilitating illness linked to prolonged marijuana consumption (stock photo)
Doctors warn that there is no FDA-approved treatment for the condition.
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Doctors → begin → condition
Doctors often focus on managing symptoms until they subside
Although she was eventually discharged, her ordeal was far from over.
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ordeal → focus → symptoms
After just four days at home, the vomiting returned with such intensity that Andy begged her mother to take her back to hospital.
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Andy → return → hospital
She was readmitted in the middle of the night with doctors discovering dangerously depleted potassium and magnesium levels.
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doctors → readmitte → levels
Medics also found the teenager had a heart abnormality in its electrical activity that can increase the risk of potentially fatal irregular heart rhythms.
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that → find → rhythms
It was during her hospital stay that medical staff identified a possible explanation for her mysterious illness.
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staff → identify → illness
A nurse asked Andy whether anything helped ease her symptoms.
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anything → ask → symptoms
When the teen revealed that she found relief by spending extended periods under hot water, medical staff recognized a telltale warning sign of CHS.
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staff → reveal → CHS
Her mother told ClickOnDetroit that she had never even heard of the condition before the hospital visit.
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she → tell → visit
Doctors warn that Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome can be difficult to diagnose because its symptoms mimic other gastrointestinal illnesses, with repeated vomiting potentially causing dangerous dehydration and life-threatening complications (stock photo)
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vomiting → warn → photo
Once an active teenager who enjoyed dance classes and marching band, Andy is now struggling with depression and faces uncertainty over possible longer-term physical complications, according to her mother.
'I don’t want any other parent to have to go through this and not know this could happen,' Giorlando-Timmons said.
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Timmons → enjoy → this
The mother is demanding stronger warnings on cannabis products to ensure other families recognize the potential danger before it is too late.
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it → demand → danger
She insists she is not campaigning to criminalize marijuana, but wants dispensary workers and consumers better educated about the syndrome.
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workers → insist → syndrome
Giorlando-Timmons is also pushing for more systematic reporting of CHS diagnoses and hopes to recruit lawmakers to sponsor legislation requiring prominent warnings.
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Timmons → push → warnings
In a letter calling for greater consumer protections, she argued that existing marijuana labels address risks including pregnancy, mental health and THC poisoning but fail to adequately explain CHS.
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labels → call → CHS
'You can’t make a decision for yourself without information, and if you don’t know that CHS is a potential possibility for you out there, you’re not going to know to look it up,' she said.
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she → make → it
CHS is a disorder associated with sustained, typically heavy cannabis consumption that causes recurring episodes of severe nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting.
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that → associate → nausea
First described in medical journals in 2004, the condition remains poorly understood, although researchers believe prolonged exposure to cannabinoids can disrupt the body's normal regulation of nausea and vomiting.
Cannabis is often associated with relieving nausea, particularly in certain medical settings.
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Cannabis → describe → settings
However, researchers believe repeated exposure to cannabinoids can have the opposite effect in susceptible individuals, potentially triggering the very symptoms cannabis is sometimes used to treat.
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cannabis → believe → symptoms
The precise biological mechanism remains unclear.
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mechanism → remain → ?
One particularly distinctive feature is the temporary relief some patients experience from extremely hot baths or showers.
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patients → experience → baths
Dr Frank McGeorge, a physician with Detroit's Local 4, explained that the behavior can become almost irresistible for sufferers.
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behavior → explain → sufferers
'People with cannabis hyperemesis do find relief with a long hot shower, and it’s almost a compulsion that they take these showers to get the relief,' he said.
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he → find → relief
Doctors have yet to establish precisely why heat provides relief, although the phenomenon is widely recognized as a diagnostic clue.
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phenomenon → have → clue
Instead, physicians assess symptoms, cannabis consumption history and recurring vomiting episodes while ruling out other possible causes.
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physicians → assess → causes
The condition can be mistaken for other gastrointestinal illnesses, potentially delaying diagnosis.
Repeated vomiting can cause serious dehydration and dangerous electrolyte imbalances, including the abnormalities Andy experienced.
Mindi Giorlando-Timmons, pictured, is campaigning for stronger warnings on cannabis products after watching her teenage daughter suffer a debilitating illness she never knew marijuana could cause
Although hot showers briefly relieve symptoms, they do not cure the underlying condition.
Stopping cannabis use is considered essential to achieving lasting recovery, with many sufferers experiencing improvement after quitting.
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sufferers → mistake → improvement
McGeorge said additional research is urgently needed.
'The bottom line is, cannabis hyperemesis syndrome needs to have more research if we’re going to really come up with a clear answer as to the cause,' he said.
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he → say → cause
The condition is also attracting increasing attention from federal health authorities.
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condition → attract → authorities
Research highlighted by the National Institutes of Health found that the proportion of US emergency department visits involving CHS increased sharply between 2016 and 2022.
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proportion → highlight → 2016
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also documented a substantial rise in suspected cases, particularly during the COVID pandemic.
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Centers → document → pandemic
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