A 15-year-old boy developed a critical and life-threatening thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency in his brain due to "scromitting," a slang term for cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), after using marijuana excessively. The teen lost 25-30 pounds from prolonged vomiting, experienced serious cognitive and motor issues, and was eventually diagnosed with Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) through an MRI. Doctors identified the WE condition when they observed rapid eye movement, ataxia, and mental changes in the patient, which are hallmarks of the disorder. This is one of only two recorded cases in teens where CHS led to a life-threatening WE diagnosis.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-27,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
There’s a popular belief that weed can’t kill you.
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weed → ’ → you
While it’s almost impossible to overdose on weed by itself, marijuana use can indirectly cause life-threatening complications.
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use → ’ → complications
A 15-year-old learned this the hard way, a new case study reveals.
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study → learn → this
His is one of only two recorded cases in teens in which “scromitting,” slang for cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), led to a critical and life-threatening thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency that affected the brain.
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that → record → brain
Before doctors identified the cause, he’d lost 25 to 30 pounds from vomiting, a hallmark of CHS.
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he → identify → CHS
He also developed serious issues with cognition and movement.
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He → develop → cognition
With increased access to the marijuana, more teens are using it in various forms, which can lead to problems in school and with friends and psychiatric conditions.
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which → increase → friends
In the 15-year-old’s case, he developed a brain condition that is notoriously hard to identify and diagnose.
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that → develop → condition
Here’s how doctors figured it out and saved his life.
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doctors → ’ → life
What happened to the teen
The teen originally went to the emergency room after spending several days feeling nauseous, with a headache and vomiting.
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teen → happen → headache
He said he’d been using cannabis for the past three months, but otherwise didn’t say he had used any other drugs and didn’t have any significant past medical history.
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he → say → history
He was given anti-nausea drugs, IV fluids, and told to stop using weed — then was sent on his way.
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He → give → way
Three weeks later, he went to his primary care doctor with the same symptoms.
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he → go → symptoms
He had a series of tests and imaging done, including a CT scan, which didn’t reveal anything remarkable.
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which → have → anything
Another week went by, and his mom took him back to the ER, a month after his initial visit.
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mom → go → visit
She said he’d lost 25-30 pounds by this point.
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he → say → point
A urine test showed he was still using marijuana.
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he → show → marijuana
During the assessment, doctors noted he was confused, had slowed speech, and would be unresponsive for a few moments when asked a question.
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he → note → question
Doctors scrambled, looking at his digestive system and kidneys, and they gave him something to raise his dangerously low sodium levels.
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they → scramble → levels
It helped his blood sodium levels return to normal, but his cognition remained impaired.
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cognition → help → ?
By the fourth day in the hospital, the teen was still bed-bound.
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teen → bind → hospital
His eyes started moving rapidly and uncontrollably and he was sensitive to light and had trouble walking to the bathroom.
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he → start → bathroom
Doctors ordered an MRI, which didn’t reveal a cause.
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which → order → cause
How his condition was identified
A condition known as Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) is associated with three hallmarks: rapid eye movement (nystagmus), ataxia (loss of coordination) and mental changes.
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condition → identify → coordination
However, this triad of symptoms only appears in a minority of patients with the disorder — making it notoriously hard to diagnose.
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it → appear → disorder
Most cases are only identified after death, during an autopsy.
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cases → identify → autopsy
WE is caused by dangerously low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1) in the brain.
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WE → cause → brain
In this teen’s case, the deficiency was caused by the prolonged, excessive vomiting associated with CHS.
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deficiency → cause → CHS
The leading cause for WE is chronic alcohol use, but malnutrition from things like an eating disorder or cancer can also lead to this deficiency.
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malnutrition → lead → deficiency
It often progresses to Korsakoff syndrome, which causes permanent losses to memory and learning.
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which → progress → memory
This develops in up to 85% of survivors.
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This → develop → survivors
Wernicke-Korskoff syndrome kills 20% of patients.
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syndrome → kill → patients
In the only other teen case of CHS leading to WE, it was caught via MRI.
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it → lead → MRI
In the 15-year-old’s case, the MRI missed it.
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MRI → miss → it
Doctors didn’t know it was WE for sure.
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it → know → ?
A test to confirm thiamine deficiency would take days to return.
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test → confirm → days
But they suspected it, based on the teen’s symptoms, and said that giving him supplemental thiamine was “low risk.”
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giving → suspect → thiamine
The teen got thiamine through an IV every eight hours for two days, plus a thiamine pill for four days.
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teen → get → days
Within a day, his eye movements and cognition improved.
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movements → improve → day
With his improvement, he was sent home.
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he → send → improvement
…and 2 more, not listed.
