Cannabis Users Warned About 'Scromiting' Condition After Mom Says Pain Was Worse Than Childbirth

A doctor has warned cannabis users about a painful condition known online as 'scromiting'.

The nickname comes from the words 'screaming' and 'vomiting', which gives a pretty blunt idea of how distressing it can be. People with the condition can suffer repeated nausea, severe vomiting, and intense stomach pain.

Doctors call it cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, or CHS. It has been linked to heavy cannabis use, and it can be serious enough to send people to the emergency room.

What cannabis hyperemesis syndrome means

CHS can be confusing because cannabis is often associated with easing nausea, yet some long-term users can develop repeated vomiting and stomach pain.

Cleveland Clinic says CHS can affect people who use cannabis long-term, causing frequent and severe nausea and vomiting. Hot baths or showers may give temporary relief, but stopping cannabis use is described as the only cure.

That is why the condition can be missed or misunderstood at first. Someone may think they have a stomach bug, food poisoning, or another illness, while the trigger is actually tied to ongoing cannabis use.

The condition is turning up in emergency rooms across the US. Doctors are seeing younger patients arrive in severe distress, often with stomach pain and vomiting they cannot get under control.

Heavy cannabis use is the common link many of these patients share.

Dr Sam Wang, a pediatric toxicologist in Colorado, described what he sees in hospitals while speaking to CNN: "They're writhing, holding their stomach, and can't stop vomiting."

The condition causes debilitating abdominal pains Ekaterina Goncharova/Getty

One patient also shared how frightening CHS felt when she experienced it.

"I was crying and screaming and I was like 'I can't take this anymore!' I hate my life," she said in a video on TikTok. "I'm just begging God, like please make it stop!"

The mom later described the pain from the condition as being 'worse than childbirth', which shows why the nickname has caught attention online.

Dr Wang explained that repeated vomiting can become dangerous if it continues for too long: "Regardless of whether it's cannabis hyperemesis syndrome or another virus that makes you vomit a lot," Wang said, "if you let it go too long, you can have electrolyte disturbances, go into shock and have organ failure. CHS is no different."

In other words, CHS is not just an unpleasant side effect. Without proper care, severe vomiting can become a medical emergency.

Researchers in Australia connected chronic marijuana use with severe nausea and vomiting back in 2004, making CHS a known condition even if many people are only hearing about it now.

Australian researchers linked the condition to cannabis in 2004 Jamie Grill/Getty

During that research, scientists found an important pattern. Patients improved when they stopped using cannabis.

When they started using cannabis again, their symptoms returned.

The researchers also noticed something unusual: more than half of the 19 patients they followed had begun using hot baths or showers to ease their symptoms. That habit has since become one of the clues doctors may ask about when trying to understand repeated vomiting linked to cannabis use.

Dr Wang said some younger patients end up returning to the emergency room again and again because the symptoms keep coming back.

"For some of our kids, this is their fifth ER visit in the past two months, with symptoms that they can't control," Dr Wang said.

If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (313) 209-9137 24/7, or contact them through their website.