She Smoked Weed for Years—Then Started Screaming and Vomiting Until Doctors Finally Found the Cause

A woman who recently opened up about her long-term marijuana use has described the intense and often overwhelming symptoms that came with what she called a “scromiting” disorder, a mix of screaming and vomiting that left her unable to function on many days.

Roughly 17 percent of adults in the United States reported using cannabis in 2023, which is not surprising given that recreational marijuana is now legal in 24 states and easier than ever to access.

Doctors, however, are warning about a growing side effect appearing in people who use weed daily or nearly every day, as emergency rooms have started seeing more patients dealing with severe stomach pain and long bouts of uncontrollable vomiting.

One young woman has now shared that she experienced this condition firsthand, and her story shows how serious it can become when the symptoms go unchecked.

Sydni Collins, 23, explained to The New Post that she first experimented with weed as a teenager and then started using her weed pen regularly by the time she was 16, relying on it most days as part of her routine.

Years of steady use took a major toll on her health, and she began facing sudden waves of nausea and vomiting that grew more intense over time, including one particularly grim moment when she threw up non-stop during an entire flight on her senior-year spring break trip.

“There were some days when it lasted until noon and I would not go to school because of how bad it was,” Sydni told the outlet.

“I would be puking all morning. I would let out yells or cries because nothing would come out. I was just dry heaving.”

Doctors eventually diagnosed her with cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), a condition known for causing a range of harsh symptoms, including the “scromiting” episodes that combine extreme pain, panic, and nonstop vomiting.

The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases recently added CHS to its listings due to a clear rise in documented cases, although many physicians still do not recognize the disorder right away, which often leads to incorrect diagnoses and delayed treatment.

This same issue affected Sydni, as she spent months seeking answers while doctors tried to determine the cause of her worsening symptoms, yet nothing seemed to explain what she was experiencing.

At one point, her symptoms became so unbearable that she rushed to the hospital seven times in a single month, and she was eventually placed on a feeding tube when she could no longer take in enough food on her own.

“There would be some days where I felt better than others and I would feel fine,” she continued. “I was like, ‘I can go eat. I can go out of the house.’ And then, within hours, I would go back to vomiting and stomach pain.”

“I would be in the fetal position on the bed for hours because that was the only way my stomach didn’t hurt as bad.”

By the time doctors finally understood the root of her symptoms, Sydni had already lost a dramatic amount of weight, dropping to just 87 pounds, which left her weak and struggling to keep up with daily life.

Even with the feeding tube in place, she struggled to restore her appetite, and her CHS symptoms made it nearly impossible to eat normally because almost everything tasted unpleasant or overwhelming.

“My mom got me a bunch of nutritional supplements and I could not bear the taste of anything, even Gatorade,” she added. “I would chew on ice cubes. I would lick the salt off pretzel rods. Cold washcloths helped.”

After she stayed off weed for nine months, doctors diagnosed her with Crohn’s disease, a chronic condition that inflames the digestive tract and can bring on nausea, stomach cramps, and significant weight loss—symptoms that overlapped with what she had already been experiencing.

“Getting diagnosed with that made me think that’s probably what [the original symptoms] were from and it wasn’t the weed,” she said.

She eventually decided to start using her weed pen again, but three years after what she called her “first big episode,” she was hit with another severe flare-up and once again lost a large amount of weight, which sent her back to the hospital and required another feeding tube.

“I’m not what you would think of as your typical stoner … and people outside of my friend group and close family didn’t even know I smoked,” she continued.

“The only way to figure out if [my symptoms] were from weed is if I stopped. So I did, and I got better.”