This is going to be long, and I probobly will still miss necessary details so bear with me. I met my girlfriend about 6 years ago. At the time, she was 15 years old. Her parents went through a terrible divorce that affected her strongly. In the end of it, after the agreements, she went to live with her mother. When I came into the picture, only 15 myself I knew that what she was going through at home was not ok. Her mother, never took her children to any doctors, never had food in the fridge, and was honestly an abusive mean person. I hated her mother, and never felt comfortable in her home. But I loved my girlfriend and did my best to support her and feed her, and even have my own mother take her to the doctor when she needed it.
Fast forward, when she was living with her mother she started getting sick. She had extreme abdominal pain and vomiting that would leave her floor ridden, sweating, and basically blue. Her mother still would not take her to doctors. ( there were times she was taken to an urgent care, and the couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so she was given referrals that her mother never followed up on, but I don’t think that counts as medical care )
Because of her illness, her mother gave her weed. Lots of it. Daily smoking started almost immediately.
But her symptoms still persisted. Vomiting, pooping problems, appetite issues, fatigue, and episode like days where all of these occurred at once with severe abdominal pain. She says it is 11/10 pain. Upper gastric area between the ribs and under the sternum.
The day my girlfriend turned 18 I started speaking with her about how I wasn’t happy with the way she was being treated at home. At the time I believed there was a mind body connection, and the abuse was making her health worse. A few weeks after her 18th birthday. She moved in with me and my family. And my mother and father have been here for her like parents themselves ever since.
However when she came to live with us these episodes never stopped.
We take her to the er everytime she has an episode and the only diagnosis they can come up with it chs. Which is why I am here.
It’s been 4 years of her living with me and 4 years of receiving the same “weed is bad” diagnosis.
This has never made sense to me as her symptoms started very young and got really bad at 15 before any daily cannabis use.
Over the years she has had many hospital stays. Always admitted for random unexplained reasons. Here’s a list as such. Intussusception, colitis multiple times, biliary colic, elevated white blood cell count, never ending vomiting causing diarrhea, and what they believe is chs.
So here’s my first of many questions. Has anyone on this sub had a conflicting experience with this diagnosis? Has chs been followed by any of these other issues? I have a hard time believing chs is connected to issues like colitis.
It’s currently been 2 weeks of no smoking. I am sober alongside her. Ya know if my partner was pregnant I wouldn’t even drink next to her. So if she can’t smoke pot I won’t either out of love.
After the initial withdrawal, we have obviously regulated. But for her, the longing for an inebriated club visit to dance with drag queens is really bothering her soul. I think all of us like to have a fun weekend with our friends and take a little something to loosen us up.
So here’s my second question. For those who have quit smoking daily because of chs, have you found a way to moderately enjoy pot on a weekend? Ya know, like once or twice, maybe three times a year? And do any of you who have been able to resolve fun pot smoking, did your symptoms persist?
We are not drinkers, and we don’t love other drugs. Pot is obviously the drug of choice due to its safety and overwhelming research to its benefit. And I know she misses it, probobly more than I do.
Last question, has anyone with other diagnosis ever been misdiagnosed with chs? Like I said, I have a hard time believing this is it. I don’t want her to go her whole life without receiving the proper treatment if there is something else going on.
Since we have ceased our usage, she has not had an episode. But all her other symptoms have persisted. She is not 100% normal like you or me. Eating is difficult, bowel movements are irregular, nausea is a daily experience, tummy pain, and fatigue is overwhelming.
Give me your advice here. Because we are at a loss. Our goal right now is to go a year pot sober. Start seeing ibd and gastrointestinal specialists. And when all is said and done, if there are no other diagnosis, the best we can think is to experiment and see what happens.
I just hate seeing her so upset and feeling like her life is boring and she can’t do the things she wants to do. She deserves to see drag queens and have just as much fun as everyone else in the club. Or have an occasional puff of a blunt at a Christmas party. Or feel like she can go to 420 parties. I know you guys will probobly understand. Thanks for reading this far. I’d really appreciate the insight.