u/vintell

I don’t see this mentioned a lot and had actually forgotten about it in the 1.5 years I was clean. I just remembered this morning after really insistent nausea.

Anyway, sniffing rubbing alcohol can help with nausea! Back when I was first trying to figure out what was wrong with me I was reading about abdominal migraines (as I get ”normal” migraines and vestibular migraines). I came across some articles about a doctor who treats these patients and has found great success in smelling rubbing alcohol for acute treatment of nausea. I tried it at the time and it helped a ton, and had to use it this morning again. It DOES NOT fix the cause. But it can help get you through the rough periods of an episode when meds aren’t seeming to work.

I am having a CHS episode after picking smoking back up 4 months ago after quitting for 1.5 years (and yes I did have complete cessation of CHS symptoms starting ~2-3 months post quitting from a decade-long multi-times-a-day habit). I picked it back up during extreme life stress (y’all know the drill): moving cross-country, crazy work stress, death in the family, etc. I knew CHS resuming was a possibility but had hoped if it happened the early episodes would be over quickly and I could pivot to quitting, but I’m on day 4 of this episode and feeling so beaten down.

While the GI symptoms have always been absolutely awful, 0/10, would not recommend to anyone, the anxiety/dread that come with CHS are even worse for me. I’ve had panic attacks my whole life and none of them even close to measure up with the curtain of complete darkness and disquiet that rolls over me during this. I have said to multiple friends/family that it is genuinely like being possessed. I feel totally out of control of my own body (I contort my face and sort of bob and weave a lot during episodes) and feel like everything in the world is dark and awful and looming and will be forever, there is nothing beyond the sensations I am trapped within.

But this time I’m going to use that. I can say with absolute certainty that any anxiety weed is ”helping me” with pales in comparison to this feeling right now. So why would I smoke weed to get rid of anxiety if that anxiety is ultimately going to replaced with kaiju-level anxiety CAUSED BY the weed???? No! I will not!! We will not live like this anymore!!

Anyway normally these go in my notes app but could use some external support today. And wanted to share my personal experience of how by trying to escape the feeling of manageable anxiety, I ended up inducing unbearable, crippling anxiety, in case anyone is tempted to try the same.