Category: Health

The toll could be heavy. Choking on your own phlegm is pricey. Most will be billed with ongoing frustration attempting to live a normal life, with pandemic restrictions being re-introduced in many places across the country now. I encourage administrators of all public and semi-public facilities and services to charge a monetary price. That it’s starting in West Virginia of all places, is telling.

Had to take ambulance ride for an IV and Covid test today. It was inevitable. It took about 5 years of daily edible doses of CBD flower, regular vaping and knocking myself out with dabs at night to finally catch up with me.

I probably should have taken a break a month ago. The weed issue for me all along revolved around being able to use enough to get a good therapeutic effect on the radiculopathy and muscle strain without being blotto all the time. Early on, it was just inflammation and pain from the bad joints. Then I was treated to a partial right leg paralysis with accessories in a malpractice episode a couple years ago.

Warning to prospective Hyperemesis candidates: Despite not being too dangerous from a medical standpoint, it’s no joke. The possibility of going untreated and dying from dehydration or aspirating vomit is concerning. I was the worst sick I have ever been for about 10 hours and could not keep anything down 24 hours after it started. BP ranged up over 150-something during seizures and body temp dropped to 94 at one point – almost in shock. The condition seemed to light up my entire CNS in gag reflex – particularly uncomfortable with the spine injuries. And it continued relentlessly, vomiting or not.

It’s not technically “an” overdose in the traditional sense of the word. Maybe something akin to a long-term overdose. It doesn’t kill you outright like opiates, but develops over months or even years in my case, depending on usage patterns. The important thing to remember is to recognize it. It’s one of the body’s natural auto-protect reactions. As long as you can hydrate and maintain for a few days you’ll get over it, no problem. Mine was so bad I could not even keep water down. Time for an IV.

Available research is inconclusive, and I suspect even the doctors do not really understand it, as the endocannabanoid issue has gone largely un-addressed in the medical field forever. My layman impression suggests the system gets too saturated from the constant over-supply, until it finally goes haywire. Probably not enough viable CB receptors available at some point. The ER took a bunch of tests and confirmed there was nothing they could do but stabilize and send me home. And I don’t have Covid. Yay!

This 10-year-old NHS paper gives a decent overview of the chemo-mechanical relationships, but lacks definitive explanation or conclusions.

(Late Update 30 JUL 21) Ondanseteron stops the puking, but the delirium and bedspins continue. I thought I would be over it today, but it came back strong this morning and I spent most of the day trying to nap and hydrate.

Most concerning symptoms: Once you get over the scromiting, body temp regulation gets iffy with ongoing hot/cold flashing. Nausea is intense.

1 AUG 21: Feeling better today, have a little appetite, body temp regulation still iffy with hot/cold spells. It’s gonna take awhile to get completely over this.

3 AUG 21: Seem pretty much over it today after a week. Thermal reg still not quite there, but the flashing hot/cold spells are gone.

4 AUG 21: In retrospect, it’s now clear what made my case so acute: The hot tub. I do all my bathing there, along with some PT including a breathing exercise for the nerve roots. A little research on the topic reveals how hyperemesis patients often develop compulsive bathing/showering habits to alleviate their symptoms. I learned that a couple hours before I went to the hospital – it’s what set me over the tipping point after I tried it! I had no need to develop an OCD behavior, because it was already there in normal activity. Maintaining stable body temp remains the only symptom today. I’m not sweating bullets while puking into the kitchen sink, but the internal temp control mechanism was probably front-and-center leading up to this little episode all along.