Cannabis use has become increasingly common over the past decade, often praised for its relaxing effects, pain relief, or recreational enjoyment. But doctors are now warning users about a serious, sometimes excruciating side effect that has earned the nickname “scromiting.”
While the name may sound funny, the reality is far from it. “Scromiting” is a combination of screaming and vomiting, describing the severe pain and nausea patients experience when visiting the emergency room with this condition.
What Is ‘Scromiting’?
Medically, this phenomenon is known as Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS). It is a relatively new condition, first widely recognized over the last 10–15 years, and is causing increasing concern among healthcare providers.
Patients suffering from CHS experience:
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Severe stomach pain that can be unbearable
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Extreme nausea and repeated vomiting, often in cycles
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Symptoms that last for days and can recur multiple times per year
The attacks are often so intense that some patients describe screaming in pain while vomiting, which is how the nickname “scromiting” came to be.
How Cannabis Triggers CHS
CHS can occur in frequent, long-term cannabis users, but the exact cause is still not fully understood. Doctors theorize that certain cannabinoids may disrupt the body’s natural mechanisms for digestive control and nausea regulation, paradoxically causing the opposite effect of what cannabis usually produces.
Symptoms typically appear within a day of using cannabis and may last hours or even days. Because of the extreme discomfort, sufferers often end up making multiple visits to the emergency room.
Why CHS Is So Hard to Recognize
One of the biggest challenges for both patients and doctors is that CHS mimics other conditions like:
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Stomach flu (viral gastroenteritis)
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Food poisoning
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Other gastrointestinal disorders
Dr. Beatriz Carlini from the University of Washington School of Medicine explains:
