Aa
Pot warning ... extremely long post
I'm writing this in the hopes it may help someone & they can avoid going through what we've gone through. My 17-y/o son smokes pot. It's something I was very upset by & had argued about. My son is he is very honest & respectful. If I ask him something, he will answer honestly. And when he answered yes to my question of "Were you smoking?" he would answer yes despite knowing there would be some consequence.
In late July he got a sinus infection & had a bit of nausea. The doc gave him amoxicillin & the sinuses cleared up but still wasn't feeling great. Often nauseas & had a diminished appetite, though he was eating, drinking & still going to the gym & to the muay thai class he takes.
We went to the Cape for a long weekend, in part to see his girlfriend (who was his first love and unfortunately she broke up with him last week & he is so brokenhearted in addition to what's going on with him physically.) While at the Cape, he went off with her to do some things in town. He called me & said he was feeling really sick to his stomach & it was getting bad. I asked him if it was bad enough to see a doctor or should we wait until we got home, & he said he didn't want to home but there was an urgent care in town &we went there.
The doctor thought the nausea was related to the antibiotic, though I told her it had started before taking it. She told my son the pot probably was helping so don't stop that. (I'm like, "Really? Did you really just say that?" She suggested an OTC antacid, which we tried & it helped a little.
We get home & he's no better. The appetite is gone & he's not going out much. He's spending less time at the gym & the mixed martial arts class. We head back to the doctor a few days later & she suggests a change in the antacid & thinks the nausea is due to a combination of likely a stomach bug that was aggravated by the antibiotic. Through all this there wasn't much vomiting but the nausea was pretty much 24/7.
Now he's getting weaker & not eating much. He's still drinking fluids but is definitely looking unwell. Back to the pediatrician who now decides this is going on too long. She orders blood & stool samples & adds culturelle. That was last Thursday. By this point he's not eating but was still drinking fluids.
Friday morning things were worse; he couldn't even tolerate drinks. Took him to the ER. Within a 1/2 hour the doc admitted him. Blood & urine samples taken & nothing by mouth to give his stomach/bowels a rest & will get GI consult. Also had bad adominal pain. Was given Zofran IV for the nausea, though it didn't help as much. GI ordered a CT scan & endoscopy. I asked about something for pain but it seemed like no one wanted to prescribe anything. The pediatrician & GI agreed that Toradol was not an option due to possible stomach bleed. They felt a narcotic was no good due to bowel complaints. I was sort of aggravated because he was in a lot of pain & he's not a kid who complains. (As an aside, he told me he was planning to quit smoking pot on 9/4, the first day of school. I asked why wait & he said he wanted to enjoy the summer, etc. I did believe he wanted to stop on that date & he's always been a kid who when he says he's going to do something, he does it & he gives it his all.)
Saturday morning more IV Zofran & also gave him IV Ativan as he was increasingly nauseas, the pain was worse & he was definitely anxious. Ativan seemed to help the Zofran w/the nausea & for a few hours felt slightly better. The pain was bad & the doctor ordered a small dose of morphine. That helped a lot. The morphine wore off & now they're trying to get him to do the drink for the CT scan & the vomiting starts. The pain & nausea are back full force. The doc comes in with/the nurse. She's quite smug & had an attitude. She sits down & I ask what her plan was & was told again about the scan & endoscopy. I told her he was having trouble getting the drink down for the scan but he said he'd do his best. I asked what they would give him in the meantime for pain until we knew what was going on & was told she was not inclined to give any pain meds. I asked why & she very smugly told me he tested positive for marijuana. I told her I wasn't surprised & he had stated that in the ER. I was very clear that I had never approved of his smoking. I told her despite the positive pot screen, I felt he still needed a workup & help for the pain. She's still copping an attitude with me. I am worried, frustrated, and exhausted. She changed the Zofran to a stronger antacid & said he could have a dose of IV Ativan & melatonin to help him sleep. She stated the cause of all this was pot.
I was very surprised. I told her, in a nice way, I had never heard of that & I was under the impression, like a lot of people I think, that pot often helped nausea. She told me this is a very common thing, marijuana use causing the stomach trouble & in fact, they had four people inpatient for it this month.
A different doc saw him Sunday & he confirmed this illness was due to pot & it's getting more & more common. He felt the endoscopy would be the test that would tell us what was going on. He decided to let my son have some juice and could try some bland food and he was able to get a small amount of food down. The GI doctor came back & concurred this was likely due to pot use. By now I've done some research & though there's not a ton of info(that I could see that was current & there were different opinions about it but at this point I am convinced this is very real. My son was still doubting that he could become that ill due to pot use.)
Monday had endoscopy. That department confirms they're seeing more of this, mostly in males in the upper teen years to around age 30. Endoscopy showed substantial damage to esophagus & stomach. Was given a script for Prilosec &discharged. We get home & talk & he is still not convinced pot is the cause of. He's feeling better though still has some pain and slight nausea. He went out w/a friend & he felt really sick when he came home, nearly as bad as when he was admitted. Being a teen who knows everything, he had to test things out & he smoked a bit of pot while he was out. Now he has had a huge turnaround. He is convinced this illness was was at the very least exacerbated by the pot and most likely was the cause of it. He has told some of his friends (who of course don't believe it.) He told them he hopes none of them get sick like this and it is so not worth it.
Despite his pot smoking, he was a kid who was very anti-drug. He didn't consider pot to be a drug. My son drew a big distinction between pot & other drugs. Now he does believe that pot is dangerous & says if he had known, he never would have tried it. He has a long way to get his health back. This has scared him & I'm concerned for him as well.
He has to make big changes in his life. I wrote this because I'm sure lots of people don't know about it & even a lot of doctors are unaware of it. But it really did some serious damage to him. The GI doctor who did the endoscopy said he had severe esophagitis and severe gastritis and the damage she saw on endoscopy was consistent with what she has seen in other patients with this. (I think it's actually called cannabinoid vomiting syndrome.)
I hope anyone reading this understands how serious this can be. Smoking pot isn't as innocent as it seems. It has a lot more dangers than a lot of people thought.
In late July he got a sinus infection & had a bit of nausea. The doc gave him amoxicillin & the sinuses cleared up but still wasn't feeling great. Often nauseas & had a diminished appetite, though he was eating, drinking & still going to the gym & to the muay thai class he takes.
We went to the Cape for a long weekend, in part to see his girlfriend (who was his first love and unfortunately she broke up with him last week & he is so brokenhearted in addition to what's going on with him physically.) While at the Cape, he went off with her to do some things in town. He called me & said he was feeling really sick to his stomach & it was getting bad. I asked him if it was bad enough to see a doctor or should we wait until we got home, & he said he didn't want to home but there was an urgent care in town &we went there.
The doctor thought the nausea was related to the antibiotic, though I told her it had started before taking it. She told my son the pot probably was helping so don't stop that. (I'm like, "Really? Did you really just say that?" She suggested an OTC antacid, which we tried & it helped a little.
We get home & he's no better. The appetite is gone & he's not going out much. He's spending less time at the gym & the mixed martial arts class. We head back to the doctor a few days later & she suggests a change in the antacid & thinks the nausea is due to a combination of likely a stomach bug that was aggravated by the antibiotic. Through all this there wasn't much vomiting but the nausea was pretty much 24/7.
Now he's getting weaker & not eating much. He's still drinking fluids but is definitely looking unwell. Back to the pediatrician who now decides this is going on too long. She orders blood & stool samples & adds culturelle. That was last Thursday. By this point he's not eating but was still drinking fluids.
Friday morning things were worse; he couldn't even tolerate drinks. Took him to the ER. Within a 1/2 hour the doc admitted him. Blood & urine samples taken & nothing by mouth to give his stomach/bowels a rest & will get GI consult. Also had bad adominal pain. Was given Zofran IV for the nausea, though it didn't help as much. GI ordered a CT scan & endoscopy. I asked about something for pain but it seemed like no one wanted to prescribe anything. The pediatrician & GI agreed that Toradol was not an option due to possible stomach bleed. They felt a narcotic was no good due to bowel complaints. I was sort of aggravated because he was in a lot of pain & he's not a kid who complains. (As an aside, he told me he was planning to quit smoking pot on 9/4, the first day of school. I asked why wait & he said he wanted to enjoy the summer, etc. I did believe he wanted to stop on that date & he's always been a kid who when he says he's going to do something, he does it & he gives it his all.)
Saturday morning more IV Zofran & also gave him IV Ativan as he was increasingly nauseas, the pain was worse & he was definitely anxious. Ativan seemed to help the Zofran w/the nausea & for a few hours felt slightly better. The pain was bad & the doctor ordered a small dose of morphine. That helped a lot. The morphine wore off & now they're trying to get him to do the drink for the CT scan & the vomiting starts. The pain & nausea are back full force. The doc comes in with/the nurse. She's quite smug & had an attitude. She sits down & I ask what her plan was & was told again about the scan & endoscopy. I told her he was having trouble getting the drink down for the scan but he said he'd do his best. I asked what they would give him in the meantime for pain until we knew what was going on & was told she was not inclined to give any pain meds. I asked why & she very smugly told me he tested positive for marijuana. I told her I wasn't surprised & he had stated that in the ER. I was very clear that I had never approved of his smoking. I told her despite the positive pot screen, I felt he still needed a workup & help for the pain. She's still copping an attitude with me. I am worried, frustrated, and exhausted. She changed the Zofran to a stronger antacid & said he could have a dose of IV Ativan & melatonin to help him sleep. She stated the cause of all this was pot.
I was very surprised. I told her, in a nice way, I had never heard of that & I was under the impression, like a lot of people I think, that pot often helped nausea. She told me this is a very common thing, marijuana use causing the stomach trouble & in fact, they had four people inpatient for it this month.
A different doc saw him Sunday & he confirmed this illness was due to pot & it's getting more & more common. He felt the endoscopy would be the test that would tell us what was going on. He decided to let my son have some juice and could try some bland food and he was able to get a small amount of food down. The GI doctor came back & concurred this was likely due to pot use. By now I've done some research & though there's not a ton of info(that I could see that was current & there were different opinions about it but at this point I am convinced this is very real. My son was still doubting that he could become that ill due to pot use.)
Monday had endoscopy. That department confirms they're seeing more of this, mostly in males in the upper teen years to around age 30. Endoscopy showed substantial damage to esophagus & stomach. Was given a script for Prilosec &discharged. We get home & talk & he is still not convinced pot is the cause of. He's feeling better though still has some pain and slight nausea. He went out w/a friend & he felt really sick when he came home, nearly as bad as when he was admitted. Being a teen who knows everything, he had to test things out & he smoked a bit of pot while he was out. Now he has had a huge turnaround. He is convinced this illness was was at the very least exacerbated by the pot and most likely was the cause of it. He has told some of his friends (who of course don't believe it.) He told them he hopes none of them get sick like this and it is so not worth it.
Despite his pot smoking, he was a kid who was very anti-drug. He didn't consider pot to be a drug. My son drew a big distinction between pot & other drugs. Now he does believe that pot is dangerous & says if he had known, he never would have tried it. He has a long way to get his health back. This has scared him & I'm concerned for him as well.
He has to make big changes in his life. I wrote this because I'm sure lots of people don't know about it & even a lot of doctors are unaware of it. But it really did some serious damage to him. The GI doctor who did the endoscopy said he had severe esophagitis and severe gastritis and the damage she saw on endoscopy was consistent with what she has seen in other patients with this. (I think it's actually called cannabinoid vomiting syndrome.)
I hope anyone reading this understands how serious this can be. Smoking pot isn't as innocent as it seems. It has a lot more dangers than a lot of people thought.
I agree with the Above. One thing that stands out to me is the "Smoking" Just like cigarettes can cause this kind of damage too. I would check further into this. I sure wish him some peace. I am so sorry he has to live in so much pain. THAT is not right!!!
Bless
Bless
He could also be having an adverse reaction or be sort of allergic to the weed.
I have been from "Sir we are going to help you" to "get the F out" in an instant by doctors following a dirty tox screen but I would be inclined to listen to the doctors in this case.
I have been from "Sir we are going to help you" to "get the F out" in an instant by doctors following a dirty tox screen but I would be inclined to listen to the doctors in this case.
He's been tested for everything and everything was ruled out. I don't think this is an overly common thing that happens but I bet we'll see more of it. This has been a blessing, really. He says he will never touch it again. And I believe him. At one point in the hospital he couldn't even get from the bed to the bathroom and I had to bring him a urinal. It was very humbling for him to see how fast he could go from being incredibly strong to so incredibly weak. The GI doctor said it could be up to 3 months for it to heal. I hate that this happened to him but I am glad this came to light before it got worse. I wish the schools or doctors would let kids know this is a possibility. The GI doc felt it was more about weed be modified and additives, etc. Essentially it's not the same pot that was around when I was a kid.
Now the key is to get him into something positive. Right now it's easy for him to say no because he's still not a hundred percent better (far from it.) But sometimes when we have pain, once it goes away we tend to forget about it. I want to keep him busy!! (He was dumped by his GF the day before he was admitted to the hospital. It was totally unexpected and he's heartbroken. I think he could easily get depressed and I am hoping he will have a really good senior year.
Now the key is to get him into something positive. Right now it's easy for him to say no because he's still not a hundred percent better (far from it.) But sometimes when we have pain, once it goes away we tend to forget about it. I want to keep him busy!! (He was dumped by his GF the day before he was admitted to the hospital. It was totally unexpected and he's heartbroken. I think he could easily get depressed and I am hoping he will have a really good senior year.
I sure hope this is a lesson learned for him and I hope He has a great senior year too Mary ! best wishes ;)
Aspergillosis is a fungus that grows on curing marijuana, it is common in the compressed form of Mexican Sativa. This fungus can effect the nervous system and cause many seemingly unrelated symptoms. I think a stomach imbalance or other reaction is playing a role in combination with the damage marijuana may have caused. I live in pot grower Capitol of the world and have not seen that level of reaction due to marijuana alone. Without ruling out pot, I would get another opinion on his condition. A more open minded doctor may have a totally deferent explanation.
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