Doctors are sounding the alarm about a painful cannabis side effect, and one young woman knows it firsthand.
Sydni Collins first tried marijuana as a teenager and, by 16, was using a weed pen most days.
Over time, however, her habit brought on frightening bouts of nausea and vomiting.

On some mornings she could not make it to school.
She says she spent hours in the bathroom, retching and crying because nothing would come up.
During one spring break flight, she vomited almost the entire journey.

Emergency rooms struggled to explain her condition.
Eventually, doctors diagnosed cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, or CHS.
The illness can cause intense stomach pain and repeated vomiting, sometimes called “scromiting” – screaming while vomiting from sheer distress.

For months, Sydni’s life shrank to hospital visits.
At her worst, she was admitted seven times in one month and placed on a feeding tube.
Her weight fell to just 87 pounds.
Food and even sports drinks became unbearable, so she survived on ice chips and tiny bites of salty snacks.

When she finally quit cannabis, her symptoms eased.
Later she learned she also has Crohn’s disease, which added to the confusion.
Thinking marijuana was not to blame, she started again – and the nightmare returned.

Now in her twenties, Sydni says she only improved when she stopped using weed completely.
Her story is a reminder that regular cannabis use can carry serious, and sometimes unexpected, health risks.