For
sufferers of Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, taking obsessive hot baths is paramount
to dealing with our symptoms in the home setting. There are other ways CVSers self-medicate,
such as cannabis use, ginger use, and prescription medications, but the most
legal and best relief from an episode is taking a really hot shower. However,
this is not to say that all sufferers use hot baths to alleviate symptoms nor
will it relieve every CVSer’s symptoms. In
fact, my good friend who also has this disorder does not take showers at all to
alleviate her symptoms.
I believe
that there is a scientific explanation as to why we find comfort immersed in
hot water. It has something to do with the vagus nerve and for the fact that the
hot showers are so hot that our mind focuses on the heat of the shower than on
the CVS symptoms. I can’t tell you how many times I came out the shower with
superficial burns on my body because I would spend hours upon hours in the hot
water just so that I can escape the CVS.
Temperature
is really specific. The shower has to be
hot, if it is not the right temperature, it will not relieve your symptoms. So
for all those CVSers looking to move or relocate, make sure you check how hot
the water gets when buying or renting a home.
I actually got out of leases because if I was told that the water got
hot, and it did not, I used that as grounds for ending a lease since
hydrotherapy is what is needed for us to cope with CVS.
I also
want to note that in Amsterdam, there was a study that blamed chronic cannabis
use to CVS and the obsessive use of hot showers. I was thirteen when I was diagnosed with CVS
and learned somehow that hot showers alleviated my symptoms and I did not
chronically used cannabis. With that
said, when talking to a medical provider about these hot showers and CVS, make
sure you tell them if you do or do not use cannabis. My advice for those who do use cannabis is to
stop using cannabis to see if it is the cannabis that is causing the CVS and
the obsessive hot showers. For some,
stopping cannabis worked for eliminating their CVS symptoms and obsessive hot
showers and baths. For others, cannabis
is helpful to use to alleviate the incessant nausea and vomiting and is not a
cause for their CVS or their need to take tons of hot showers. It is important that I note that this is why
CVS is so individualized because what works for some may work for none. It is so important to keep a journal to see
patterns in your food choices, medications, or certain behaviors that cause or
stops an episode. That is how I found
out that my menstruation and lack of sleep was a major trigger for me.
I don’t
know how I started taking these hot baths, nor did I know that other sufferers
were doing it too. I didn’t feel so
crazy burning myself when I learned that this is a normal response for most
sufferers. When I am in the throws of an
episode, I long to get into the scalding hot water so that I can have a break
from the vomiting and relentless pain and nausea. The only draw back to this
method of self-medicating is that once you get out the shower, the symptoms come
back full throttle. With that said, I
spend hundreds of dollars, and gallons of waters to alleviate my symptoms. When I am in an episode, I don’t care about
how much water I am going to waste or how much money I am going to spend taking
such long hot baths. My only concern is
relief and escaping a CVS episode even if it is temporary.
My love
for the hot showers during an episode actually inspired me to write a poem
about my experience. So please enjoy my poem.
You may not understand it if you are not a sufferer, but I am pretty
sure if you do have CVS, this will make sense.
Enjoy!
Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome
Knife-piercing
pains in my stomach,
Nausea,
Retching,
Lethargy.
This is a
life worth escaping.
In the
tub,
As the hot
water showers and engulfs my body,
I close
my eyes and imagine myself
Somewhere
else--far away,
Far away
from my reality.
I'm
floating like a stray leaf down a river
Where the
sunlight glistens on the surface
Near
trees on the shore,
And where
the trees dance to the rhythms of the wind.
Salmon
sweep up shore
To lay
her eggs in the spawning ground
While a
father gives his son his first fishing lesson.
The
running water
Sounds
like a flowing river to me now.
I can
even hear when the water
Hits
against those stubborn rocks.
Swish,
swish, the water sings to me.
Swish,
swish, what a relaxing melody,
Swish,
swish, someone please save me.
