A mysterious, rare condition is causing a 23-year-old British woman to vomit every 20 minutes.
Metro.co.uk reported that Stephanie Horner has cyclical vomiting syndrome (CVS), a condition marked by severe vomiting without an apparent cause. According to the Mayo Clinic, these episodes can last for hours or days, and alternate with relatively symptom-free periods of time. CVS can affect all age groups and may affect almost 2 percent of school-age children.
CVS symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever and dizziness.
Horner dropped out of college in 2011 and said she has lost five jobs because of her condition.
“Every morning, I lie in the bath and work out whether I can deal with the condition myself or whether I need medical attention at the hospital. If I misjudge it, I could die of dehydration,” she told Metro.co.uk.
Because vomiting is a symptom of many disorders, CVS is hard to diagnose. According to the Mayo Clinic, treatment involves managing symptoms— sometimes with medications— and lifestyle changes to avoid triggering vomiting episodes.
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