What is CVS?
Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS) is a condition in which patients:
- Have 3 or more episodes per year
- Are completely normal between episodes
- Experience vomiting for hours or days
- All diagnostic tests are negative
Hypnotherapy Offers Superior Treatment For Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome
This is one of the most frustrating problems that patients and their clinicians experience because there is no medication for it.
Can you imagine being nauseous all day and vomiting several times during the day? And having that last a few days? And then having it happen once a month or even more frequently?
There is some literature suggesting a commonality between migraine headaches and CVS. Frequently, the same medication is used for both of these problems. Relaxation-type exercises have been suggested to treat CVS, and, of course, medical hypnosis takes this to the next level. Rather than simply teaching patients to relax, gut-directed medical hypnosis gives them specific skills to control the episodes.
When I see patients with CVS, they invariably act as if they are having an abdominal migraine. For example, patients with abdominal migraine or migraine headaches usually experience an “aura.” This is a sensation, a warning sign of some sort, that in 10 to 30 minutes, the abdominal migraine or migraine headache will occur. The timeline for CVS is virtually the same as a migraine headache. Patients who learn self-hypnosis can use the aura or beginning of the episode to use this technique to prevent the episode from occurring and there is typically significant improvement after only 2 to 3 visits.
For individuals with CVS, I always incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy strategies, as these individuals usually also have anxiety. The last few patients I have seen with CVS were particularly severe, with their episodes becoming more and more frequent, and requiring hospitalizations! This included a couple of patients in their 20’s and 30’s.
Fortunately, within a few visits, they were much better with fewer episodes and fewer visits to the hospital!
Learn About Dr. Lazarus’ IBS + Gastrointestinal Issues Treatment
Dr. Lazarus has developed a new online home video-streamed program to provide patients and families the solution for irritable bowel syndrome, abdominal pain, and other digestive issues, and the anxiety that accompanies them. Based on medically proven, evidence-based research, this program combines medical hypnosis, cognitive behavioral therapy strategies, and powerful motivational tools for fast and long-lasting results.
