When Sharisse Zeroonian experiences stress, anxiety or feels her period coming on, she might throw up as often as 15 times an hour — episodes of vomiting that could go on for days at a time.
Then, she’ll feel fine again only for the cycle to repeat the next week.
The symptoms started in 2021, but Zeroonian wouldn’t get the true diagnosis for two years. She underwent a host of medical tests, including an endoscopy, a gastric emptying study — which measures how long it takes food to leave the stomach — and lots of bloodwork.
None showed anything was wrong, but Zeroonian kept throwing up for days every week, to the point she sometimes had to go to the emergency room. Doctors there usually told her it was just a migraine.
Zeroonian lost 16 pounds, couldn’t hold down a job and was exhausted by the nausea and vomiting. Ironically, people complimented her on the weight loss as she struggled physically and mentally.
“I was feeling like, I don't want to live like this anymore. What kind of quality of life is this?” Zeroonian, 29, who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, tells TODAY.com.
“The episodes made me anxious and even suicidal at some points, but the suicidal and anxious thoughts were also causing the episode, so it was like a Catch-22.”
Finally, after another visit to the emergency room in 2023, doctors diagnosed her with cyclic vomiting syndrome.
Now, Zeroonian has made the world’s first movie about it, a semi-autobiographical film titled “Nothing Solid,” which she bills as a “vom-com” — a play on rom-com.
What Is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome?
It’s a chronic disorder of the gut-brain interaction that makes patients experience sudden episodes of intense nausea, vomiting and retching followed by periods without symptoms, according to the American Gastroenterological Association. Then the cycle repeats.
The condition affects up to 2% of the population and can happen to anyone, but it’s more common in women, young adults and people who have a personal or family history of migraines, it notes.
Symptoms may also include abdominal pain, headaches and dizziness.
Patients are often misdiagnosed with the stomach flu or food poisoning.
There are no blood tests, X-rays or other tests to diagnose the disorder — doctors make a diagnosis by ruling out other diseases and analyzing a patient’s history of vomiting episodes, the Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Association notes.
Triggers for the vomiting attacks include infections, intense excitement, emotional stress and menstrual periods.
Cyclic vomiting syndrome may be suspected in adults if they’ve had three or more separate episodes in the past year and the pattern is similar — starting at the same time of day, for example, and lasting the same length of time, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
People with symptoms should advocate for themselves and ask their doctors about cyclical vomiting syndrome since that’s key to getting a diagnosis, the American Gastroenterological Association advises. It urges people not to "suffer in silence."
Impact on Career and Social Life
Zeroonian says she felt like a failure and hid her diagnosis from other people for a while, worrying they wouldn’t think it’s a real disorder.
“It was kind of embarrassing to me at the time,” she says.
“The biggest thing was that people wouldn’t understand that it's a disorder. They’d just think it was me being overdramatic … (or) using it as an excuse not to do things or to slack off at work.”
When she feels well between episodes, she can eat normally and have full meals.
But during an attack, which can make her sick 15 times an hour at its most severe, she might only be able to tolerate vitamin-infused water and gummies as her meal for the whole day. She worried about throwing up at social events.
Her work performance can suffer after constantly throwing up the night before, Zeroonian says, so she’s had to move from job to job, including teaching and tutoring.
Medications have helped her manage the syndrome. She takes an antipsychotic drug and an anti-nausea drug. Other treatments have included migraine medication, medical marijuana and benzodiazepine, which relieves anxiety.
She still gets a vomiting episode every week, but they’re shorter and less intense than before, she says. They might last one or two days instead of four or five.
Making a feature film about her experience has been therapeutic. Cyclic vomiting syndrome has been featured on the TV show “Grey's Anatomy” — where one of the stars has a child with the disorder in real life — but not in a movie.
“Being open about it and making this movie has helped so much because I think I suffered a lot more when I was not being open,” Zeroonian says.
“I felt a lot more liberated once I started talking to people about it.”
