BOSTON — A young Armenian-American filmmaker is almost done making a semi-autobiographical, dark, medical comedy titled “Nothing Solid” about her experience with Cyclic (or Cyclical) Vomiting Syndrome (CVS), a rare brain-gut disorder that causes frequent and often intense bouts of vomiting that can last anywhere from hours to days. This will be the world’s first movie about the condition — “a vom-com,” as Zeroonian calls it.
According to the National Institutes of Health, about 3 in 100,000 children are diagnosed with CVS each year, but it’s becoming increasingly recognized in adults. Triggers can include stress and anxiety, migraine, menstruation, motion sickness, and more. Although she went through short-lived bouts of digestive issues — and isn’t entirely sure if she had a milder form of the disorder — in childhood, Zeroonian, 29, went at least thirteen years without any chronic gastrointestinal problems until she started experiencing weekly and often severe attacks of vomiting at age 25 in April 2021. After two and a half years of medical testing, she was diagnosed with Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome during a trip to the emergency room in August 2023, a month before turning 28.
She has written, directed and acted in the film. “This film is helping me reclaim much of what I lost to the disease,” Zeroonian said. She isn’t making the movie for sympathy, or to lionize herself, but in her words, “help [herself] and others to no longer live in shame” and also “finally give curious people an explanation about what [she’s] been through these past several years.”
“At my lowest weight, I was 16 pounds down from what I used to be, and kept getting questions about it.” Zeroonian recalled. “That was uncomfortable enough, but what made me even more uncomfortable was the fact that I was carrying around this dreadful secret. Once I went public with my diagnosis, my burden was lifted and I found I felt much better being open about it.”
Zeroonian in the film play the role of Nikki. In addition to the film’s various medical and family scenes, there are quite a few funny moments that happen in Nikki’s workplace, which is her Armenian church newsletter, that feature characters such as her best friend Tamar (Julie DeStefano), bullies Arsen and Esther (Logan Raposo and Angela Hurley), and a compassionate but no-nonsense Der Hayr (Rick DuMont).
“I don’t work at a church newsletter, but a lot of what Nikki deals with at work really does come from some of the unfortunate interactions I’ve had with my peers in the Armenian community. All names have been changed to protect the guilty,” Zeroonian joked.
