Rising Stars: Meet Rhianna DiGiaimo of Beverly Hills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rhianna DiGiaimo.

Hi Rhianna, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Initially, I would love to say this started at the end of February this year – but that just wouldn’t be accurate. Truth be told, my journey began three years ago when I was cheated on. In response, I started smoking too much weed and drinking too much alcohol to cope with overwhelming feelings of insecurity, unworthiness, and self-hatred.

With the amount of weed and alcohol I was putting into my body every day and every weekend, it was only a matter of time before it caught up with me. Eventually, it began to manifest in my physical health and ultimately led to a diagnosis of CHS, Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome. In other words, I made myself allergic to weed.

CHS is defined as “a medical condition characterized by cyclical nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, primarily associated with frequent and chronic cannabis use.” I didn’t just experience one vomiting episode—I went through a total of eight over the past three years. And it’s not as simple as the definition suggests. In my case, I would lose all my strength, my limbs would go numb so that I couldn’t move, and I would vomit every 10 to 15 minutes for 24 hours straight, often ending in dry heaving because there was nothing left in my body. I practically lived in the shower, as hot water was the only thing that provided any relief from the living hell I was in. I also lost over 30 pounds due to these cyclical episodes.

I said “enough is enough” when a CHS flare-up sent me to the ER and nearly put me on my deathbed. After 10 hours in the ER being pumped with fluids due to extreme dehydration, with my mom by my side, nodding in and out of exhaustion, one CT scan, and two ultrasounds later, I was officially diagnosed with CHS by a gut specialist. He told me my health was on the line, and I needed to quit cannabis completely.

I had never even heard of CHS before. During my recovery, I felt completely isolated. No one in my life could relate to what I was going through. Sobriety and a new health condition? Talk about lonely. Not just lonely, but also depressed. I felt like I had no one to turn to.

That’s when I decided to start my sober blog, to raise awareness about CHS and the harmful truth about cannabis, especially since everyone I knew seemed to romanticize something that almost killed me. And honestly, I was one of those people until it turned against me, or at least, that’s how it felt.

I knew I couldn’t be the only one dealing with this, so I turned to social media. I created a TikTok account, and the response was excellent. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so alone. I took it a step further and launched an Instagram account and an official Substack blog, where I share my personal experiences. I also created a free support group for others trying to quit weed. Not only have I started to find my community, but I’ve also found a way to hold myself accountable through my posts and connections online.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been anything but a smooth road, to say the least. As I write this, I’ve been on my sobriety journey for 87 days. But that doesn’t mean the road here, or the transition, has been easy.

First of all, I never wanted to get sober. A doctor told me I had to for health reasons. Just coming to terms with that has involved grief, anger, and bargaining with myself and with the version of me I was before I began changing my life for the better.

Just five months ago, I was living a completely different life. Then came the CHS episode that sent me to the ER and flipped everything upside down. Since then, each month has marked a new transition:
February – the ER visit that changed my life.
March – getting sober.
April – realizing I had to move out of Hollywood to create a healthier environment for myself.
May – moving to Beverly Hills and living alone for the first time.

Did these transitions come at the cost of some friendships? Absolutely. What life-altering change doesn’t? While this has been one of the hardest starts to a year I’ve ever experienced, it’s also been a profound journey of self-love, personal growth, and learning what free will means. It’s helped me deepen the friendships that truly matter—the ones where I now know I can trust and count on people as I move forward in adulthood.

I’m incredibly grateful for the challenges that have come my way. Without them, I wouldn’t have had the clearest mindset since I was 15. And I wouldn’t have the clarity to recognize the people I can truly rely on—those who show up when life does its thing.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My entire working career has been rooted in the fashion industry. I’ve always loved fashion, so much so that I started my high school’s first fashion club and was accepted early to FIDM as a junior. Later, I transferred to LIM in New York City for my BBS in Fashion Marketing.

Trend-spotting and relationship-building have always been at the heart of my approach to work, which has helped me stay closely connected to the pulse of the industry. Today, I work in Public Relations and Fashion Marketing full-time, but my goal is to merge my love of fashion with my newfound passion for sobriety into one media space.

I want to create a platform where others like me, who work in fashion and are navigating sobriety, can feel seen, heard, and less alone. The fashion world often glamorizes and romanticizes substance use, and I hope to be part of a shift in that narrative.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I don’t think enough people truly understand the catalyst behind my decision to get sober. Yes, a doctor told me I had to, but if I hadn’t been taken to the ER that day, I might not be here to share my story or be the author of my blog, Some Sober Girl. I was severely dehydrated, and without the fluids they gave me, I could’ve faced something much more serious – kidney failure.

This isn’t just a blog where I share tips. It’s my lifeline. I genuinely feel that my mission on this earth is to raise awareness about CHS and make sure that others like me never feel alone while going through something so traumatic.

Honestly, I told myself initially that if I could help just one person by sharing my experience online, I’d have done my job. But the response has blown me away. Receiving daily DMs and messages from people telling me how much my content, blog, and online sober community group chat have helped them. It’s been incredibly humbling and affirming.

Contact Info:

• Website: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anothergrungebitch
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somesobergirlcommunity/?g=5
• Other: Substack: https://somesobergirl.substack.com/

Image Credits
Rhianna DiGiaimo, Some Sober Girl