Information on Marinol and Marijuana

[scotttt]

Hi,

I was wondering what everyone's experience has been.  I understand that it reduces nausea and increases appetite.  I also know it is expensive and HMOs like Kaiser are reluctant to dole it out even when it is needed.

1) What is the best approach to getting it from Kaiser when a person is experiencing extreme weight loss.

2) Are the side effects detailed on the internet really accurate.  I suspect that a lot of pot club people bad mouth it because they love the real thing so much better.

3) Is the real thing so much better.  If so, getting it would be no problem.  Pot is easier to buy in San Francisco than apple fritters in a donut shop.
Also, the DA in SF and SFPD rarely if ever arrest anyone for buying it on the street, and they almost never prosecute as long as you aren't buying large quantities.

4) Preparing it.  Is it better to smoke it or make it into yummy confections?  I am worried that the person I care about won't want to eat something if he is already experiencing nausea and that maybe smoking it might be better.

5) Growing it.  I live in Berkeley, and I could grow a ton of it in my living room without fear of getting into trouble.  Liberal city, went to law school here, know way too many frickin' attorneys to worry about that.

My special friend is worried about the reported "psychotic" effects of Marinol.  I think that anything that boosts the appetite would be great.

BTW, this isn't for me.  I really don't like the stuff, makes me sleepy and hungry.

Thank you all for the advice, I know I threw a lot at you.

Scott

[Tucsonwoody]

Hey Scott -

I got pretty sick in September and lost my appetite completely for about a month while one doctor tried to figure out was wrong with me.  I lost over 40 pounds in that time before my HIV diagnosis.  After going to the emergency room (and finding a much better doctor) I was admitted to the hospital and I was given a liquid called Megestrol to stimulate my appetite....and it worked great for me. I started eating again that same day.  It is hormone based I think so you don't have the same issues you might with Marinol.  I know my insurance company had no problem with me getting it after I left the hospital.  I didn't notice any major side effects from the Megestrol.

I had to go back to the hospital a short time later and my new (much better doctor) said she preferred to use Marinol instead of Megestrol. So I was started on that in pill form and again had great success with it increasing my appetite.  I was taking it twice a day and for me it didn't provide a high like the real stuff did (dang it!) but did make me feel groggy and I had a hard time concentrating, so I asked to go to once a day and that worked fine.  By the time I left the hospital the underlying cause of my appetite loss was under control so I didn't need Marinol at home, so I don't know if I would have had a problem with my insurance company, but I doubt it as it is a legal drug.

From what I saw on the Walgreens site I use for my meds, Marinol is much more expensive then Megestrol.  Here are a couple of links with infor about both.  If you get either one, I hope it works for you guys as well as it did for me.  Good luck!

Kevin

http://www.walgreens.com/library/finddrug/druginfo1.jsp?particularDrug=Megestrol&id=13046

http://www.walgreens.com/library/finddrug/druginfo1.jsp?particularDrug=Marinol&id=17742

[allopathicholistic]

Hullo. You asked for different people's experiences Well you can tell your friend that in y case Marinol made me very giddy/giggly and yes it did help me to reverse moderately severe AIDS wasting. I needd it for about 2.5 months. I do not need it anymore. Did you see this old thread? http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=5980.0 Reply #12 might provide food for thought

[Queen Tokelove]

*lol@myself* Cause I know you all knew I was going to respond to this thread! Anyways, I prefer the real deal. I had tried Marinol but it did nothing for me. Both my doctors know I smoke.

[Christine]

Hello,
I tried Marinol and it did not work for me. I was so stoned I sat on the couch for a month like a zombie. I was numb and completely out of it. Plus, my nausea was somewhat lessened, but not enough to deal with the horrible stoned feeling. It was not the happy, fun stoned feeling of being drunk or high, it was total, numb, dull, feeling with nausea.

My nurse coordinator, suggested "off the record" that pot seems to work better for people than Marinol.

I did not have any trouble getting it through my insurance.

I did not try pot a few reasons. With my luck I would have ended up getting arrested, plus I had PCP, and was worried that the smoke might irritate my lungs.

After my stoned Marinol month, I tried Aloxi, a chemo IV nausea drug, which worked.

My opinion, if you have easy access to pot, and little concern about getting arrested, I would try pot.

Christine

Edited to add: If your friend does decide to smoke pot, tell the doctor so they know.

[dixieman]

Hey, To answer your question... I used marinol for about a month... it was ok and it worked but, when I changed doctors a few years later... he was totally against using marinol .."telling me it was a narcotic" like I did not know? ... so I fired this doctor and I have a new one... but, I tend to smoke weed instead... although it is considered illegal it works best for me... also you can take your herb and make canna butter... this is a very easy process... look it up on the net... you do not have to deal with weed in your food... the fat in the butter contains the THC and it works Great! but, I prefer to smoke... fortunatley for me I've never had the experience of having pcp... but, if you smoke.. its best from a water pipe... I hope this helps!

[rick21007]

Medical marijuana is legal here in Oregon and it is not difficult to get a medical marijuana card.  I have known a number of poz guys who use it and swear by it.  The active ingredient is absorbed better by smoking it and not by ingesting it.  But things to consider, when you smoke it you are also ingesting 400 known carcinogens and if you are at all at risk for pcp I'd be concerned--smoking and holding the smoke in your lungs does a lot more harm than the way you'd smoke a cigarette normally.  A consideration that would apply to me is that being an addict in recovery, I'd just about guarantee I'd end up using it for more than medicinal purposes and the overall quality of  my life would eventually go down the shitter.  Anyway all drugs have side effects of some kind.   You just have to weigh them vs. the benefits for yourself.

Rick

[scotttt]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the info.  I think I am going to go to my favorite parts of SF's famous "Tenderloin" and score some "weed weed".  I think I am going to try to find some creative recipes for it on the internet and make it in small confections so that Rob will be able to eat it without it making his nausea worse.  Since he has just recovered from pneumocystis, I don't think smoking it would be the best option.  I asked him to read this thread and hope that your words will ease some of his apprehensions regarding marijuana.  I feel like a freakin' nurse Ratchett trying to get him to eat, but everything seems to make him feel sicker.  He teases me that if we could only do a "fat transplant" from me to him, both of us would be happy.

I just wonder if Kaiser has some policy as to avoiding giving out really expensive drugs like Marinol whenever they can avoid it.  Rob started meds yesterday (he wrote about it in his post) and I have to say that I feel a thousand times better. (I know, this isn't about me, but I love the SOB, so whatever I see as helping him makes me feel way the hell better!).

I cannot say again how much everyone here has helped both Rob and I.   

Thank you so much again.

Scott

[bear60]

Scott....... I tried the Marinol just to see what it did, or how I liked it. It was great. That said it was a lot more like eating  one of those brownies baked with marijuana mixed into the batter than smoking it.  Hint hint...brownies...yum!

[Gary85741]

     To what extent Marinol may be covered by one's insurance depends on the policy and carrier.  It's not generic...so will cost more.  You might check with your local ASO (AIDS Service Organization) to see if they will pay for it under a medication assistance program.  Also there are some states (not a lot) which cover it under ADAP.  With no subsidy or assistance, a 5 mg. Marinol cap costs about $10 each unfortunately.  It ramps my appetite up (which is normal with which to begin, though I'm underweight) and causes me to eat the equivalent of an additional meal every day.  I might feel the effects in thirty minutes, or a few hours...or rarely, not until the next day.
     Weight gain, however, has nothing to do with wasting. 

     My own experience with Megace some years ago was that it was very efficacious...caused me to eat all the time and I did really gain needed weight.  But Megace contains Progesterone (female hormone) so it crashed my libido and hence I discontinued it.

     In addition to currently taking Marinol, I also take Nandrolone (steroid) once weekly via self-injection...for weight gain...along with some exercise.  That has proven helpful also.  I have gained six pounds in three months...may not sound like a lot...but for me it is.

Gary   

[Boo Radley]

I've been smoking pot almost daily for 25 years now.  I just took a hit off a joint.  Maintenance...  I take small amounts of smoke into my lungs now because if I inhale too much I cough.  My lungs are probably in better shape than a 25 year tobacco smoker but I guess only time will tell (or cruel fate will give me lung cancer in a few years).

Almost 10 years ago one of my friends had a marinol prescription and he didn't like it so I tried it for recreational use.  One capsule had no effect.  Two capsules nauseated me.  End of experiment.

I like to cook with pot but with ingesting it it's possible to take too much and get sick to the point of passing out (ask me about the Dylan concert I attended with my friend Maida, who brought a dozen brownies; or the times at JazzFest when I'd eaten one too many of the brownies sold by a friend whose primary Fest business was pralines).  It also is used faster when you cook with it.   

In my experience you can never get too high smoking pot (at least not with the crap I've always gotten) as you can with eating it or with alcohol and other recreational drugs.  I can still function without problems, unlike with booze, coke, tina, crack, whatever.   Smoke pot all night and you brush your teeth and go to bed but if you've been drinking, snorting, ingesting drugs like X or GHB (or whatever the hell it is -- off-topic moment!  I just looked up GHB and see the definition states it consists of a mixture: "basically it is degreasing solvent or floor stripper mixed with drain cleaner" [jesus h. christ!!!]) you're going to feel the after-effects moreso.  As a totally addictive person I guess I made a bargain with the drug I thought would do the least harm.  I've never liked needles anyway.  And staying out for a few hours drinking club soda is a lot less expensive than ordering martinis or black russians or mimosas all night. 

But, anyway, I digress.  Please excuse my soapbox.  I'm stoned.

Boo

[Oceanbeach]