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Paregoric Kid
01-21-2009, 03:58 PM
a friend of mine who has hiv and hep c talked with their doctor about getting on marinol or nabilone. my friend has been on just about every anti-nausea/appetite stimulant and the only thing that seems to work is cannabis. the doctor tried to tell my friend that megestrol was structurally similar and had similar effects, but that if it didn't work within 2 weeks he would let him try marinol. from everything I've read it seems it is just an analog of progesterne, a hormone. at first glance I don't see much of a structural relationship but I didn't look at it much and am a bit rusty on chemistry. she thinks the doc said it might cause false positives for thc but they may have been talking about another med she is on. also from what I've read the mechanisms of action for megesterol is unknown; any receptor binding data out there? so my question is, is there any structural similarities or similarities in effects? I doubt it, sounds like its just a hormone analog. the good news is megestrol has more side effects than marinol and the doc agreed to let her try marinol if the megestrol doesn't work in 2 weeks.

SeVeN
01-21-2009, 04:01 PM
I thought Marinol was synthetic THC, not progesterone.

Paregoric Kid
01-21-2009, 04:22 PM
yeah thats what I was saying, marinol (dronabinol) is synthetic delta-9-thc and its schedule III, nabilone (brand name cesamet) is a synthetic cannabinoid that is schedule II and is stronger than marinol. the doctor was telling her that this megestrol acetate (a synthetic hormone analog) was either (or both) structurally similar or similar in effects to thc. I think the only similarity is that they are both used as anti-nausea and appetite stimulants, nothing more. or am I wrong?