Appetite Increasing Drugs

Are there any known drugs to stimulate appetite for a cancer patient who weighs 90 lbs.  Mergase was quoted as $2100 per month at my pharmacy, which is far too expensive.  Even with Insurance co-pay was over $600.

[Ken_PA]

Hi, I had just looked into cachexia not long ago, when looking into BCAAs from whey protein. The ESMO seemed to have more on that than anywhere else.

European Medical Oncology Society
http://www.esmo.org/index.php?id=1268

Try the one called "Cancer cachexia: Medical management"

My father had used Megace at one time, but it didn't do any good anyway. It apparently works only for 30%, and "there is no demonstrated improvement in quality of life or survival".

You might look at corticosteroids on that page. "corticosteroids are widely used.
In randomized controlled studies, they have been shown to improve appetite and quality of life"  One such would be generic prednisone, for short term use only, maybe 10 cents per day.

Whey might help counter muscle loss, but it's not an appetite stimulant. Or maybe just regular milk would be as good or better on that score.