Back in olden times ( not so very long ago before medicines got so fancy) a good appetite stimulant was what was called a Port Wine Tonic, which was basically diluted Port Wine. Encourage her to have a glass of wine, she may prefer sweet like the Kosher brands, before dinner. Mogan David and Manachevitz(sp?) both have a blackberry or a concord grape that might appeal to her. The Alcohol content in both is very low and shouldn't interfer with other medications.

Just as information about this sort of thing...years ago there was on the market a patent medicine called Hadecol. The usual dosage was 2 tablespoons, four times a day. 2 TBS = one ounce, one ounce = a shot glass. The stuff did wonders for the elderly. It turns out that it was about one third alcohol. This would equal a shot of 60 proof whiskey four time a day. No wonder they felt better!

A little wine can work wonders. Marijuana can be quite effective also, but remains illegal as far as I know.

You might ask your doctor about Megase. It comes in a liquid or pill form. I remember it being pricey, but now with Medicare Part D, a lot of drug prices are changing.
Good Luck

Blessings ~~ katclaws

First try the wine, it does work wonders for some

Then try placing a centerpiece on the table of fresh herbs, smells increase the appetite. Along the same lines, cook Mom flavorful foods of her preference--cinnamon, garlic, bacon.

Try small, frequent meals rather than 3 large ones

Ask the doc for a trial of Megace

Ask the doc for a trial of Marinol (medicinal marijuana oil in capsule form)

In my experience, Risperdal does not greatly affect the appetite but does curb mood and behavioral symptoms. If Mom is showing signs of depression, ask the doc about Remeron. It's an antidepressant with the side effect of increasing appetite.

Good luck.

My mother was on Risperdal against my wishes. The nursing home was forcing us. I do not like these drugs.
I agree, small finger foods work best. Loss of appetite is very common. My mother always ate ice cream!!

My experience is limited to two situations. In both the loss of appetite was temporary and changed within a couple of weeks. One was helped with wine. The other was solved by chocolate malted milks which the patient liked and which stayed down. Ice cream is calorie-dense and almost everyone likes it.

brena honey, YOU WANT THE HERB Culantro:OFTEN MISTAKES FOR CILANTRO.
It has a lot of MEDICINAL uses, The leaves themselves can be eaten in the form of a chutney as an appetite stimulant...other uses. The plant is used in traditional medicines for fevers and chills, vomiting, diarrhea, and in Jamaica for colds and convulsions. The leaves and roots are boiled and the water drunk for pneumonia, flu, diabetes, constipation, and malaria fever. The root can be eaten raw for scorpion stings and in India the root is reportedly used to alleviate stomach pains. Been using it for most of sixty years. See, us Indians used plants for 100 of years. God gave us a plant for every illness known to man. If this dosen't work for your Mama you let me know and I will throw together something for you. Unless she has some other serious illness, this should work just fine.

Just give her some weed

i agree with the guy above nothing stimulates the appitate quite like the munchies

A cousin with cancer got an Rx for it to help her while she was in chemo. And it did help. It's a miracle drug, too bad we can't recognize it as such all thru the country.

weed!!

My MIL gets B-12 shots at the doctor's office each month, and it has markedly increased her appetite. She started getting them after being hospitalized and receiving blood transfusions because she had stopped eating.

you just have to be very careful for all of the different prescriptions because they can have some pretty nasty side effects. I know that Megace ES has been proven to cause both cushings disease and bone lose. I've used eatmor appetite stimulant for a couple of my patients and it seems to work pretty well.

This post was edited by dlittlejohns on Sun, Dec 23, 12 at 14:50