Do not miss cannabis use in gastroparesis patients

While there are no data for smoked marijuana, Dr. Lembo said, some data suggest that dronabinol, a synthetic cannabinoid, is effective in some patients with nausea, particularly post-chemotherapy nausea patients.

Dronabinol is indicated for adults for the treatment of chemotherapy-associated nausea and vomiting in patients who don’t respond adequately to conventional antiemetics, according to the agent’s prescribing information.

The cannabinoid medication is an isomer of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of the active compounds in marijuana, according to Dr. Lembo.

“If you smoke marijuana, the levels go up high very quickly,” Dr. Lembo said. “If you take dronabinol, it takes 45 minutes to an hour. It’s a slower rise of it, so people are less likely to abuse dronabinol.”