Self-treatment of opioid addiction using diarrhea drug Imodium or its main ingredient may lead to death, case studies of a study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine have shown. In the two cases, both patients had an overdose, taken to the emergency room in the hospital and died.
"Loperamide's accessibility, low cost, over-the-counter legal status and lack of social stigma all contribute to its potential for abuse," said lead study author William Eggleston, PharmD, via Science Daily. Eggleston works at the Upstate New York Poison Center in Syracuse, New York.
Imodium: Getting High From This Drug For Diarrhea Can Be Fatal: NPR https://t.co/P5WwKL0rV7
— C. Michael Gibson MD (@CMichaelGibson) May 4, 2016
Anti-Diarrhea Drug Can Be Bought Without Prescription
Loperamide is an over-the-counter drug, meaning it can be bought in the form of liquid or pills without a doctor's prescription. According to the National Public Radio, Eggleston said that at 10 or more times the recommended dosage of loperamide, it can help ease opioid withdrawal symptoms.
The largest doses of loperamide are said to create a similar high with heroin or widely used opioid pills. It is at this dosage that loperamide becomes even riskier than opioids, which "generally suppress breathing, but loperamide can also fatally disrupt the heart's rhythm."
Anti-Diarrhea Drug Abuse Rising
Pulse Headlines reported that there has been a seven-fold increase in loperamide abuse-related calls to the Upstate New York Poison Center between 2011 and 2015. Eggleston said that Americans are seeking alternatives to prescription drugs because opioid drugs are limited by a new law and regulations.
It is said that in 2010-2011, there was around a 70 percent increase of online posts about loperamide. Most of the posts are associated with easing withdrawal symptoms of opioids.
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