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People Are Using an Over-the-Counter Anti-Diarrhea Medication to Get High

The researchers say it’s “as dumb and dangerous as it sounds.”

| 2 min read

The researchers say it’s “as dumb and dangerous as it sounds.”

In an unusual trend, researchers have observed a spike in the abuse of an over-the-counter anti-diarrhea medication, Imodium, also known by its key ingredient loperamide. As the press release states, using “Imodium for a legal high is as dumb and dangerous as it sounds.”

"Loperamide's accessibility, low cost, over-the-counter legal status and lack of social stigma all contribute to its potential for abuse," lead study author William Eggleston of the Upstate New York Poison Center, in Syracuse, New York, said in a press statement.

The new research, which has been published in Annals of Emergency Medicine, looks at two case studies outlining the phenomenon, both of which ended in fatalities.

Each case study involved a patient with a history of substance abuse who attempted to self-treat opioid addiction with large doses of loperamide, and both patients overdosed. After emergency medical services were called, they were both treated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, naloxone, and standard Advanced Cardiac Life Support, but it wasn’t enough — both patients died.

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"People looking for either self-treatment of withdrawal symptoms or euphoria are overdosing on loperamide with sometimes deadly consequences,” Dr. Eggleston said. “Loperamide is safe in therapeutic doses but extremely dangerous in high doses."

The Upstate New York Poison Center experienced a seven-fold increase in calls related to loperamide abuse or misuse between from 2011 to 2015, which the researchers say is consistent with national poison data, which reports a 71 percent increase in calls related to intentional loperamide exposure from 2011 to 2014.

Further, there’s a spike in discussion about oral loperamide on web-based forums — posting increased 10-fold between 2010 and 2011. The majority of the online discussion revolved around using the medication to self-treat opioid withdrawal (about 70 percent), but 25 percent of users also reported using the medication for its euphoric properties.

"Our nation's growing population of opioid-addicted patients is seeking alternative drug sources with prescription opioid medication abuse being limited by new legislation and regulations," said Dr. Eggleston.

"Health care providers must be aware of increasing loperamide abuse and its under recognized cardiac toxicity,” he concluded. “This is another reminder that all drugs, including those sold without a prescription, can be dangerous when not used as directed."

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