Good Morning,

Do you have a prescription for loperamide? Even though you can buy it over the counter, I convinced my doctor to write me a prescription for loperamide and lomotil. Under his care, I was taking 8 pills of each daily. I know that’s a lot of medicine, but it was about the only way that I could get out the door for the first year after my surgery. 

Anyway, I am on Medicare (I’m “only” 56 years old, but was on disability for 3 years - long story)  and I talked them into covering my prescriptions for both loperamide and lomotil. I only had to pay a small deductible, and could get a 90 day supply (a total of (1,440 pills) for just $6.00!! It was well worth the one hour that I spent on the phone to get Medicare to approve the prescription. I would guess that private insurers would be more prone to give approval. 

Also, after that first year, I starting drinking a ridiculous amount of water (around 160 ounces daily). I started drinking 48 ounces before breakfast, and had only a small amount of liquids for my meal (juice, smoothie, yogurt, nothing too solid). Then, I’d walk the dog for a couple of miles, which had the added benefit of getting everything “moving.”

About an hour after breakfast, I would suddenly have a strong urge to go (like “stop at the gas station on the way to work” urge) and would then purge what seemed like every bit of those 48 ounces, plus whatever was in my J-pouch. I was basically painless, and I got to know the gas station attendants way more than I ever wanted to :-) . But the rest of the day, I felt completely cleaned out, and usually didn’t have any more diarrhea for the rest of the day. And I totally stopped taking both anti diarrheal meds! 

With all that water, you have to watch your electrolytes and nutrition. But to me, that’s way better than having to take all those pills. And I have taken ZERO in over a year.

long post - sorry! 

Billl.  Thank you. Makes good sense.  I do not have a prescription, I am wondering if I could.   It is much cheaper than going to Rite Aid and buying 48 at a time!

Costco is selling 36 Loperamide for 1.29.  The catch is you can only get it once a month.  I only take 2 a day, so I get one and my husband gets one also.  I also have a prescription for Lomotil, which only cost me about 5.00 for 120 pills.  I use these when traveling, so they last me for a long time.  If you do belong to Costco, and your doctor writes a prescription for you, you can get more than the 36 ct. box.

I had my doctor call in a script to Costco for 360 (3 month supply) and the price is $12.90 for 10 boxes. However, I found out my Medicare EnvisionRxPlus will cover that same amount (360) of Lomotil for $5.51. It is a shame that some kids abused this to get a poor mans Meth high (according to FDA). Was on the phone with the FDA yesterday, and they said that Costco made this decision on their own, to package it in smaller doses, and that it was not something required by the FDA. CVS sells bottles of 200 online, but the above prices are much better.