Imodium

The only downside is if you have side effects, such as drowsiness. Otherwise, you can tailor the dose to your output. In fact, when it was a prescription drug, long term use was common among ostomates for output control. That was where a lot of the long term data came from proving its safety.

Yes, Imodium (loperamide) has the property of actively increasing water absorption, besides slowing peristalsis.

I am not sure there are any "best times" to take it. Basically, once you figure out what your best dose in 24 hours is, you can just space it out evenly over the day, or even just take it as a single daily dose. This is because it has a long half life, and builds up in the system over a period of days. The key is taking regular doses.

Jan

I don't know what the maximum dose is - but I was taking 40 x 2mg capsules a day - and still didn't see any benefit...! But codeine works fine for me

The maximum dose is eight 2 mg capsules per day. If that isn't sufficient, the usual next steps are Lomotil and Tincture of Opium.

Lynne, with my loop ileo I took a total of six per day -- 2 with breakfast, 1 with lunch, 2 at dinner, 1 before bed. Like you I wasn't willing to give up produce and go on an all starch diet to slow things down. No ill effects. I did originally go all the way up to 8 tabs per day, but had a couple of partial blockages from thickening up too much -- 6 was the magic number for me. Good luck!

Jan,

Just wondering if you had any evidence to support that theory? No doubting you, just interested to hear where you got that information.

Would be fantastic if I could just take 4/5/X in the morning and be done with it for the day when I start my pouchin' days.

While we're on this topic does anyone know about Imodium vs generic brands? I've been buying 'Gastro Stop' which claims to have 2mg loperamide hydrochloride, which i understand is the same as Imodium. Is there any benefit from buying the real stuff or is it all the same?

30 minutes before meals. Made a big difference that 30minutes before instead of directly with a meal.

With one of my previous ileos (loop #2) I was taking 8/day. 2 before each main meal and 2 before bed. Now I take none.

also I used to get a script from my doctor and had the pharmacy fill it. I could get 240 pills for $10. Cheaper than even costco or sams over the counter. And the pills were in a bottle, not those aluminum foil thingies that are hard to open when I got them over the counter.

The ability to use a single daily dose for long term treatment is listed in the prescribing information. Not difficult to find at all. Scroll down to Dosage and Administration: Chronic Diarrhea. There you will find the option of divided or single daily doses. I take mine twice a day (approximately 12 hours apart), but mostly because I take other pills twice a day.

http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/da...52-8cf2-15da430117ce

Another interesting tidbit is that peak blood levels are about 4-6 hours after ingestion, 2.5 hours if using the liquid.

Oh, and generic is fine. I get mine by prescription and it is generic capsules.

Jan

Wow - this is all great info! Thank you for taking the time to provide it! I buy Costco brand loperamide 2 mg 400 caps for $5.49.

if the peak blood levels are 4-6 hours after ingestion, wouldn't that suggest that optimium results are acheived by having a dose every 6 hours or so?

Sure, 4 times a day, spaced out, more or less works, if you are taking that much (4 or more pills). But, the half-life is long enough that over a period of up to a week, it all levels out, and isn't that critical. if you are more likely to be consistent with once or twice a day dosing, it is a better fit than if you will be forgeting doses.

What is mainly important, is consistency. If you are constantly changing your dose, trying to figure out your dose, you can wind up chasing your tail. People often look at the acute diarrhea dosing, popping pills after each loose stool, then get puzzled when they are feeling stopped up and straining. Then they stop it completely, and 4-5 days later, they are back to square one.

Jan