# Bizarre experience with imodium. anyone had this before?



## MondayMorning (Mar 7, 2009)

hey all, imodium has been working really well for me for years now. i recently ran into the problem of it causing constipation. i only have access to the capsules right now so i thought opening it up and breaking it in half would be the best way to create a shorter acting version.anyway, i woke up in the middle of the night and got out of bed to get a glass of water. opened the imodium capsule and took a small amount. fast forward 10 minutes and i'm feeling super nauseas. i stand up to run to the bathroom then all of a sudden i start feeling dizzy. next thing i know i'm lying flat on my face down the staircase with my older sister looking at me and asking if i'm ok. i stood up and felt fine. only some mild bruising, i think i was very lucky. has anyone had this happen before?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Sounds like what they call vasovagal syncope, but I've never heard of Imodium triggering it. IBS symptoms can do it all on their own (as can even a normal BM in some people without IBS).Here is a link with some info http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vasovagal-syncope/DS00806


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## clareuk (Feb 7, 2006)

I hope you are ok now. Just a question for Kathleen really about the immodium capsules. I never thought that it would be possible to open a capsule and have some of the powder inside? I assumed that the capsule had to be swallowed and dissolved in the stomach? Is it ok to just swallow the powder as some days that would be quite handy if I could have a 1/2 quantity? As the capsules that I take everyday can't be broken.


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## clareuk (Feb 7, 2006)

Sorry just realised that there is another topic talking about the exact same thing.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Going to talk in the general rule.It can vary with the capsule. Extended or time release capsules/pills shouldn't be broken or chewed as they are designed to release a little bit of drug at a time and when you disrupt the structure that leads to a slow release you may get a lot all at once, and depending on the drug you may get too high a dose.For most normal release things you can open the capsule (pull it apart) and do what you want with the powder. I have some herb capsules I pull apart when I want to make a tea rather than just take the capsule. People often pop open things like vitamin E capsules to rub the vitamin E on the skin rather than buy a bottle of vitamin E oil.My Mom used to crush pills or open capsules for some meds a lot when I was a kid before I was able to swallow pills well. She'd put the medicine in a spoonful of jelly. Now they make a lot of stuff for kids as chewables or liquids, but back then not all of them were.Things that aren't time released are usually OK to open up as they dissolve pretty quickly anyway, so the time difference/amount wouldn't be a big difference. But with time released things it can be hard to know how much of the pill would equal one non-time released dose or whatever proportion you want to be taking.


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## thePIXEL (Nov 10, 2010)

When you started feeling dizzy, did your hearing start to muffle and your eyes turn like.. black particles over the image you could see (sorry can't explain it) and cold sweats but you were quite hot?


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## MondayMorning (Mar 7, 2009)

thePIXEL said:


> When you started feeling dizzy, did your hearing start to muffle and your eyes turn like.. black particles over the image you could see (sorry can't explain it) and cold sweats but you were quite hot?


Not really. I just remember standing up and feeling really dizzy. My knees hit the ground and I couldn't see anything, just feel my knees on the floor. I must have staggered around and ended up down the stairs.


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