# Kaopectate vs. Immodium question



## Guest (Apr 5, 2001)

I have a question regarding Kaopectate. Has anyone used it very much or heard much about it? I have been using Immodium and have heard quite a lot about it, but lately it isn't working quite as well as it use to. So I was thinking of switching to Kaopectate for a while. Any thoughts, suggestions or experiences? My D is getting bad again and I need to find some relief.


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## Phyllis McDonnell (Dec 15, 1998)

I've been using Kaopectate for many years, and carry a bottle in the glove compartment in my car for emergencies. Imodium takes too long to work, so just having kaolin handy reassures me.It usually gives very fast relief from D. You take it immediately after a loose BM. It appears to be very safe. ------------------Phyllis


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## wanderingstar (Dec 1, 1999)

Is Kaopectate kaolin & morphine? I was thinking about trying a kaoling & morphine mixture and would like to hear others' experiences with it compared to imodium.susan


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

No morphine in Kaopectate. It is an over the counter medication. It's active ingredient is attapulgite, which looks like it's similar to Kaolin as they are both described by one site as being clay-like powders.Usually you've got to be in pretty dire circumstances before you can get a doctor to give you morphine for your diarrhea. There are some people with very severe diarrhea from inflamatory bowel diseases that I have heard of that they finally after nothing else worked were put on morphine, but I dunno how you'd get anyone to give it to you for IBS given the addiction potential and other side effects of heavy-duty narcotics.K.------------------I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html [This message has been edited by kmottus (edited 04-05-2001).]


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2001)

Thanks for the rsponses! Anyone else with some experiences with Kaopectate?


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## Sabrina (Mar 20, 2001)

I've just recently started taking Kaopectate and it works fast - I just keep a bottle in my purse or car. Ammod AD chewables are fast too but Kaopectate is faster for me.Sometimes I take both esp if I'm on a trip.but, I don't know how healthy it is to always be stopping diareha cause then you get constipated bad! - I hate this illness.and it is an illness. I spent an hour in the bathroom last night due to being on a trip this past weekend and taking all that diareha medicine, but you can't go out to eat with people and take a chance of spending an hour in the "ladies room" cramping to death, so I was taking all of it.


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## Phyllis McDonnell (Dec 15, 1998)

About kaolin and morphine: it's a lot stronger. My mother, who has had surgery for colon cancer, sometimes gets very severe and dehydrating diarrhoea, and has to have kaolin and morphine. You can buy that over the counter here.------------------Phyllis


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## Debbie Benning (Jan 25, 2001)

You must be young-(I'm jealous!) because Kao has been around forever! It just tastes sooooo gross to me that I can't even get it down. Even the smell of it makes me gag. Immodium was a godsend because it is in pill form. Does anyone know if Kao comes in pill form and would it work as fast as everyone seems to say? I couldn't imagine kao making me constipated! Nothing makes me constipated. Maybe three lotronex per day!!!


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2001)

Many years ago, when I had really, really bad D with severe cramping episodes, my doc told me to take Donnagel(P). At that time, it had paragoric in it and at the very first dose, it stopped the cramps and pain!







I might have a little D, but got fast relief. It also is attapulgite. Now it is like reg. Kao 'cause they took out the paragoric equivalent cause the druggies were buying it and downing it like water. I've never found anything that worked as good. You have to have a script now to get just plain paragoric and it's only good for about 6 months before it loses it's effectiveness. I didn't take it very often 'cause my episodes were only every few months or under a lot of stress and usually only lasted one night, thankfully. I wish I knew what the ratios were and I would make my own, but I know that it lasted longer than 6 months before you had to throw it out. I scrouged up all the bottles I could find when I found out it was going to be taken off the shelves, but they are all gone now. Immodium doesn't work nearly as well and does stop me up if I take it more than one day. Lomotil (concrete) does the same thing only worse. If anyone remembers it and has a formula for the mix, I'd love to see it!







Thx,DeDe


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