# regular use of imodium



## ajk (Aug 5, 2009)

hi, wld like to know hw regularly can imodium be used, thnks more abt hw i am managing /experimenting wiht my ibs:rt now Imodium seems to be the only thing thts wrking .... lomotil seemed good too but had the doctor suggesting imodiumover lomotil.IBS trouble began about 2yrs back.... tried several stuff like colospa (colofac) and fibre. Eliminated oil, wheat n milk from my diet for a short while but it didnt help. So concluded tht my IBS is stress triggered. rt now on colospa (colofac) , and 5 day course of microdox Dt (doxy) and racecadotril (which I guess is some antibacterials)Also prescribed amixide H (chlordiazepoxide and amtriptyline) which is to control my anxiety. take careajy


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Many of us IBS D'ers use it daily. You might also try Calcium Carbonate (see the "Linda's Calcium" thread thumbtacked to the top of the this forum page). Many folks have had success with it firming up their D.All the bestBQ


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

Immodium was the only thing that use to work for me to but my doctor but me on lomotil and Librium for anxiety and it has worked great way better then immodium. So my question is why did your doctor suggest immodium over lomotil?


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## Ridge Rider (Aug 21, 2009)

The Instructions on the box/package say's up to 4 tablets daily.I wouldn't exceed the recommended dosage.I am sure it is ok to use daily , if you have daily diarrhea. I wouldn't take it daily unless I had it though.I tried Calcium and it had no effect on me.I prefer the Imodium , it is very effective.


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## ajk (Aug 5, 2009)

Thanks BQ....will try the same


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## just_me (Aug 26, 2009)

Hi,I'm new here, been reading for a couple of days though.I've recently discovered that taking Imodium (loperamide) is actually OK long term, and I haven't been able to uncover any evidence from what I've read of any tolerance issues either, i.e. it does not appear to become less effective over time. I'm actually thinking about asking my doctor for some now on prescription as it's quite expensive to buy over the counter.Hope that helps!


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

Imodium plus caplets are very good and you can break them in half if you need too, where as the loperamide capsules cannot be broken and in my opinion do not work quite as well as the imodium plus caplets.If you live in the UK, you can get imodium plus caplets on prescription, my doctor prescribes them for me.


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## sandyg (Jun 15, 2009)

Hi,I have been read that Imodium is safe to use every day and many use is a as preventive. Before I was on lotronex, I would take a tablet each day in the morning to slow me down. I know many who wouldn't be able to live a "normal" life without it! Of course always run these things by your doctor also. Sandy


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

How is the Lotronex working for you?


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## sandyg (Jun 15, 2009)

Hi,Lotronex is working very well. I take .2 mg a day in the morning and it has stopped the urgency I would experience that would be very hindering to me. I could never schedule anything in the morning because I needed time to get it out of my system! I didn't have D as much as frequent and urgent BM. In the beginning I was a little C but now I'm on a "regular" type schedule again and very happy. I hope it's not a forever thing for me but for now it seems to be working fine without side effects. Sandy


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

So far that is how the lomotil is working for me. I have frequent urgent bowel movements and couldnt' go anywhere without knowing where the bathroom was. Now I take 2 lomotils right when I get up and librium for anxiety and it last all day and takes the urgency away. If this doesn't conitnue to work I will have a biopsy done on my colon lining and then try Lotronex. This is the next step my doctor said we would do.


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

What is Lomotil, can you get it in the uk. ?? is it like imodium. ??


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

It is similar to Imodiumhttp://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100001536.html has some UK info so I assume it can be gotten by prescription in the UK.It has an opiate derivative like Imodium so that stops the diarrhea. It gets into the brain and central nervous system more than Imodium so has a slight risk of addiction.It has an antispasmodic in it. Which can help with pain, but mostly it is in there because the dry mouth and that it causes is really annoying if you try to take enough Lomotil to get high. Basically it is in there as a buzz-kill more than it makes it more effective.That being said some people do better with Lomotil than Imodium but there isn't a good way to predict that ahead of time.


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## ajk (Aug 5, 2009)

Mrae....sorry for the delay in reply.... i am frankly not sure why my doctor suggested immodium over lomotil.... it just could be he wanted to changed the medicine...rt now my symptons are much better... tried some deep breathing exercise, pomegranates but then again cant single out the mail cause of improvement


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## FP13205 (Aug 30, 2009)

I just had an appointment with my gastroenterologist and asked him if it was safe to take Imodium every day and he said it was OK. The only problem he warned of was that eventually it will stop working as well. I have been taking Imodium and Pepto Bismol together when my IBS-D gets really bad and have seen no negative effects.


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## ISDExecutor71 (Aug 12, 2009)

I take 1 Lomotil tablet a day and take 1 to 2 EZ Chews of Imodium with it. Its my experience that imodium goes into the system faster, but Lomotil lasts a bit longer. Usually about 12 hours. I help supplement the Lomotil by taking an imodium when needed. Lomotil is decent but not nearly as good as Motofen was. I miss my Motofen.As far as imodium dosage goes, youd have to take a whole lot of it at once to mess yourself up. Stick to 1 to 2 tabs of it and add more if needed. Sometimes I'll take up to 5 or 6 of them in day if Im out and about.


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

I take 2 lomotils in the morning and it usually lasts me all day. Today however I ate dinner which was not a good choice for me and ended up having to take 2 immodium. That was my fault on the choices I made but the immodium worked great with the lomotil. I had never used them together before.


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## knothappy (Jul 31, 1999)

I also take Imodium and lonox (genericfor lomotil) and the last refill of lonox the pharmacist came out and said "you cannot take both of these meds on the same day" isaid I have been doing it for yrs and I am still here..he said hewas was going to conact my dr on this and now I think when i need to refill my dr will not give it to me.


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## ISDExecutor71 (Aug 12, 2009)

I was getting my Lomotil prescription filled and standing there with a box of Imodium and the pharmacy chick looks at me and says "Uhh, those are the same as these." I told her nicely that Ive been taking both of them for three years now and I havnt had any issues. She said "Oh well if youve been doing it, ok." Personally I dont think they are "the same thing". I dont think I could get through the day nearly as well just taking lomotil alone.


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## petra (Feb 2, 2009)

anyone know if we can access motofen in the UK?


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## ISDExecutor71 (Aug 12, 2009)

Not sure about the new upcoming release of it, but when I was able to get it, it was not available in the UK. I remember someone on here saying how much it sucked that they didnt have access to it. But with the re-release of the drug, who knows where it will become available.


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

What is motofen. ? is it like imodium. ? is it better than imodium. ?


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## caitylin16 (Oct 5, 2009)

I take immodium advanced...live in canada so it dont think extra strength is here. i would definitely love it! i take modulon but it makes me sick. i know most of my D is from anxiety from knowing that a bathroom is not near, like when i take walks downtown for lunch. i get nervous and then the D comes. immodium usually helps that a lot and listening to music. i'm going to ask my doctor about other options for drugs. last time i saw her she mentioned codiene and i will never take that. my mom is allergic and i have a feeling i would be to, also i dont want opiates in my system. anyone else have this anxiety D problem? i gets really bad before i have a basketball game or a test or i go out for lunch. i'm going of for a long walk/lunch in 10 minutes and i;nn getting my nervous D already. popped 2 imodiums for the road...any suggestions? how does lomotil work? and the other drugs? with keeping the D low and anything for the nervous/anxiety?help! im too young to be worried about the bathroom...


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

I have anxiety also ibs-d, i am so worried about being away from the toilet that it usualy brings on the D I take imodium plus caplets for the D and Mirtazapine and Buspar for the anxiety. Just getting uptight about anything new or appointments or being somewhere where a toilet is not near will upset the ibs-d.


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

Try lomotil it works great for the d. I also have major anxiety about where the bathroom is and now i take 2 lomotils in the morning and am good all day no worries. I also take Librium for my anxiety but would suggest giving the lomotil a shot. It has been extremely helpful.


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## knothappy (Jul 31, 1999)

my insurance will not pay for the brand name Lomotil>>>>just generic ####...lonox, diphen/atrop....they do not work as well


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

Idon't get the brand name either and they work great for me. Two pills each day is all it takes. I know everyone is different though.


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

What is the difference between Lomotil and imodium plus caplets, I live in the uk, dont know if we can get lomotil.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Lomotil is a different opium derivative than Imodium and has an antispasmodic added.Most of the antispasmodic is in there to make side effects if you try to take enough Lomotil to get high. It gets into the body a little bit more than Imodium so has a few added risks Imodium usually doesn't have with addiction. The dry mouth from the antispasmodic if you try to take more Lomotil than your doctor prescribed usually harshes the mellow enough most people don't do it more than once.Most of the UK drug information sites list it, so I assume it is available http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100001536.htmlWhich one works better just depends on the individual. Some doctors will only prescribe Lomotil for limited time frames because there is a bit more addiction potential and that is why it isn't over the counter.


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## AliceD (Sep 19, 2009)

A year ago my husband and I went on a trip to Paris, something we had dreamed of doing all our lives. My plan was to take Immodium every day after my morning "evacuation" and I thought that would get me through the week. It worked fine for the first few days, but as the week wore on the Immodium wore off. I had two disastrous accidents while sightseeing. Riding the metro back to the hotel after s***ing my pants in one of the museums--well, you can imagine my horror. The 14-hour plane trip home was no picnic. I didn't eat or drink anything at all the entire trip because I was in terror of yet another accident. This was to be a trip of a lifetime and we did have some wonderful memories, but it was tainted by my IBS misery. Even now I'm welling up telling about it.







I've never told anyone about this.


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

Alice, that is so awful. I do salute your courage in going forward with that trip; but I cannot even imagine dealing with this in a strange city in a foreign language. Have you tried Linda's Calcium? It might help you better handle your symptoms while you look for your underlying cause.Mark


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## AliceD (Sep 19, 2009)

Thanks. It's good to have a place to talk about these things with others who understand the suffering. I am taking Calcium Carbonate 600 twice per day, before breakfast and dinner. (I should probably take it at lunch as well, I'm just bad at remembering everything I need to bring with me to work!)


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

Yeah, buy a bottle and just leave it there. I think it is important to keep some of it passing through the colon any time food is going through there. You are so right about having a place to talk about this. I didn't for the 10 years I had it, which meant I turned on myself as the cause of all my problems--cigarettes and alchohol, mostly--and never realized how widespread it was. It also left me with no where to deal with the fear, which wasn't helpful at all.It is good to not have to worry about accidents; but it is even better to deal with the cause side of the equation. It's taken me 10 years to find out why I am better and to get to the mechanics of my problem. Don't stop looking and learning.Mark


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## Friday (Dec 9, 2008)

I take imodium every day (if I miss a couple of days the diarrhoea very quickly returns I hope not because my system is beginning to depend on it?) plus I take 20mg Imipramine (Tofranil) each night (an antidepressant that is meant to slow down the gut). Does anyone else take this combination? I find it quite good although I still get days where it doesn't work so well.I've taken imodium daily for 18 months now, has anyone else taken it for that long?


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## Ernie_ (Jun 17, 2009)

Friday said:


> I've taken imodium daily for 18 months now, has anyone else taken it for that long?


Yes, I have used imodium daily for 5 years now.


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

I use lomotil everyday for the last 4 months now and my doctor says its not harmful long term it works great. He also just put me on Librax for the anxiety and spasms so we will see how the combonation works. I was taking lomotil and librium. Immodium worked good for me but i find lomotil to work better.


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## tavalon (Oct 16, 2009)

Lomotil crosses the blood brain barrier and so carries a risk of addiction. It's okay if we suffer endlessly as long as we don't get addicted to a prescribed me. Let me reassure you that I'm being sarcastic and frustrated in this.


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## Friday (Dec 9, 2008)

Ernie, did your doc say it was ok to take it for that long? Mine seemed to think it was. I don't know why I won't believe them! It's just what I read, that people's systems get used to it after a while, and this worries me as it may not work for ever.How much do you take each day? I take a capsule (2mg) or sometimes 2 caps.


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## IBSD88 (Mar 23, 2009)

I have been taking immodium for the last decade or so and if i have a real problem its the only thing that helps though loperamide is useful for small flare ups it does nothing at all for a proper episode. my IBS has been getting worse and worse over the years and i need more and more to stop any problems as your body builds up an immunity.my doc has prescribed them for me in the past but when he found out how long i had been taking them he stopped (just last week there) apparently immodium are good for stopping the problems but as they do it they stop your body from doing something which it shoudl do naturally to regulate you and the reason it says not for regular use on the packet is because its slowly stops your body doing that job itself and you would have to rely on tablets to do it.i dont know if thats true but it would fit in with my ever worsening problems which a few people find on here, the trouble being that now my doc nolonger prescribes them I have nothing to use in the event of a bad flare up and if im going to buy them myself it A makes it very expensive and B possibly makes things worse after all.


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## petra (Feb 2, 2009)

IBSD88-your doc seems a bit harsh. Don't know what I would do if my doc stopped my imodium-I take 8 per day. Haven't tried to cut them down but have tried to substitute lomotil without much success and I am NEVER constipated. Just wondering if there is any truth in what your doc said. Has anyone else been told this. It does say on the leaflet (UK)no evidence of becoming tolerant to them.


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## jmc09 (Oct 5, 2009)

I tried Lomotil and they worked great for 2 days and stopped working after that,I felt great for those 2 days.Now I'm back to taking 4 Loperamide at a time 2 to 4 times a day.Have had Questran suggested,anybody tried that?


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## blondeoverblue24 (Oct 20, 2009)

I have never taken Questran myself, but depending on what type of diarrhea you have, it may work for you. Questran targets those with bile acid absorption problems in their colons - If you've been having more watery diarrhea, that may be you.One bit of advice on the Questran though, if you're taking birth control pills, it can render them inactive..


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## jmc09 (Oct 5, 2009)

Birth control pills are not an issue because of my gender!


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## blondeoverblue24 (Oct 20, 2009)

jmc09 said:


> Birth control pills are not an issue because of my gender!


Ha! Good to know...


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

I haven't taken Questran but I have taken Cholystermine which is for the same thing as Questran. It worked great but after about 2 weeks of taking it, it gave me really bad smelly gas so I had to stop taking it. It might work, I would give it a try. Right now I take Lomotil and it works great. I also take Librium but was switched to Librax but it doesn't seem to work as good to me or my body just isn't use to it yet.


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## blondeoverblue24 (Oct 20, 2009)

Questran and Cholestyramine are the same drug, just with different names. There are other drugs that fall under that class, including colestipol and wellchol...Not sure if those would give you the same gas issues or not, though.


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

I've tried the Colestipol well the generic in pill form and it didn't work for me but it didnt give me gas either.


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## jmc09 (Oct 5, 2009)

Questran/Colestyramine appears to be having no effect at all,neither good nor bad,after a few days.Back to the drawing board.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

You might need more than just "a few days" of a try. Stick with it for a bit.. give it a chance.. ya never know.


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## ziggy7 (Oct 24, 2009)

i used to have to take alot of imodium too but now my stomach is 99-100% healed i am like a normal person no gas what so ever anymore i posted about it in general chat herehttp://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=112669


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