# Fast acting loperamide (Imodium)



## Siea (Jun 21, 2010)

I heard people mention there are fast acting loperamide (imodium).I have tried google but cannot find info about this. It is really troublesome having to get up 4 hours before taking a morning trip just to let the imodium have effect (taking at the evening doesn't work for me).Anyone know what name this fast acting imodium got?


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## IBSD88 (Mar 23, 2009)

I dont know about fast acting immodium but it shouldnt take 4 hours.Immodium instants are ones that disolve on your tongue so you dont need a drink and thats what you might be thinking of when you hear fast acting immodiums. they are advertised to take an hour to act but like all anti-d's it depends on how bad your D is will depend on the time it takes and the amount you need.If it does take a long time to get results with loperamide try takings more than the recomended amount, if I have minor problems I take 3 loperamide to start with and 2 each time I think i need to take more rather than 2 at the start and 1 extra. if its less minor I like immodium plus they help me more than loperimide or normal immodiums and I take 2 to start and 2 every extra time. and if its really bad D then I go for Lomotil as its more effective (for me at least) but I only take it when D is very bad or it can sometimes block me up for a few days afterwards. though that could be because I have nothing left by the time I take them


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

I take imodium WITH meals. So I use it preventatively. Maybe you could try that?


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## Siea (Jun 21, 2010)

BQ said:


> I take imodium WITH meals. So I use it preventatively. Maybe you could try that?


I used to do that. I took half a pill each morning and after lunch my stomach was fine until next morning (mornings are always bad even if I eat the evening before).But then after a while I had to take a dump in the afternoon also. Therefor I stopped taking imodium regulary in fear that I build a tolerance towards it.I desperatly need the imodium to work when I go on vacation and on other important stuff.But I still do as you say on vacation and when I'm in a situation I am not familiar with.


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## anonymous313 (Jul 6, 2010)

I bought these quick dissolving (caplets I think?) they are the liquid gel caps instead of the starch regular pills. They also seemed to burn going down....wasn't so much fun feeling that...I also strongly preferred the Immodium with gas relief because it felt like it helped not give me the bloated feeling from taking them, sometimes I got that with just plain Immodium. I have not seen capsules that dissolve (I just haven't seen them) but the fast acting are there.I have also noticed that no matter how long the drug is "supposed" to take to work, sometimes it can take longer, especially if my D is really bad. Certain ones obviously have been better but playing with the different ones and amount might help you a bit. Although again, certain days, I just can't seem to dose it perfectly still....And I tried taking Immodium with meals, it gave me a lot more stomach pains than when I would just take it in the morning after my first and main BM.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Anon the stomach pain you mention is a common complaint with Imodium. Try using an anti-gas product (like simethicone) WITH the imodium and see if that helps.Siea, The fact that your BM's changed a bit could have nothing at all to do with the imodium.There is absolutely NO research that supports the statement that 'one can build up a tolerance' to it.All the best


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## clareuk (Feb 7, 2006)

When things were really bad for me I also found that it took 3/4 hours for immodiums to kick in properly and I did try taking them the night before but they didn't seem work at all then. Unfortunately for me the best method was having to get up really early everyday and take my tablets then and allow time for them to work. Even when taking them everyday, the mornings were always the same. I did try taking them with meals but that also didn't work for me.


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## IBSD88 (Mar 23, 2009)

when you say they take so long to kick in how long do you wait before you take an extra dose?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

If you can predict the diarrhea taking Imodium before it starts can sometimes help. Kinda like if you have allergies you take the antihistamines before you go to a house with cats as you get better control that way than waiting until you are sneezing like crazy before taking anything.so 20-30 minutes before a meal sometimes works better than with the meal, or after the post meal diarrhea starts. Some people get better control on a schedule, so every 12 hours not just the night before then see how bad morning gets before taking it again, but taking it at the usual first thing in the morning time and then 12 hours later. You might need every 8 hours or every 6 (depending on how bad the diarrhea is and how much you need to keep the levels steady).Sometimes if you try to play catch up after the diarrhea hits it will never be able to "get out ahead of it". Unfortunately some people have unpredictable problems and can't really take it ahead of the diarrhea attack.


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## Siea (Jun 21, 2010)

Claireuk said:


> When things were really bad for me I also found that it took 3/4 hours for immodiums to kick in properly and I did try taking them the night before but they didn't seem work at all then. Unfortunately for me the best method was having to get up really early everyday and take my tablets then and allow time for them to work. Even when taking them everyday, the mornings were always the same. I did try taking them with meals but that also didn't work for me.


We seem to be similar (looking at your sig).I had first about 3 controllable years but now I am on my second bad severe year.Have you found anything which works or help you in any way?


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## Siea (Jun 21, 2010)

IBSD88 said:


> when you say they take so long to kick in how long do you wait before you take an extra dose?


I take only one dose. If I take it in the morning after breakfast (this gives me the best result) my stomach is usually fine the whole day from lunch and forward.So taking another dose wouldn't be of much use to me I think, since my stomach is actually fine after lunch (with 1 imodium for breakfast).


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## IBSD88 (Mar 23, 2009)

If you only take 1 dose then it most likely would take a while as you will need to wait to get any uneffected bits out your system, if that provides you the best results then keep with that. If you need faster results take an extra dose if the original dose doesn't produce the needed results, I usually would take an extra dose within every 20 min until it stops which is a short time scale but the packet says if you have further D to take an extra tablet and I usually dont have the time or will power to suffer for longer.


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## clareuk (Feb 7, 2006)

Siea said:


> We seem to be similar (looking at your sig).I had first about 3 controllable years but now I am on my second bad severe year.Have you found anything which works or help you in any way?


Hi,I found taking the immodiums everyday really helped a lot. It seemed to get things into more of a routine for me and sometimes if things were taking a long time to block up, or still bad later on in the day, I took another tablet. I never got constipated because I still had diarrhea every morning without fail but taking them everday made things much more managable than taking them in and out. The other thing that made the biggest difference to me (not sure whether you are male or female) is that I read an article about the contraceptive pill and ibs on the internet. So I stopped taking it. I had tried so many things and I thought I'd give it a go. This made such a huge difference to me within a week I could see a difference. It has reduced the diarrhea by I would say 80% with me. I still get problems but I'm also getting weeks without now. I had it everyday for years. With some people it makes things better I believe but it definitely made things much much worse for me.


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## Siea (Jun 21, 2010)

Claireuk said:


> Hi,I found taking the immodiums everyday really helped a lot. It seemed to get things into more of a routine for me and sometimes if things were taking a long time to block up, or still bad later on in the day, I took another tablet. I never got constipated because I still had diarrhea every morning without fail but taking them everday made things much more managable than taking them in and out. The other thing that made the biggest difference to me (not sure whether you are male or female) is that I read an article about the contraceptive pill and ibs on the internet. So I stopped taking it. I had tried so many things and I thought I'd give it a go. This made such a huge difference to me within a week I could see a difference. It has reduced the diarrhea by I would say 80% with me. I still get problems but I'm also getting weeks without now. I had it everyday for years. With some people it makes things better I believe but it definitely made things much much worse for me.


I'm a male so no contraceptive pills for me.Currently trying calcium and it was a good improvement at first but the effect is lesser each day. But still an improvement after 2 weeks. You should try it if you havn't already read the stickied thread in this forum.My next step is to try probiotics. And if no wonder cure I guess I go back to imodium once university starts again.Have you noticed that you built any tolereance towards imodium so that you had to take more and more or did the same dosage work for a long time?


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## Chelzii (Jul 6, 2010)

I don't know about anything fast acting sorry, I wish I did!How do you know how much to take as a preventative? Is it just trial and error?


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## clareuk (Feb 7, 2006)

Siea said:


> I'm a male so no contraceptive pills for me.Currently trying calcium and it was a good improvement at first but the effect is lesser each day. But still an improvement after 2 weeks. You should try it if you havn't already read the stickied thread in this forum.My next step is to try probiotics. And if no wonder cure I guess I go back to imodium once university starts again.Have you noticed that you built any tolereance towards imodium so that you had to take more and more or did the same dosage work for a long time?


I did try the calcium and cutting out lots of different types of food but for me nothing seemed to work. I know stress definitely worsens everything for me. I always had problems around exams when I was a kid but nothing like it turned into. I didn't find any problems with taking the immodiums everyday although I was a bit worried about what would happen if I got used to them.. However I didn't really have much choice in the end and it was either that or not go out at all. I had to keep my job and it just wouldn't stop without them. Things are much better now so I'm only taking one tablet a day at the moment and when things play up again I'll up the dose. I used to take 2 as soon as I got out of bed (I tried taking them and then going back to sleep for a couple of hours, but that didn't work either much to my dismay) They only worked if I was out of bed and walking around. If things were very bad and watery first thing then about an hour later I would take another one. I played it by ear. If things didn't get better in the afternoon I would take another one.To start with I would take one in and out when I was having a problem and not all the time but then things were worse the following day, pain, wind diarrhea etc.. so taking them everyday stopped that problem. For me it really helped things, I still had the mornings to deal with everyday but it kept it the same everyday and tapered off so I could just about make work on time. There are so many thing that can cause diarrhea but perhaps if you are taking any medications it might be worth a look at the side effects. I never even thought that a pill could do that and it never crossed my mind, so might be worth a look?Hope that helps.


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## Blondie1988 (Jul 12, 2010)

The fast acting immodium is immodium instants. They work great for me and they really do work fast - about 20mins to half an hour for me. Sometimes though when my diarrhea is really bad it will take longer and I will need to take more than two tablets. Immodium instants do leave a horrible taste in your mouth though...


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Yes Chelzii, Most of symptom management is trial & error since we are all different.


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## Siea (Jun 21, 2010)

Blondie1988 said:


> The fast acting immodium is immodium instants. They work great for me and they really do work fast - about 20mins to half an hour for me. Sometimes though when my diarrhea is really bad it will take longer and I will need to take more than two tablets. Immodium instants do leave a horrible taste in your mouth though...


How long does it take for one ordinary imodium to work for you?Just to get an idea of the difference


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## jmc09 (Oct 5, 2009)

BQ said:


> There is absolutely NO research that supports the statement that 'one can build up a tolerance' to it.All the best


Not wanting to dispute your comment on no research but I have built up a tolerance to it.It still works but from 2 a day to 12 a day without any change in overall symptoms seems to indicate a tolerance based on my own experiences.This same tolerance I built with both Codeine and Sulphasalazine happens with Imodium too.I may be an exception but I believe a tolerance can be built up.


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## Lizzie87 (Jul 12, 2010)

The immodium chews are pretty fast acting. They arent as good as the immodium multi-symptom relief though. I have seen immodium liquid too, that is probably fast acting too - never tried it though.


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## Blondie1988 (Jul 12, 2010)

Siea said:


> How long does it take for one ordinary imodium to work for you?Just to get an idea of the difference


I sometimes get the cheaper ones (the supermarkets own brand) and these are just the same as Immodium but cheaper. You should give these a shot? Anyway, the normal tablets usually take anywhere between 1-3 hours for me. It depends how bad the D is. This morning I took some as I had very bad D, and they took around 1.5 hours to work. I was told that you shouldn't take fast acting ones unless you really need to, as they aren't really that good for your stomach if you take these regularly.Recently my D has been very bad. Every meal I eat I will get really bad pain and have to go to the toilet at least twice afterwards, and that's when taking Mintec peppermint capsules (although not sure they are doing anything to help to be honest). I guess my body just reacts very well to loperamide - also once I have taken it, it will usually last me the full day, sometimes even two days until I am back to the D again. Sometimes though I do need to take more than the initial two tablets.


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