6 ms·

My local pharmacy (in Canada, not the above) has this too. I asked the pharmacist and got a shrug... people ask for the stuff so they stock it.

wollsmoth 4y ago
I wandered into a "Pharmacy" that was completely homeopathic. I had the runs and urgently needed some immodium or something. It was like a nightmare.
- shagie 4y ago
  Immodium is one of my "always have it stocked" things now. A few years ago, I had a bad case of the runs where Friday was "ok, that's uncomfortable" and Friday night was "this isn't good". Saturday was "I don't have enough energy to be able to safely drive a few blocks and back." I was able to call up a relative and they got some and dropped it off at my house. So that's always in my drug cabinet now so that I won't have that situation again. The chemistry part of it is neat: > It is an opioid with no significant absorption from the gut and does not cross the blood–brain barrier when used at normal doses. The "morphine giving you constipation" thing... this is the same, except that's all it does. I'll also note the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO_Model_List_of_Essential_Medicines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO_Model_List_of_Essential_Me... - its under "Medicines for other common symptoms in palliative care" as Loperamide.
  - 1-more 4y ago
    I've heard of people using it to manage withdrawals when kicking opioid/opiate addictions. Indeed it would at least help with the diarrhea symptom when withdrawing. No idea how well it works.
    - shagie 4y ago
      Thus the "normal doses" part. The "unapproved use" section gets into that - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loperamide#Off-label/unapproved_use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loperamide#Off-label/unapprove... > The primary intent of users has been to manage symptoms of opioid withdrawal such as diarrhea, although a small portion derive psychoactive effects at these higher doses. At these higher doses central nervous system penetration occurs and long term use may lead to tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal on abrupt cessation. Dubbing it "the poor man's methadone", clinicians warned that increased restrictions on the availability of prescription opioids passed in response to the opioid epidemic were prompting recreational users to turn to loperamide as an over-the-counter treatment for withdrawal symptoms.
      - 1-more 4y ago
        Oh man thanks, I had no idea that that had made its way into studies/academia/that kind of thing. Yeah no matter what withdrawals mean you're gonna end up paying painfully whether its all at once or on the installment plan.
  - iudqnolq 4y ago
    You almost certainly know this, but I feel compelled to add that Immodium does have downsides. The most intuitive is prolonged use can stop all waste leaving your system for a while. As you can imagine, when the system finally starts going again it's initially uncomfortable, and can also be long-term damaging.
    - wollsmoth 4y ago
      Yeah I think it probably has some kind of warning on the box. I keep it around. Once in a blue moon something I eat hits me wrong. I don't really want to go out and find a pharmacy in that state.
  - mrguyorama 4y ago
    "palliative care" by the WHO is underselling it. In countries that struggle with basic sanitation, being able to prevent someone from literally shitting themselves to death with dysentery and other diseases that specifically suck the water out of your body into your intestines, it's downright lifesaving. "Shitting yourself to death" was a regular concern for average people for most of human history.
mc32 4y ago
At Whole Foods, I cannot buy a freaking Aspirin! What in actual hell? The remedies section is mostly bullshit plus some actual vitamins.
- sbf501 4y ago
  I thought supplements were treated different than, you know, actual medicine. That's probably why. But I've wondered that myself, too.
  - mc32 4y ago
    What I don't understand is that on the one hand they want to sell their customers wholesome foods --on the other hand-- they sell charlataney stuff, products of dubious efficacy. If freaking 7-11 stores can sell me Aspirin tablets, I don't see how Whole Foods can't.
    - ehvatum 4y ago
      There’s an unfortunate crossover between people who want whole food and people who follow Gwyneth Paltrow, believe in Sedona vortex fruit cocktail crystal magnet medicinal woo, and have had their catalytic converter stolen 7 times for reasons they could never possibly comprehend.
      - fragmede 4y ago
        What, pray tell, does having your catalytic convertor stolen have to do with believing in Goop? Last time I heard of one being stolen, the thieves didn’t bother to do an interview.
        skyde 4y ago
        driving a prius ?
        testfrequency 4y ago
whoopdedo 4y ago
The customer is always right, or so they say. But it's the manufacturer who decides to package it in the same shape and color as popular FDA-approved medicines. And it's the retailer who decides to intermingle the different types of product on the same shelf. Practices which are sure to result in someone who intends to buy a familiar medicine to instead pick up the imitation and not realize they're getting something completely different.
- jupp0r 4y ago
  It's also governments who choose to allow this to be legally done. Nobody allows homeopathic gas stations that look like the real ones.
  - voxic11 4y ago
    They don't look like "real" medications though because they are clearly labeled with "This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease." We allow gas stations to have diesel pumps right next to gasoline ones. We just require that they be labeled appropriately and its expected that people read the label and not make assumptions based off proximity.
    - nobleach 4y ago
      Yes, but is there also a pump with Purple Koolaid - that can't be used to fuel any known vehicle - right next to both of those pumps?
      - mikkergp 4y ago
        If they thought they could sell it, I'm sure there would be.
    - s0rce 4y ago
      The packaging looks super similar to real medicine to me (see: oscillococcinum). The gas pump analogy would be a pump selling <85 octane or even water instead of gas right beside the 87+ octane people want.
jupp0r 4y ago
Blaming the pharmacy is a little disingenuous. Consumers should be able to buy medication without the same shelf being sprinkled with fraudulent placebos. This is something that needs to be regulated with warning labels or similar.
- smsm42 4y ago
  I think the pharmacy has part of the blame. They know which of the products are homeopathic. To mix them with other medicine or to put them separately is their choice. They can do better, they just don't care enough to invest the minimal effort.
  - jupp0r 4y ago
    To some degree yes. On the other hand, they'll optimize profit within the bounds of regulation, that's kind of their job. I wouldn't be surprised if margins on homeopathics were higher than margins on effective meds.
- mikkergp 4y ago
  I mean, most if not all homeopathic remedies label themselves as homeopathic.
  - treis 4y ago
    Yes, but they don't include that homeopathic remedies are fake medicine and not everyone will necessarily know that.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - mikkergp 4y ago
      Sadly, I don't think that will change any opinions, particularly of people suspicious of "the man". May ironically make it worse.
smsm42 4y ago
It would be easy to reconcile it - just have a separate shelf clearly marked "Homeopathic remedies" and people who asked for it would have the easiest time finding it, while people asking for the real thing would not be confused. The fact that it doesn't happen suggests that either they don't care - or they have some interest in maintaining the confusion.

wollsmoth 4y ago

I wandered into a "Pharmacy" that was completely homeopathic. I had the runs and urgently needed some immodium or something. It was like a nightmare.

shagie 4y ago
Immodium is one of my "always have it stocked" things now. A few years ago, I had a bad case of the runs where Friday was "ok, that's uncomfortable" and Friday night was "this isn't good". Saturday was "I don't have enough energy to be able to safely drive a few blocks and back." I was able to call up a relative and they got some and dropped it off at my house. So that's always in my drug cabinet now so that I won't have that situation again. The chemistry part of it is neat: > It is an opioid with no significant absorption from the gut and does not cross the blood–brain barrier when used at normal doses. The "morphine giving you constipation" thing... this is the same, except that's all it does. I'll also note the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO_Model_List_of_Essential_Medicines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO_Model_List_of_Essential_Me... - its under "Medicines for other common symptoms in palliative care" as Loperamide.
- 1-more 4y ago
  I've heard of people using it to manage withdrawals when kicking opioid/opiate addictions. Indeed it would at least help with the diarrhea symptom when withdrawing. No idea how well it works.
  - shagie 4y ago
    Thus the "normal doses" part. The "unapproved use" section gets into that - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loperamide#Off-label/unapproved_use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loperamide#Off-label/unapprove... > The primary intent of users has been to manage symptoms of opioid withdrawal such as diarrhea, although a small portion derive psychoactive effects at these higher doses. At these higher doses central nervous system penetration occurs and long term use may lead to tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal on abrupt cessation. Dubbing it "the poor man's methadone", clinicians warned that increased restrictions on the availability of prescription opioids passed in response to the opioid epidemic were prompting recreational users to turn to loperamide as an over-the-counter treatment for withdrawal symptoms.
    - 1-more 4y ago
      Oh man thanks, I had no idea that that had made its way into studies/academia/that kind of thing. Yeah no matter what withdrawals mean you're gonna end up paying painfully whether its all at once or on the installment plan.
- iudqnolq 4y ago
  You almost certainly know this, but I feel compelled to add that Immodium does have downsides. The most intuitive is prolonged use can stop all waste leaving your system for a while. As you can imagine, when the system finally starts going again it's initially uncomfortable, and can also be long-term damaging.
  - wollsmoth 4y ago
    Yeah I think it probably has some kind of warning on the box. I keep it around. Once in a blue moon something I eat hits me wrong. I don't really want to go out and find a pharmacy in that state.
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  "palliative care" by the WHO is underselling it. In countries that struggle with basic sanitation, being able to prevent someone from literally shitting themselves to death with dysentery and other diseases that specifically suck the water out of your body into your intestines, it's downright lifesaving. "Shitting yourself to death" was a regular concern for average people for most of human history.

mc32 4y ago

At Whole Foods, I cannot buy a freaking Aspirin! What in actual hell? The remedies section is mostly bullshit plus some actual vitamins.

sbf501 4y ago
I thought supplements were treated different than, you know, actual medicine. That's probably why. But I've wondered that myself, too.
- mc32 4y ago
  What I don't understand is that on the one hand they want to sell their customers wholesome foods --on the other hand-- they sell charlataney stuff, products of dubious efficacy. If freaking 7-11 stores can sell me Aspirin tablets, I don't see how Whole Foods can't.
  - ehvatum 4y ago
    There’s an unfortunate crossover between people who want whole food and people who follow Gwyneth Paltrow, believe in Sedona vortex fruit cocktail crystal magnet medicinal woo, and have had their catalytic converter stolen 7 times for reasons they could never possibly comprehend.
    - fragmede 4y ago
      What, pray tell, does having your catalytic convertor stolen have to do with believing in Goop? Last time I heard of one being stolen, the thieves didn’t bother to do an interview.
      - skyde 4y ago
        driving a prius ?
        testfrequency 4y ago

whoopdedo 4y ago

The customer is always right, or so they say. But it's the manufacturer who decides to package it in the same shape and color as popular FDA-approved medicines. And it's the retailer who decides to intermingle the different types of product on the same shelf. Practices which are sure to result in someone who intends to buy a familiar medicine to instead pick up the imitation and not realize they're getting something completely different.

jupp0r 4y ago
It's also governments who choose to allow this to be legally done. Nobody allows homeopathic gas stations that look like the real ones.
- voxic11 4y ago
  They don't look like "real" medications though because they are clearly labeled with "This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease." We allow gas stations to have diesel pumps right next to gasoline ones. We just require that they be labeled appropriately and its expected that people read the label and not make assumptions based off proximity.
  - nobleach 4y ago
    Yes, but is there also a pump with Purple Koolaid - that can't be used to fuel any known vehicle - right next to both of those pumps?
    - mikkergp 4y ago
      If they thought they could sell it, I'm sure there would be.
  - s0rce 4y ago
    The packaging looks super similar to real medicine to me (see: oscillococcinum). The gas pump analogy would be a pump selling <85 octane or even water instead of gas right beside the 87+ octane people want.

jupp0r 4y ago

Blaming the pharmacy is a little disingenuous. Consumers should be able to buy medication without the same shelf being sprinkled with fraudulent placebos. This is something that needs to be regulated with warning labels or similar.

smsm42 4y ago
I think the pharmacy has part of the blame. They know which of the products are homeopathic. To mix them with other medicine or to put them separately is their choice. They can do better, they just don't care enough to invest the minimal effort.
- jupp0r 4y ago
  To some degree yes. On the other hand, they'll optimize profit within the bounds of regulation, that's kind of their job. I wouldn't be surprised if margins on homeopathics were higher than margins on effective meds.
mikkergp 4y ago
I mean, most if not all homeopathic remedies label themselves as homeopathic.
- treis 4y ago
  Yes, but they don't include that homeopathic remedies are fake medicine and not everyone will necessarily know that.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - mikkergp 4y ago
    Sadly, I don't think that will change any opinions, particularly of people suspicious of "the man". May ironically make it worse.

smsm42 4y ago

It would be easy to reconcile it - just have a separate shelf clearly marked "Homeopathic remedies" and people who asked for it would have the easiest time finding it, while people asking for the real thing would not be confused. The fact that it doesn't happen suggests that either they don't care - or they have some interest in maintaining the confusion.