4 ms·

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.

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.