An increasing number of people addicted to oxycodone and other opioids are now turning to widely available over-the-counter anti-diarrhea medications to ease their withdrawal symptoms or to get high.
The drug, loperamide, is commonly sold under the brand-name Imodium, reports NPR. In a study published in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine, researchers pointed out that the “Imodium high” has been trending on Google Trends since 2010.
The reported seven-fold uptick in the number of calls to poison control centers between 2011 and 2015 coincides with the related abuse of the drug. “Because of its low cost, ease of accessibility and legal status, it’s a drug that is very, very ripe for abuse,” says lead author William Eggleston of the Upstate New York Poison Center.
In a press release, Eggleston added that people looking to self-treat withdrawal symptoms or just gain that euphoric high are overdosing with fatal results. Imodium, and its active ingredient, loperamide is a safe and effective medication for the treatment of diarrhea at the recommended dosage, but it is lethal at high doses.
Again, the recently enacted legislation and new regulations have limited the source of prescription opioids, causing opioid addicts to seek alternative sources for their addiction. Two cases are discussed in the study, both involving opioid addicts who were being treated for their withdrawal symptoms with approved medications.
In both cases, the patients opted to self-treat using Imodium. In the first case, the patient was found unresponsive in his home with six empty loperamide boxes nearby. Needless to say, both patients died, according to the study. It was determined that in an overdose setting, loperamide causes significant central nervous system and respiratory depression, cardiac dysrhythmias, and death.
Eggleston and his colleagues agree that it is time to regulate the sale of loperamide, the same way we do pseudoephedrine — available without a prescription, but only in limited doses and dispensed by pharmacies. They also say “massive” doses of Imodium for a legal high is “as dumb and dangerous as it sounds.”
The case study was published in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine, and is titled: Loperamide Abuse Associated With Cardiac Dysrhythmia and Death.