[petra]

Saw my GI (supposed IBS expert in UK) this week. Asked her again about loperamide and tolerance. I take 8-10 per day. She said that patients with short bowel sometimes take 12 tabs 4x daily so not to worry about tolerance issues and that it is a very good drug. I do worry but am just passing on what she said.

 

[degrassi]

I"ve never heard of of 12 tabs 4x/day but I used to need to take 8-10 tabs a day and my GI said that was fine. I took that dose for a few years without problems. Now I'm back down to 1-2tabs/day.

 

[petra]

thanks, Degrassi-but how did you manage to cut down?

 

[alabama231]

Gosh, that poor person taking 12 x 4 a day must have been constantly taking medication every second of the day!! I used to have to take 1-2 tabs a day, but I only take them now if I know I'm going somewhere new or if I'm nervous about a situation, I started drinking the probiotic yoghurts and they seem to have helped me alot!! I'm still a bit loose of a morning, but not as bad as I used to be! I must admit I was hesitant about taking Loperamide over the long term, but feel much more reassured after reading comments and posts about it on this board, so I am not as worried about tolerance to it as I used to be! Although it is a pain for me to get it on prescription! For whatever reason my GP refuses to put it on my repeat prescritpion form so I literally have to keep writing to the doctor when I run out!! Plus during my bad phases where I needed 2 tabs a day, I had a crisis cos I went home for the summer and my doctor at uni refused to prescribe 2 and a half months worth of loperamide and told me to buy it over the counter!! I tried to explain that I couldnt afford to spend £5 plus for 7 tablets every few days for a couple of months but they didnt seem to care!

 

[petra]

Hi Alabama-patients often need to take meds 4x daily so it is 6hrly not every minute of the day. 12 imodium is a lot but probably not appropriate for IBS. Short bowel is something very different. My GP is quite happy to prescribe 224 tabs at a time and I get it on repeat for a year. Chemists usually need to order it in for me. I would like to try something different or add something for when I need something extra. 4 tabs first thing in the morining won't stop my usual morning rush but then after that I'm usually ok to go. I think we are lagging behind the USA in terms of meds and would love to see us in the UK get access to somethning like lotronex. Instead we seem to focus more on access to public loos!