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!