[Contemplation]

I'm taking Lomotil when I have D attacks but I wonder if I should take Imodium instead? Which one is more powerful against diarrhea? Also I don't want to see the doc to get a prescription for Lomodil, I can buy Imodium without a prescription.

 

[Kathleen M.]

It varies.Some people find one more effective for them than the other. I think technically Imodium on a per milligram basis is a bit more potent, but I'm not sure about a per tablet basis as I don't know the milligrams per tablet off the top of my head.But that is an "on average" basis and any given human may find one works better for them than the other, and I have no way to predict for you what will happen.Imodium is over the counter because people really don't abuse it, and Lomotil has a small potential for addiction. To counter using Lomotil to get high they do have an antispasmodic added to it (which may be why some people do better on it as they respond to antispasmodics, but not all IBSers do). Antispasmodics like the add to Lomotil (and you can find in Bentyl and Levsin but those are also both prescription only in the USA) can cause dry mouth and reduced sweating so you may need to be more careful in the heat if you take Lomotil than if you take Imodium. With Lomotil the antispasmodic side effects are annoying enough that usually limits how many of them people can take at one time. Imodium may be better if you sometimes need more than others as you don't have to worry about the antispasmodic dose.Peppermint is an over the counter antispasmodic some use so if you seem to need that and you won't or can't get a prescription for a separate antispasmodic that is an option. Some people also like the Imodium Advanced which combines simethicone (which can break up larger gas bubbles to smaller ones) with the Imodium and find that combination works well for them.

 

[Contemplation]

Hey, thanks for the reply again. I see you're posting almost under every topic here, you are truly a very helpful and optimist person, God bless you. What do you mean by addiction? You mean if I keep taking Lomotil I will have worse diarrhea than usual when I stop taking it? I don't see how this drug can get you high it doesn't seem to give any pleasure.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Lomotil and Imodium are derived from the opiates.All narcotics are constipating and basically these drugs isolate that side effect and stay mostly in the intestines rather than getting into the central nervous system.Some Lomotil gets into the central nervous system and very little of the Imodium dose, and some people can get some high and dependence off of it. Most people don't, but some do. So some doctors will enforce drug holidays and the atropine is in there to be a buzz-kill so people are less likely to try to abuse it. There are a few case reports of opiate addicts being able to get enough Imodium to get a buzz, but that takes a lot more effort than with Lomotil. I think with both at prescribed doses without a tendency to opiate abuse most people are fine with either. I don't know the "get high" dose for Lomotil but for Imodium it is something like 160 pills at a time (and that was in an opiate addict who also was put on methadone to transition them off the Imodium and anything else they were doing at the time).Some people can get some bounce back diarrhea from either med. Especially if they get a bit higher dose then they really need and get a bit backed up.The reason Lomotil is prescription and Imodium is not is that a bit more Lomotil gets into the CNS and so people can abuse it more than Imodium.I don't know if they are like narcotics for pain, but usually with those the more you need them medically the less high you get from them. A friend of mine needed demerol for migraines and didn't understand why people thought she would be having a good time on it, until she had all the warning of it about to start but the pain didn't hit (ocular migraine).