The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH) state the Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and many others.
Approximately 10.3 million people aged 12 or older in 2018 misused opioids in the past year. This number of past-year opioid misusers corresponds to 3.7 percent of the population, according to The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Many people who abuse painkillers usually become addicted to them. Some of those people may move on to abusing harder illegal drugs such as heroin because it’s cheaper than prescription drugs.
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Is Imodium effective for opioid withdrawal?
Imodium (loperamide) can help alleviate certain symptoms of opioid withdrawal, but it is not a comprehensive treatment. Here’s how it works and its limitations:
How Imodium Helps:
- Diarrhea Relief: Loperamide is an anti-diarrheal medication that helps reduce diarrhea, which is a common symptom of opioid withdrawal.
- Digestive Comfort: It can help manage abdominal cramping and discomfort associated with withdrawal.
Limitations:
- Limited Scope: Imodium only addresses gastrointestinal symptoms and does not alleviate other withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, muscle pain, insomnia, or cravings.
- Potential for Misuse: Some people may misuse loperamide in high doses in an attempt to self-treat withdrawal or achieve opioid-like effects, which can lead to serious health risks, including heart problems.
- Not a Substitute for Comprehensive Treatment: While it can provide some symptom relief, Imodium is not a substitute for medically supervised detoxification and treatment.
Considerations:
- Medical Supervision: It’s important to use loperamide under medical guidance to avoid potential misuse and complications.
- Part of a Treatment Plan: Imodium should be used as part of a broader opioid withdrawal management plan, which may include other medications and supportive therapies.
Imodium can help manage diarrhea during opioid withdrawal but should be used cautiously and as part of a comprehensive treatment approach.
Is Opioid Abuse Leading to a Decline in Your Life?
Those who become addicted to drugs, such as opioids, most likely always decline one’s general quality of life as an effect. Some of the consequences include loss of interest in hobbies, loss of friends or connect with family, late work or loss of a job, deterioration of health, isolation, and many more. One may even think of quitting drugs altogether, turning their life around, because of these consequences but cannot because of the fear of withdrawal.
When one stops taking opioids, the drug quickly leaves the body. Without the drug that the body is used to getting, it goes into withdrawal. Opioid withdrawal symptoms usually start not too long after the drug was last ingested; the timeline depends on the method of use. Opioid withdrawal symptoms include, but are not limited to, body aches and pains, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, trouble sleeping, and more. Over time the symptoms will end, but most individuals don’t go through this “cold turkey” without some form of medicinal help or without giving up and relapsing and returning to using opioids.
Going through opioid withdrawals is not life-threatening, even though it may feel like it. It is very uncomfortable, and it is not recommended to go through it alone without medical attention. A healthcare professional can help guide you through the withdrawals with medicine, such as methadone or buprenorphine, that will slowly wean one off the opioids.
Using Imodium for Opioid Detox
Although not recommended and usually not successful, some try to detox themselves at home with home remedies one may find online. This can be very dangerous, depending on what is instructed to take for the withdrawal symptoms and the dosage.
One of the home remedies that is often used is anti-diarrheal medication, such as Imodium. Imodium is an over-the-counter medication that prevents one from having diarrhea. While it’s technically an opioid, Imodium (loperamide) does not cross the blood-brain barrier to create an opioid-based high. However, many people assume it will act as a detox medication that can help with many common withdrawal pains, but this is not true. Imodium only treats diarrhea because it doesn’t cross the blood-brain barrier at regular doses, so there is no high experienced.
Because of these misconstrued concepts of Imodium helping with opioid withdrawal, there is a possibility for overdoses when taken more than severe directed symptoms can occur, including urinary retention, liver damage, and something called paralytic, ileus a stoppage of the intestine.
Conclusion About Imodium for Opioid Withdrawal
So does Imodium work for Opioid withdrawal? No, not effectively, so you should never self-medicate and always have a medical professional around if such symptoms arise, and that is where Allure Detox comes in. We detox patients on a medical basis, which allows us to give patients more than safety, and our medically supervised opioid detox will help ease your painful withdrawal symptoms.
Our detox programs use Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT) to detox patients from opiates. And if need be, we administer MAT’s to help patients maintain long-term recovery. Sometimes, additional help is required, but these prescription drugs give every addict a chance for permanent recovery. Please call us today if your family is suffering from opiate addiction.
Published on: 2019-10-09
Updated on: 2024-09-23
