Opioids Big and Dandy Loperamide Adddiction Thread

[Awareness2014]

I was kind of wondering if the lope had something to do with the colitis. I still haven't gotten over the diarrhea from the withdrawal maybe the colitis is extending that? I felt like a baby for going to the er until my wife told me that she has people end up on her service because they demanded to be admitted for pain control for colitis.mine was nowhere near that bad . The excel spreadsheet is a great idea wish I would have thought of it. I slept last night with no sleeping pills of any kind. It was broken sleep but I did sleep all night. I keep meaning to write down my timeline of symptoms for anyone else who is searching for info on loperamide withdrawal. There is not an abundance of info on the matter

My boyfriend was taking about 100 pills a day & is trying cold turkey to quit. After 2-3 weeks of hell I had him take an iron supplement (iron can cause constipation) and he felt better later that day. After 2 days his diarrhea was almost gone. Be careful of taking too much iron too but iron deficiency is part of the withdrawal I believe.

 

[Awareness2014]

I just wanted to share my experience with loperamide. I began taking 10-30 pills a day 2-3 days a week, every other week or so in November to combat withdrawals from on/off (more on) use of stims and opiates for about a year. In December, I pretty much stopped and returned to my pills of choice. Then, in January, I stopped taking all other pills, and ramped up the lope by mid January to around 50-60 pills daily. By early March I was taking 70-90 pills a day. Finally, for about a 4 week time span from mid March to mid April, it progressively increased to ranges of 120-150 pills a day (PILLS, not MG!!!). The moment that finally woke me up was when I took 160 pills one day and 170 pills the next. I had such severe double vision, I was having difficulty driving and I hadn't had a menstrual cycle in over 3 months. I read articles about massive doses of loperamide having a possible link to Parkinson's like symptoms in animals and read a blog about a woman struggling to get off lope (http://madmargaret.wordpress.com/20...e-withdrawal-tips-on-surviving-the-addiction/) that took massive doses over a period of time and ended up in cardiac arrest, which her doctors believe may be correlated to massive doses of lope affecting conduction in the heart. ***I tried to find my original sources so I could link to the articles, but am having a hard time finding them. There is not much research available I suspect because loperamide was never intended to be taken in massive doses and few worried about abuse because of the erroneous belief that it cannot cross the blood-brain barrier.*** Never the less, I was terrified. I looked at my babies and realized that while the lope had allowed me to end a 1.5 year period of abusing pills to function, it was time to learn to function again without any chemical crutch.
I did a rapid taper from 140 pills a day to 60 pills a day over the next 2 weeks. By the end of May, I was down to 40-50 pills a day and today am averaging 20 pills a day. I have had slip ups, especially now that I am so close. Over the last 10 days, I have had one day of 40 pills, one of 100 pills and one of 60 pills. My worst issue initially was anxiety and depression, as the fog cleared and I realized how many horrible decisions I made while at the depths of my addiction. I think the high dose lope dulled all of that. It didn't make me feel "high" in the way that hydrocodone or oxycodone would, but it would give me this kind of warmth all over/energy/"everything is ok" type feeling. At this point, the worst symptoms I am dealing with are extreme cold sweats, usually about 20 hours after the previous dose, restlessness, significant lack of energy and difficulty sleeping. However, I started exercising again about a month ago and taking several supplements:
Fish Oil (am and pm)
Magnesium (am and pm)
Milk Thistle (am and pm)
Sam-E (am and pm)
L-Theanine (am and as needed throughout the day)
L-Tyrosine (as needed throughout the day)
Rhodiola Extract (1 in the am and another if needed during the day)
Ultra Mega Green Active whole food enhanced multivitamin (am)
Stress and Anxiety Supplement:
* am formula = vitamin B-6 and B-12, Folic Acid, 5-HTP and Suntheanine L-Theanine
* pm formual = vitamin E, Calcium, L-Glutamine, Valerian Extract, Grape Seed Extract, Melatonin
Hylands Calms Forte sleep aid (bedtime)
I also have benadryl available if I am really struggling to fall asleep that I will take sometimes and I have Hyland's Leg Cramps and Restful Legs that I take occasionally when having restless legs and/or leg pain.
I take Aleve or Ibuprofen as needed for pain.

Honestly, I feel somewhat like a wimp for not just jumping like some of you have, y'all are amazing! I am with my kids everyday and about to start working extra as well, and I am just terrified of getting thrown into horrible withdrawals. I am hoping that by starting to exercise again, trying to replenish vitamins and nutrients through supplements and healthy eating and taking natural remedies to address symptoms, I can make this as cushioned as possible. I just don't have even 1 day to hide under the covers and shut out the world and get through a withdrawal. I have to be able to function at a pretty high level in order to provide for my family. I sound like such a wuss compared to you guys and I hope you know how impressed and inspired I am reading your stories. There is such little information and resources available about this that finding this thread has been a huge source of motivation for me.
****I am not a doctor and I am not saying that my routine listed above is a perfect way to withdraw. Everyone responds differently and there are safety risks associated with taking supplements and all supplements are not created equally. I just wanted to post what seems to be helping me in case anyone else is interested in researching it further as a part of their recovery.
I am sitting at 20 pills a day and I am determined to be completely done by the end of the summer. I'm going to continue dropping 1-2 pills a day and pray the withdrawals continue to be mild. If anyone has any advice/questions/tips.......please ask. Reading this thread when I was at my worst is what finally gave me the motivation that this will not define or have power over me anymore! Good luck to all!

NEVER feel like a wuss for fighting your demons!! Dancing is a combination of forward & backward steps & life is a dance. I wish my boyfriend was as proactive in his struggle. The one thing we found that helped him was taking an iron supplement. It got rid of his diarrhea & boosted his energy some. Good luck. You've gotten this far so the rest is cake!!

 

[ksralyv2mch]

Loperamide is a wonder drug for me this time around!!! The night before I had withdrawals I took a gram of Cimetidine and 40mg loperamide. I woke up at like 27 hours from my last use and felt 90%! I was shocked, I thought at any minute my withdrawals would kick in and I had work that night too!! But low and behold... no sickness the whole day, the next morning took 36mg.... 34mg... etc etc tapering down 1 pill a day...

So basically I'm going to be taking a lot of loperamide for 20 days straight after doing heroin a couple days here and there, I still shit every other day so Nor

 

[Roaddoggy]

I am now over 2 months clean and feel healed from my lope ct. However now I have to get my gallbladder out and I am terrorized it will set me back into withdrawals. Am I being silly or are my fears justified?

Hello Mc83, and the rest of Blue light. I am very new here, but have been posting on the drug forums. I have a huge thread there. I have a question for you well a few questions



See I used loperamide to kick kratom, bad idea. Anyway I started on 80 mgs of loperamide, and in 16 days I jumped off 56mgs. So I did taper. As of today, I am 53 days clean. And wow what a hell ride that was. I had very bad withdrawals that did not let up for a solid month. I mean on 30 days felt like day 1. I had the most intense opiate withdrawals in my life. Now I have been playing the opiate, game for 20 years of better. So I'm not new to kicking. I have probably kicked heroin, a good 30 times in my life. There was a few heroin 3 week withdrawals that were rough, But loperamide is like that on steroids.




Now as that month past I have gradualy been getting better. But its been rough. Today I have been clean for 53 days, from loperamide. One of my questions is, did you have abdominal pain, in the mornings, with loose bowel movement , at my stage of the game(day 53)?



Did you continue to have symptoms like, Fade in yawns, skin crawls, difficult in urinating, mild RLS in wrists and legs? If so when did these symptoms go away.



I guess Im still having problems with the PAWS. At what point did you say, this is all done, I feel great?




Last but not least, congratulations. You are a true inspiration. You have accomplished what hardly any of us have. You must have an amazing tolerance for pain. I believe I do too, but wow. I guess you are aware, of the fact, that there is very few success stories anywhere on the net, with loperamide. You and Mad Margret, are the only ones I have found. Your the only one I found that did not have to go back on and taper. There are so few secess stories, because this is screaming hard to do. I cant believe Im still going through this after only using for 16 days. But If I used heroin for 16 days in large doses, I would have a rough kick too. Time dose matter, but not once your an opiate addict. A day or two of use, and your feeling a little sick. like I said, I have been an opiate addict for 20 years, on and off. Much love. Roaddoggy....

 

[Lorne???]

Have you ever seen someone go cold turkey from Loperamide? It is EXTREMELY difficult for these people, especially when they are taking around 100 or more pills a day. The withdrawal symptoms last between 4-8 weeks and include extreme fatigue, weakness, diarrhea, pain, and depression. Yes, they absolutely need to quit but the nature of the drug ("harmless" OTC) isn't taken seriously by the medical community. It's embarrassing to these people so they almost never disclose it to their Drs either.

Taking 140 pills per day is fucking ridiculous. You could take 1/4th that amount with WGJ(1.5-2ltr) and you will get even MORE effect.

And lope WD is no joke; if you do it properly, to get it through the BBB, you actually get atypical WD symptoms, in addition to the typical ones.

Seriously, they're is no reason to take 100+ pills a day; it's insane when loperamide has an insanely low oral BA, and it can be exponentially increased with PGP/CYP3A4 inhibitors.

 

[Roaddoggy]

Well I can tell you this cold turkeying off 56mgs. Was like a five mile, fire walk. Loperamide is the gift that just keeps on giving and giving. Its hell on wheels. Like I said Im on day 53 clean, and I still feel the pain. That's about me easiest way to describe it as (The Pain) It has almost become familiar to me. We just say hay in passing by now. But that asshole has got to move off my couch. Much love. Roaddoggy...

 

[Roaddoggy]

Day 57 without loperamide. Today has been rough. I have thought I made so much progress, and I still have bad days, or hours, that will flash in, and really give me a rough day. But I have managed to go 57 days without using. When will this end? I feel a lot better than at first, when I kicked. But I'm still not back to 100%. Its really the mornings, and waking up, that I struggle with. Some times I have to lay in bed and hurt from stomach pain for almost an hour,, before I can even get out of bed. They evenings are better, but I use Kava in the evenings, so that helps a lot. Anyway, any advice when this will end, or ways to make my mornings tolerable. Its these PAWS that just wont end. Much love. Roaddoggy....

 

[TheLostBoys]

I've only used Loperamide for the obvious bathroom runs but I remember when taking 2 or 3 pills & feeling content with everything around me ( this is before I had any tolerance & before using any opiates)........

Reading everyone's story of how bad withdrawals are from using Loperamide will have me staying far away from using it to get high.

I hope everyone gets better & tries to use it for its intent. I can't believe how bad withdrawals are from this stuff.........scary!

 

[muskolo]

Reading some of these posts confuse me. Please excuse, I'm a little bit ignorant on the more detailed pharmacological aspects of this. A few times I have taken 20mg lope and 40-60mg omeprazole a day for about 4-5 days for kratom withdrawal and then stop. I do not experience any problems but I also do not get any sort of 'high'. Can one seriously get withdrawals from that dosage and length of time?

I'm just sort of flabbergasted at this is all.

 

[Roaddoggy]

^^^Well if you think your flabbergasted, how do ya think I feel. I have a huge thread on the Drug Forum, that discusses the whole thing. I mean don't get me wrong I am feeling much better than day 4 of jumping off loperamide. Im just still not myself. I'm having PAWS, that just keep going. But I had a long history of opiate use prior to loperamide use. I did get into numbers of around 80mgs. So I know the large doses were a problem. I should have started lower, but it took that to hold me. Then after trying to jump off loperamide, after only 16 days of use, has caused withdrawals to last for almost 2 months. I should have never got on loperamide, It just made things worse for me. Much love. Roaddoggy....

 

[ksralyv2mch]

So would a majority of you say the reason for your Loperamide withdrawals is because you didn't taper low enough before jumping off?? Cause I am planning on tapering all the way down to one pill from my comfort dose (14-16 Pills = 34-36mg)

 

[Lorne???]

^^^ as far as I'm concerned, unless you're taking massive doses, lope without 3A4/PGP inhibitors= useless.

It never worked for me until I discovers the method.

I can't imagine tapering on it though, because they're isn't much middle ground. But I go to extremes to use it...(the doses aren't massive though, I know better

You really can tell it has the same binding affinity as methadone when you get CNS effects )

 

[muskolo]

Well as I said, I have been utilizing lope this week to quit kratom but after reading this forum I think I'll just ride the rest of the week out without anymore loperamide.

Damn...glad I saw this!

 

[Professer]

What about lope with something like a proton pump inhibitor? I hear it helps make it stronger too. I currently am tapering down, 10-15 2mg pills a day. Not too bad, but with my other pain and problems it's too troublesome to just stop and deal with mild withdrawals. A slow taper seems nice. I'll have to check out more info in this thread.

Edit: The PPI im using is Nexium... forget the compounds name. It was rx only but is otc now. It seems more effective... but with no rx could get expensive.

 

[Roaddoggy]

Well its tough to taper. I tried to, but came to a point I was in constant pain. So I figured what the hell, might as well just jump. Ouch. Much love. Roaddog....

 

[muskolo]

What about lope with something like a proton pump inhibitor? I hear it helps make it stronger too. I currently am tapering down, 10-15 2mg pills a day. Not too bad, but with my other pain and problems it's too troublesome to just stop and deal with mild withdrawals. A slow taper seems nice. I'll have to check out more info in this thread.

That's what I have been using with my lope, a PPI. Omeprazole is a PPI and not what Lorne??? and some of the others are referring to. 40-60mg of omeprazole and a 20mg dose of lope will keep withdrawal from a kratom habit of up to 20g a day at bay. As I said, I've done this several times where I I dose 20mg a day for 4-5 days and stop with no tapering and no problem.

 

[Roaddoggy]

Well today I have gone 61days without loperamide. I'm still having lingering PAWS. After 61 day!. I have the skin crawls, yawns, stretches, runny nose. When is this shit going to end. I wonder if this is how I am going to feel forever, You would think going 2 months, would end this. It has not. I mean I feel a lot better, than when I went cold turkey. But, I'm still hurting some, and I'm, not back to 100%. Its just so depressing to still be held back with this. I just so want to get on with my life



Its been Hell going 61 days without using loperamide, or any opiate at all. I just want all this to end. I have kicked many hard opiate habits, but loperamide is so long lasting. I get these skin crawls, that drives me up the wall. It seems like the evenings are a little better, But still struggling. I was just wondering has anyone been where I am at. Has anyone gone this long, and still hurt. I mean the withdrawal symptoms are very distinct. So I know it cant be anything else. Hell I have kicked some big heroin habits, and was fine after 3 weeks. But this is 2 months already. I'm getting scared. I don't know what to do. Much love, Roaddoggy....

 

[Mc83]

Hello Mc83, and the rest of Blue light. I am very new here, but have been posting on the drug forums. I have a huge thread there. I have a question for you well a few questions



See I used loperamide to kick kratom, bad idea. Anyway I started on 80 mgs of loperamide, and in 16 days I jumped off 56mgs. So I did taper. As of today, I am 53 days clean. And wow what a hell ride that was. I had very bad withdrawals that did not let up for a solid month. I mean on 30 days felt like day 1. I had the most intense opiate withdrawals in my life. Now I have been playing the opiate, game for 20 years of better. So I'm not new to kicking. I have probably kicked heroin, a good 30 times in my life. There was a few heroin 3 week withdrawals that were rough, But loperamide is like that on steroids.




Now as that month past I have gradualy been getting better. But its been rough. Today I have been clean for 53 days, from loperamide. One of my questions is, did you have abdominal pain, in the mornings, with loose bowel movement , at my stage of the game(day 53)?



Did you continue to have symptoms like, Fade in yawns, skin crawls, difficult in urinating, mild RLS in wrists and legs? If so when did these symptoms go away.



I guess Im still having problems with the PAWS. At what point did you say, this is all done, I feel great?




Last but not least, congratulations. You are a true inspiration. You have accomplished what hardly any of us have. You must have an amazing tolerance for pain. I believe I do too, but wow. I guess you are aware, of the fact, that there is very few success stories anywhere on the net, with loperamide. You and Mad Margret, are the only ones I have found. Your the only one I found that did not have to go back on and taper. There are so few secess stories, because this is screaming hard to do. I cant believe Im still going through this after only using for 16 days. But If I used heroin for 16 days in large doses, I would have a rough kick too. Time dose matter, but not once your an opiate addict. A day or two of use, and your feeling a little sick. like I said, I have been an opiate addict for 20 years, on and off. Much love. Roaddoggy....

Congratulations on 53days! You are so close! I am now well over 90days. If I remember accurately I started really feeling better right around where you are maybe days 60-65. The loose stools and cramping are normal, I had my gallbladder out on the 7th I think my years of loperamide abuse, took the pain meds for 3 days and flushed the remaining script of Vicodin and feel fine now. You can make it! If you are having right upper pain you might have your gallbladder checked out. Good luck !

 

[Mc83]

Well today I have gone 61days without loperamide. I'm still having lingering PAWS. After 61 day!. I have the skin crawls, yawns, stretches, runny nose. When is this shit going to end. I wonder if this is how I am going to feel forever, You would think going 2 months, would end this. It has not. I mean I feel a lot better, than when I went cold turkey. But, I'm still hurting some, and I'm, not back to 100%. Its just so depressing to still be held back with this. I just so want to get on with my life



Its been Hell going 61 days without using loperamide, or any opiate at all. I just want all this to end. I have kicked many hard opiate habits, but loperamide is so long lasting. I get these skin crawls, that drives me up the wall. It seems like the evenings are a little better, But still struggling. I was just wondering has anyone been where I am at. Has anyone gone this long, and still hurt. I mean the withdrawal symptoms are very distinct. So I know it cant be anything else. Hell I have kicked some big heroin habits, and was fine after 3 weeks. But this is 2 months already. I'm getting scared. I don't know what to do. Much love, Roaddoggy....

Sorry your not feeling good yet? Are you taking any supplements/vitamins? Are you getting good sleep? I used a multivitamin, potassium, 5-htp, and MADE MYSELF work hard in the yard, I cut down trees, yard work, when my legs were jelly I pushed it harder. I know it sounds like bs but exercise helps the fatigue it really does!! You are almost there, this is your body's last ditch effort to get the drug back. It won't last forever your body and mind just want you to think that. You can do it!! Lolz on here really helped me out talking about our progress so I hope this helps!

 

[Roaddoggy]

^^^Thanks Mc83. That's exactly what I have been doing. I'm on day 65 today. I own a small organic farm. and have been working hard there. I guess I am still just having lingering PAWS. It really hits me in the mornings. But Man has it been hard getting to this point. I am taking tons of supplements, and vitamins. Things are getting better. Much love. Roaddoggy....