Opioids Loperamide Safety for Long Term maintenance

Hello, I have researched this quite well and have come to the conclusion that this is a pretty safe drug at low doses...some people are taking it daily to manage IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) at the 2mg dose.

I have just now found that this drug is very effective at stopping WD....so I am basically planning to quit using opiates for recreational purposes, and I am thinking of using Loperamide as the maintenance tool instead of a Methadone program.

Does anyone have information about the safety profile of Lope at 40mg doses per day for years to life? Is this a good idea?

It is definitely working as a replacement tool, but I want to stay on it for a long time and not WD. So basically a home-made MMT program...any suggestions?

It sounds like a bad idea.

Either you plan on using a potentiator, or your body has a completely different way of processing loperamide, or you are misguided.

All 3 of these scenarios require more information than given in your OP and all 3 are unlikely to be beneficial.

You are also suggesting taking a higher dosage of Loperamide which presents a number of different issues that are difficult to answer here.

Going through a tapered withdrawal stands out as your wisest path, given the current information. You will feel bad for around a week, and then your body will slowly adjust to more normal.

You also need to confront your issues on whether or not you are currently dependant on loperamide, whether or not you are able to stay off opiates, and whether or not you are a candidate for an actual maintenance program.

good luck

There is a thread dedicated to lop. I would put a link to it here, but I don't know how.

I can see it now... Immodiom clinics! Bring your lockbox, and they give you a gram of pure powder. This is insane, and terrible for your bowels. Come on man, lope maintenance for life!!!

Please don't. I beg you as a Addict to Lopermide do not Get yourself hooked on this drug. You will get 0 help from any doctors because as they say it's all in your head. Which I know is bullshit.. I am taking 3 bottles of 72 pills each 2MG each pill DAILY. Just went to the sub doctor and I can't be treated for it. So I am stuck killing myself untill sombody gets off thier ass and does a REAL study on the drug. It's fucked up my entire life.. And I started it to get of Pain pills/Poppys and it went out of control quick.

Almost any other opioid except for meperidine is much safer for long-term maintenance. Additionally, loperamide withdrawals are the worst out of any opioid medication - the most severe somatic symptoms imaginable. Please, for safety's sake, get on buprenorphine or methadone for maintenance. In my non-professional opinion, daily IV heroin use is safer than daily loperamide use.

Loperamide may be neurotoxic in high doses as well in a manner similar to the MPP+ impurity that caused Parkinson's in those Maryland kids who tried making MPTP a few decades ago. A friend of mine has permanently fucked his brain from taking high doses of loperamide daily.

I take 2 bottles of 72 everyday if I don't iam deathly ill people say oh it dosent get you high or pass through your BBB bullshit it does I thought lope maintenance would be better than shootin dope as I've been addicted to opiates or 9 years but it is real you do get addicted to it I'm sitting here waiting for mine to kick in so I can be a productive. does anybody know what kind of long term effects it has on your body? liver damage anything like that? I wish everybody luck on there quests to get clean or not stay safe.

Loperamide can be used to curb opiate withdrawals, but tread carefully.....the constipation caused by Loperamide are in a class of their own....for me, methadone causes worse constipation than any other opiate, except maybe bupe....however loperamide is crazy....you will not shit for days and days, and when you do, it will be rock hard, most likely those small marble sized pellets. Take miralax, or the store brand of miralax, it is the only laxative/stool softener that I have found to REALLY WORK. I take it 5-6 days a week, usually at night before bed ( I am on 130 mgs methadone a day) and I have a bowel movement almost every day.

The part that concerns me is the "years to life" bit of OP's post.

Loperamide is a helpful tool for tapering off other opiates, but I wouldn't advise doing it every day forever. Not much is known about lope abuse/addiction since most mainstream medical "professionals" swear up and down it's not psychoactive and therefore not addictive.

Is there a reason you want to be on opiates for life? (Genuine question). If that's the plan, there are better options than loperamide. Kratom, while not 100% safe for everyone, has been used for centuries in Asia and has helped many an addict get clean. It's cheap, legal (for now) and is an effective painkiller/mood booster.

Poppy pods are another option, though both kratom and pods are addictive and cause withdrawals. Pods have the advantage of being long-acting like methadone, so you don't need to redose every few hours. Or you could just get into a methadone/suboxone management program. They provide a steady source of meds and don't force you to quit unless you want to.

Of course, life-long opiate use is not desirable but is a reality for some people. If you don't have a legit medical need for them, quitting altogether would be the best option.

40mg a day...for life or very long term?? Heed the advice and suggestions from people who haveexperience with this drug and don't do it. You are bgging for more problems and complications than if you were to just continue on your DOC!

Tevlok said:

Please don't. I beg you as a Addict to Lopermide do not Get yourself hooked on this drug. You will get 0 help from any doctors because as they say it's all in your head. Which I know is bullshit.. I am taking 3 bottles of 72 pills each 2MG each pill DAILY. Just went to the sub doctor and I can't be treated for it. So I am stuck killing myself untill sombody gets off thier ass and does a REAL study on the drug. It's fucked up my entire life.. And I started it to get of Pain pills/Poppys and it went out of control quick.

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I guarantee there is a Dr. who will take your case seriously somewhere around. It doesn't matter if you are addicted to eating fucking glass or rocks, everyone is entitled to have their condition treated with seriousness. If you go into a Dr.s office sweating bullets and pupils the size of a nickel how can they not say you are withdrawing from drugs. And I don't think there needs to be a study done to show the havoc it is wreaking on your GI system.

RTrain said:

I guarantee there is a Dr. who will take your case seriously somewhere around. It doesn't matter if you are addicted to eating fucking glass or rocks, everyone is entitled to have their condition treated with seriousness. If you go into a Dr.s office sweating bullets and pupils the size of a nickel how can they not say you are withdrawing from drugs. And I don't think there needs to be a study done to show the havoc it is wreaking on your GI system.

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What he said!

i only recently read about loperamide being an actual opiate. but even in large doses is it only curbing your WD's or are you actually getting high from it? FYI i have no intention of using it to get high. i enjoy shitting.

When I was w/d'ing hard one time I took something like 15-20 mg, and it did either nothing or very, very little for me. I think it took the RLS from an 8 to a 6or7. But it might've been mental. I was not willing to try any more and figured if it was helping it was just prolonging the W/d.