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Opioids Loperamide long-term problems

HoldBack

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 19, 2017
Messages
323
Loperamide discussions have bothered me for a while because they go in circles with lots of misinformation (i.e. it doesn't act centrally, you can/cannot get high, constipation for a week...). I want to give you my experiences with Loperamide as I took it daily for years.

First and most importantly: do not try to abuse Loperamide. Don't try getting high or getting rid of withdrawals. Especially do not use it for long-term maintenance as I experienced serious cardiovascular issues following use (and the FDA has warned the public over this).

I heard about Lope on the internet and took it trying to get high. I got a small buzz at 96 mg and combining with Tagement. I don't think any of the "potentiators" do anything. I had a small tolerance at the time. Eventually over half a year my use became daily at 144 mg by itself. No bad side effects or anything at this point.

I took it while in college. When i was home during breaks I used heroin heavy. My Lope dose going up each time I returned to college following a break. After about 18 months I was taking 400 mg Lope every day. I continued this for a long time. Maybe 5 or 6 years. Once I hit 400 mg daily I didn't have to go up much more. I would take an extra 200-400 mg sometimes but not with any kind of regularity.

After this time on Lope, I began to have shakiness when I tried to lift my arms above my head. I was weak after walking a couple blocks. I had barely any strength to move if it was hot outside. I started fainting. While at work I fainted mid-sentence and an ambulance was called. Against their advice I declined going to the hospital. This was the first time I was warned that my heart rhythm was seriously disrupted. I continued to faint occasionally for the next month. I wasn't stupid, I knew the Lope was causing it but I didn't know how to stop taking Lope.

I fainted while driving and didn't have a choice but to go to the hospital after crashing. Each time I lost consciousness I was having an episode of Ventricular Tachycardia. This is a highly lethal arrhythmia. I was in the hospital for 14 days and was in withdrawal for the entire time. Loperamide definitely has its own withdrawal. I was using heroin at the time but only a little at night and can assure you the withdrawal was mostly from the Lope.

The doctors initially suspected genetic causes or something other than the Lope but always considered it a possibility. Over time while in the ICU the irregularity in my heartbeat improved leading doctors to conclude Loperamide the most likely cause. I am very nearly 100% certain it was the Lope. Methadone is known to cause the same cardiac issues in high doses and they are molecularly related. Some genetic predisposition is likely part of the equation.

So yes Loperamide works. No matter how much H I was doing I could always avoid withdrawing by taking Lope. Sometimes it took a lot. I took as much as 1200 mg (600 of those little pills) at once. If you tried it but couldn't feel it you just didn't take enough. If you are tolerant you will not get high from Lope. Maybe catch a buzz. It is very similar to Methadone.

Lope has lots of annoying side effects initially which actually get better over time. This is in contrast to say H which loses a lot of the good with tolerance being built up. So the longer I was on Lope the more I liked it. To an extent, that is. I would never have told someone I was really high while on Lope but friends definitely had a hard time determining if I was doing dope or taking Loperamide.

I have meant to share this experience for a couple years now. In 2010 or so when people were starting to talk about Lope questions arose over long-term health implications. I'll conclude saying that you are risking death by taking Lope in doses larger than recommended by the FDA.
 
Taking up to 400mg/day every day and death is definitely a concern. Taking 20-80mg, still a very high dose, for a week to deal with withdrawal, not so much (at least not without some very serious underlying health issues).

Thanks for sharing your story. It's amazing how subjective tolerance to unpleasant side effects can increase so they aren't so uncomfortable, while at the same time they are still physiologically present and leading to serious health consequences. I've never used loperamide quite like you experienced, but I know what that phenomenon with other substances like DXM (where something similar happens with daily high dose use).
 
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