DOSE:

12 mg

oral

Loperamide

(pill / tablet)

BODY WEIGHT:

150 lb

So for some background I use to have a sizeable fentanyl habit before transitioning to Suboxone about 5 years ago. Throughout those 5 years I have tapered to my current dose of 1mg.

To start things off I had to wait an extra week to see my doctor to refill my Suboxone for the month, so I was going to have to spend an entire 6 days with no Suboxone. With how many times I’ve gone through withdrawal and being solely on Suboxone because I couldn’t get through the opioid withdrawal, I was absolutely petrified for spending a whole week without my medication. Luckily I remembered back in the day of fellow junkies talking about how Loperamide has been a godsend for withdrawals, I decided I had nothing to lose for trying it out.

I decided to take 24mg per day by taking 12mg twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.

SUNDAY, last day on Suboxone:
It was Sunday morning when I took my last dose of 1mg Suboxone, the day was fine like any other and I went to the store to stock up on a bunch of boxes of the 2mg Loperamide pills.

At the end of the day I had a few drinks to have a send off into withdrawal feeling good for one last time. Before I went to bed I took my first 6 pills (12mg) of loperamide.

MONDAY, First full day without Suboxone:
I woke up on Monday feeling rather normal. I don’t know if it’s mental or because of my low dose but I swear I start feeling small withdrawals in as little as 12+ hours from my last dose. So it was quite surprising to feel absolutely normal that morning. I took another 12mg after waking up and went on about my day. The whole day felt really normal for me, had no withdrawal and just felt normal. At night time I took another 12mg and was able to sleep for a good 8 hours.

TUESDAY, Day 2 without Suboxone:
Woke up on Tuesday and took my dose of 12mg. I was still feeling really normal but as the day went on and the Suboxone was leaving my receptors I could start to slightly feel it. I was still feeling miles better than if I didn’t have lope but as the day wore on my body started aching quite a bit and I didnt have any energy. Compared to full blown withdrawal I was so much better but definitely wasn’t comfortable. Night times rolls around and I take my dose of 12mg and was able to sleep all night.

WEDNESDAY, day 3 without Suboxone:
Did the usual morning dose on day 3 and still was feeling really achy. It wasn’t quite like restless legs because I wasn’t flailing around like I normally do at this point, but my thighs were really achy and I didn’t have the energy to do anything. Usually day 3 is the worst for opiate withdrawal but what I was feeling wasn’t even like in the same realm of that misery. Yes I was uncomfortable and unhappy but I could still function. And most importantly I could lay down completely still, I could sleep just fine, I had an appetite, and minutes didnt feel like hours like they normal do in withdrawal so I started getting optimistic that this week would be over fast. I still was able to sleep fine that night.

DAYS 4,5,6 without Suboxone:
I kept up with the usual twice a day 12mg dosing and as I got out of the worst of it my body definitely started feeling better. I still wasn’t 100% but I was pretty damn close. Usually I can tell if I’m doing good mentally is if I have the mental energy to play piano or focus on video games when at home. For this whole week I couldn’t do it at all so mentally I wasn’t quite there but physically I was literal miles away from actual withdrawal. It was nothing compared to full blown opiate withdrawal. If you’ve been through that then this was just like having the opiate version of a cold. I was able to sleep, eat, function at work, and past the time. It was like a walk in the park compared to my previous withdrawals

I knew by day 7 off Suboxone I’d be able to pick up my medication again so for day 6 I took no loperamide at all to prevent the risk of getting any precip withdrawals while going back on Suboxone.

DAY 7, back on subs and peace at last:
I was started to feel a little withdrawal for skipping day 6 but I knew I’d be better once I got the Suboxone back in me. Once again worried about precip I only took a very small amount at first (.125mg) I felt rather nothing so said screw it and took my 1mg. For the first thirty minutes I started getting a little sweaty and my stomach was turning and I was afraid I might have sent myself into precip, but after that 30 minutes, my normal Suboxone dose had be absolutely rocked, haven’t experienced a proper high in a while and that was a little unexpected.

It’s the end of day 8 as I’m writing this and I feel pretty much back to normal. A little mental and physical fatigue but that’s quite normal for me whenever I had to go through withdrawal. I think it’s just the toll it takes on my body. When you’re in active addiction on stuff like heroin then when you get high again you don’t even notice it. But on the subs since it makes me feel just normal, I can feel the toll it took on my body but it’s still a very small inconvenience that can easily be ignored.

RETROSPECTIVE/SUMMARY:

I think Loperamide is an absolute godsend for opiate withdrawal. While it didn’t take away all the withdrawals, to be able to just function properly and sleep and eat is huge. Plus not having to deal with any restless legs is massive since that’s the hardest part of withdrawal for me. So I’d say confidently that it takes away about 90%+ of my withdrawal and makes it a walk in the park. I’ve heard many horror stories of there being heart problems at higher doses and even people getting addicted to this stuff, so I will only use Loperamide when I’m in the worst of circumstances. But when my withdrawal makes me either wanna self harm or relapse, I would take the Loperamide any day over that.

Overall I’m actually really thankful for this medication and would recommend it to others who can not go through the withdrawal. But if you do use this please try to take the smallest dose as you can to get by to avoid potentially fatal heart problems and be aware that you can get addicted to this medication and it can absolutely wreck your opiate tolerance with no high. I would not recommend this as a regular thing or to take it for any longer than a week. But when I used in a pinch it was a life saver.

Exp Year: 2025	ExpID: 119295
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 25
Published: Oct 22, 2025	Views: Not Supported
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Loperamide (459) : Alone (16), Therapeutic Intent or Outcome (49), Medical Use (47), Addiction & Habituation (10), Retrospective / Summary (11), General (1)