The Forgotten Opioid
Loperamide
Citation:   The Monkey Mantra. "The Forgotten Opioid: An Experience with Loperamide (exp65176)". Erowid.org. Feb 6, 2008. erowid.org/exp/65176

 
DOSE:
86 mg oral Loperamide (pill / tablet)
BODY WEIGHT: 180 lb
I'm sitting in the Burlington International Airport in Vermont, waiting for my delayed flight home to the Bay Area. I've just finished a weird two week vacation with my boyfriend that included a few trials with high-dose imodium. Half-way through the vacation my grandpa called to let me know he would be entering hospice care and would be dying shortly. Like any good grandkid I packed my stuff up and flew out of Vermont the next morning to see him. I stopped by a drug store that night to pick up 96 pills of immodium to use on the flight back. My back had been killing me and I figured hey, loperamide can't cross the blood brain barrier, but that just means not MUCH of it can cross, right? Either way, I'd read a couple abstracts showing high-dose loperamide can provide peripheral analgesia. There's also a good bit of anecdotal evidence it can ease opioid withdrawal, so I figured it'd be worth a shot as a booster on the ibuprofen and alcohol.

Curiosity had me trying like 25 pills that night and another 30 or so the next day. Effects took a couple hours to kick in, but things started to get icky tummy-wise after like 30 minutes. Whodathunk? Anyway, the effects weren't super noticeable at first. When I redosed with 30 for the flight back to vermont the next evening, I started to get a feel for the nature of the stuff. Here's a bullet-point list of the effects:

* Weird opioid feeling in the eyes - droopy
* Weird opioid tummy feeling, like the one that hits on the comedown
* Weird opioid throat scratchiness and voice change
* A strange opioid feeling of dopey drowsiness that never quite becomes euphoric
* A possible analgesic effect
* Oversleeping like 12 hours when I normally sleep like 7
* Sex? Forget it.

I didn't shit for three days. When I did finally get a bowel movement it smelled like it'd been hanging around my colon since the time of the pharaohs.

I dosed the remaining 43 pills on the way back to the west coast. Again, major tummy ache which dissipated after an hour or two. Again, all the strange 'side-effects' of opioids without any real euphoria. I *do* feel like I could sleep better once I get on the plane. I'm relaxed, physically. I think I'll have a glass of wine on the plane and then I'll sleep through my red-eye flight home.

Overall verdict? If this stuff works for people going through withdrawal, I'm stoked for them. For those just trying to catch a buzz, man, look *elsewhere*.

One more point: DURATION! Lasts for like 2 days. Makes sense given its close relation to methadone.

Love,
The Monkey Mantra

Exp Year: 2007ExpID: 65176
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Feb 6, 2008Views: 31,970
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Loperamide (459) : Various (28), General (1)

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