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Getting High On Diarrhea Medicine? A New Study Says...

By Dr. Dave Hnida

DENVER (CBS4) -Well, that's a headline for you. And the report about it caught a lot of us off guard. A really strange one that many never heard or even thought of.

Yet new research in the medical journal Annals of Emergency Medicine reports on an increase in the number of cases of people overdosing on diarrhea medicine to get a narcotic buzz.

The ingredient to blame is called loperamide, which is the generic name of the active compound found in the anti-diarrheal drug Imodium.

Researchers say that loperamide is chemically related to opiates, or narcotics.

As you've heard, opiates are a huge problem in America, with more and more people getting hooked on these legally (but often unwisely) prescribed medications.

This report states that when people can't get their hands on a narcotic, and begin to withdraw, they sometimes gobble down loperamide by the handful to ease that withdrawal. Or they just buy the loperamide in bulk, and take it as a cheap high instead of a narcotic or heroin.

Now the number you would need to take is huge—about 50-60 plus pills. Yet that amount also carries huge side effects. Not just chemically depressing the body's lungs to work, but also disrupting the heart's regular rhythm.

And that's what emergency doctors are seeing. People sucking down dozens of loperamides and then going into a fatal heart rhythm and cardiac arrest.

Taken as directed, loperamide, or Imodium, is generally considered to be a safe medication. And helpful. But the maximum dosage is about four tablets within a 24-hour period. (There is also a liquid form available)

But take 10-20 times that amount, and you've got big trouble.

Researchers recommend that the medication go the same route as the decongestant Sudafed, which is now behind the pharmacist's counter and cannot be bought in bulk. You still wouldn't need a prescription—you just couldn't buy it by the case.

Dr. Dave Hnida is CBS4's Medical Editor. He blogs about the latest studies and trends in the health world. Read his latest blog entries, check out his bio or follow him on Twitter @drdavehnida

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