I bought some of this medication about 2 or 3 years ago from Starlite Joe. I am down to my last one today and was wondering if anyone knows if it is even being manufactured anymore or is available and is it prescribed in the States anymore. For those who don't know what it is for, well, since I am too lazy to look up the right term's spelling, it is for the runs. But it is effective especially for the problems that immediately attack one when quitting or laying off opiod medicines, or just the standard fare runs. I believe one of the ingedients is an opiod like ingredient. It seems to work good at its main mission and also with headaches and cramps. Good stuff, but I bet hard to get nowadays.

About ten years ago or so I had the standard fare, well, runs, and I was scripted by a local doctor at a clinic a concoction that, if memory serves me right, was a vanilla colored chalky liguid that had as one of its ingredients powdered opium. Not much, but enough that made you feel just a little better as well as do its job. I asked for it several years ago at a clinic when i had similar problems and the doctor said it wasn't available anymore here in the US. Does anyone know what the name of that stuff was? Just curious, and I wonder if it is really unavailable anymore. Doesn't surprise me that it isn't though. Another victim of the war on drugs I guess.

I know there are probably non-narcotic medicines that do the job nowadays also. But when one is incompacitated for a few days with such things, what the heck is the matter with a medicine that make you feel more comfortable also. It boggles my mind. Can't have people feeling good when they are sick I guess. Bad!

PB

PB~ Since opiods tend to plug the plumbing, it makes sense that it would be helpful for the "runs", so I imagine it would still be available Turpinhydrate (sp?) has been around forever but last I heard is still being used, the stuff tastes wretched, but 30 minutes later, you feel great, sort of like T/3's, been around since before WW2 and still going strong.
Now I am curious, going to do a search on "Diarrhea" (should get a better listing than the "Runs") mulling this over, little wonder the English language is difficult for folks to learn, Not sure if the DEA monitors these boards, if so, they are getting WAY more info. than they bargained for.
My best,
David

PB~
o.k. Tx for Diarrhea, (by prescription only) Diphenoxylate...an untoward side effect is a sense of euphoria ~ like that of some opiods... Now we just can't have the E.R. overflowing with victims of acute and chronic "runs". P.U.
David

PB, the stuff you're describing is paragoric--the spelling may be wrong. It's been around for decades, and used to be used for 'the runs' regularly. It might be available from an IOP but I think in this country they pretty much forced everything made with opium off the market. I've heard Lomotil has a small amount of a synthetic opiate in it, although I'm not sure about that.

Dave, turpin hydrate is a cough syrup that contains codeine, as is Robitussin AC. In my younger days we used to drink a lot of "turp" and "Robo" as we called it. I'm not sure how much codeine was in it or if it's still on the market. I know you can still get cough syrup with codeine but in most places in the US you need a prescription.

Some years ago you could get it without a prescription from some pharmacies. You had to show ID and sign a book, and were only allowed one bottle per week. At that time it was up to the pharmacist if they sold it without a prescription---some did and some didn't. I don't know if the law actually changed or the pharmacists just got too scared to sell it.

CatLady

Catlady, Tx. Bismuth of Paragoric, I forgot about that one,
Dave

I highly doubt it if I could do this legally or not. (I tend to think not) because of the numbers of people tending on cases such as these. I am tending to join the "weight Watchers" while I am Aiming my goal to weight lo SOME OF THESE HAVE NEEDED, LOANED PICTURES OR LOANED

So it was Paragoric then. I don't remember what the stuff tasted like, but I remember after days of being dehydrated and feeling awful (and this had noting to do with "withdrawls" or anything, maybe it was food poisening or something) that stuff sure made me feel a little better while doing its job. Like I say, nothing spectacular, but sure was a step above the way I was feeling. Oh well, figures it isn't around anymore. Of course there were probably some idiots that drank a whole bottle at once and went from the "runs" to the worse case of constipation possible. So we all suffer for it. Thanks guys for putting a name to it. I wonder if Lomotil is still around now too.
PB

PB I dont know why it would be so hard to get from a MD...it is a schedule 5...I will do some checking as far as online access...save on time and cost of doctor visit....juju

PB, I know Lomotil is still around, but it may be that the active ingredient is the same as is in Immodium. Whatever is in it used to be prescription only.

CatLady

quote:

Originally posted by juju:
PB I dont know why it would be so hard to get from a MD...it is a schedule 5...I will do some checking as far as online access...save on time and cost of doctor visit....juju

Thanks juju. I would be interested to know if it is still available. To me this is the problem of government getting so involved in medicine and medical treatments. I know some people welcome it if it means everyone is covered to get the medical treatment they need regardless of ability to pay for it. On the other hand, it invites government intrusion on what we can get for medical treatment and cross-pollinates it with politics like the drug war and what is available or not. Then we get this cookie cutter one size fits all system. If a few abuse a treatment or drug, then we are all treated as potential abusers. I don't see much difference between that and the complaints we have with HMO's etc. I just say beware of what we wish for. This is kind of an insignificant medicine to make such a point, but relavant nonetheless. Imagine, a controversy over the treatment of dirreahea (sp?). Now, not that I use such medicines a lot, but it is nice to know that it is available for the rare times one needs it and I have that choice. And CatLady I am sure the Lomotil I got was the one with a small amount of the synthetic opiod in it. I think I read where there is now out there a Lomotil that doesn't have it. I am glad I bought what little I did a few years ago. When needed it is a good product. Can't have that can we?
PB, on and off his soap box, sorry for that.

Yea, I rememeber going to an all night party as a teenager, and my ride left sometime while I was asleep, so there was only a couple people willing to give me a ride home, the next morning, and on the way they stop by a pharmacy, and told me to go in and say my grandmother sent me to buy some parogoric, I was so scared, they didn't check me for an id, but I had to sign a book and they sold me 2 bottles. Those guys drank the one whole bottle a piece before they ever dropped me off. I couldn't wait to get home, because I thought that was the strangest way in the world to get a buzz, and apparently they did it alot, very weird, they probably never was "regular"????
Codi

Codi; Gosh, the funny things we did in our younger day's, I used to purposely date fat girls in order to get Dexamyl (x-mas tree's)
looking at pictures of me back then, thin as a rail and hair almost to my waist, I was a walking bust in my bell bottoms & beads, "Far-out" dude.
Dave

Folks I can answer easily on this one, as I have been using Lomotil for YEARS.

Lomotil is diphenoxylate with atropine (it's NOT the same drug that's in Immodium), it's a Schedule V drug used to "reduce intestinal motility". The diphenoxylate is in the same family as propoxyphene (darvocet), and the atropine is used to keep people from abusing it (also acts as an anticholinergic, derived from Belladonna or atropa belladonna, aka Deadly Nightshade - but I digress...). Its "euphoric" capabilities are quite small so it's not considered highly addictive, but I have used Lomotil on occassion to stave off hydro w/d back when my levels were lower. It's a pretty long-acting med tho, now that I think of it - one (enlarged) dose kept w/ds away all day.

Glad to be able to contribute something constructive once in a while. =)

P.S. Cat Lady that brings back memories, in the little "mayberry-type" town I grew up in the local pharmacist used to let me buy a weak codeine cough syrup OTC. In NJ it was legal at the discretion of the pharmacist (in the 1980s), but he knew me and my whole family for years, etc. I did have to sign in a book, so I only bought it about every 6 months to not seem suspicious.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Faeriewitch,

PB
I get Lomotil from my gastroenterologist every month on a refill. I used to have IBS before I began taking Vicodin for pain. I no longer have to take the Lomotil unless I do go off the pain meds. But yes, it is very available and cheap as a generic. Good luck