Briefly explain why Loperamide, in a few words. This is a medicine for diarrhea. The drug slows intestinal motility, helps to get rid of diarrhea. The drug is not recommended for use in cases where the cause of loose stool is infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
Material Content:
- 1 Release form, composition and packaging
- 2 Pharmacological action, pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics
- 3 What helps loperamide?
- 4 Instructions for use and dosage
- 5 During pregnancy and lactation
- 6 Drug interaction
- 7 Contraindications, side effects and overdose
- 8 Analogs of tablets
- 9 Which is better, Loperamide or Imodium?
Release form, composition and packaging
Capsules and tablets Loperamide - solid medicines. The encapsulated form has a gelatin shell readily soluble in the digestive tract. Powder content mixes well with food masses. Tablets are easier to divide if you need to use half a dose or less.
In the composition of two dosage forms, the content of the active ingredient - loperamide hydrochloride - is 2 mg. Capsules and tablets of 10 pcs. Packed in blisters made of metal foil and clear plastic. In one cardboard box - 2 blisters.
Pharmacological action, pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics
Antidiarrheal medicine acts directly on the intestinal wall, causing muscle contraction in the membrane. The main effect is a decrease in tone and peristalsis. Loperamide also slows down the process of moving digested or semi-digested food.
The drug increases the tension of the ring muscle of the rectum. Due to the increase in tone, feces are better retained, less often there is a urge to defecate. The elimination of fluid from the intestines is slowed down, therefore, water, macro- and microelement ions are better absorbed.
The antidiarrheal agent acts quickly, increases density and reduces the frequency of stools.
The drug mainly acts in the intestines. The therapeutic effect develops rapidly after taking Loperamide and lasts an average of 5 hours. The active ingredient is partially absorbed and enters the bloodstream. Loperamide hydrochloride enters the liver and is metabolized. Less than 1% enters the systemic circulation. After 11-12 hours, half of the metabolites are excreted with stool.
What helps loperamide?
The drug is taken for acute and chronic diarrhea. The causes of loose stool, in addition to infections, are unusual and new foods in the diet, irregular nutrition, and various disorders of the intestinal absorption function. Diarrhea is accompanied by food allergies and intolerance to products (this is not the same thing), taking certain medications.
Watery stools can be caused by psychoemotional stress. This scientific fact echoes the explanation of the causes that cause these or other diseases. Such conclusions are made by healers of Tibet. Diarrhea before an exam or other responsible event appears if a person does not want or is afraid of the prescribed test or does not want to go to the upcoming ceremony.
In infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, diarrhea is combined with indomitable vomiting, severe intestinal colic. The causes of symptoms are pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic microbes, their toxins in the digestive tract. Various infectious agents enter the digestive tract with water and food, if personal hygiene is not observed. Symptoms appear after an incubation period that lasts from 6 to 12 hours.
With diarrhea of an infectious origin, Loperamide for diarrhea is prescribed only as part of a comprehensive treatment.
Together with feces and vomit, pathogenic microbes and their poisons are removed from the body. Loperamide inhibits the process without affecting its cause. Therefore, the treatment of diarrhea in acute intestinal infections (AEI) with this agent is considered inappropriate. Doctors prescribe gastrointestinal lavage and enemas to accelerate the removal of microbes and toxins.
Instructions for use and dosage
The dosage regimen is slightly different in the first and subsequent days of the disease. Be sure to take into account the age of the patient.
Treatment of diarrhea with loperamide:
- The initial dose for an adult with acute diarrhea is 2 tablets, which corresponds to 4 mg of loperamide hydrochloride.
- Subsequently, if symptoms persist, you need to drink 1 tablet after each bowel movement.
- The initial dose for an adult with chronic diarrhea is 2 mg.
- Subsequently, dosage is recommended.
Stool is considered normal 1 or 2 times a day. If the act of defecation occurs less frequently, then reduce the dose or stop treatment, provided that the consistency of the stool is normalized. The maximum allowable number of tablets per day for adults is 8 pcs.
Children aged 4 to 6 years are given ½ tablets 3 or 4 times a day. This dosage regimen must be followed within 3 days. If the child is older than 6 years, then give one capsule or tablet three times a day. Adolescents 9-12 years old can drink 1 tablet 4 times a day. With stool normalization, treatment is stopped.
Capsules containing 2 mg of loperamide are not suitable for the treatment of children under 6 years of age who are given 1 mg of the drug. At home, it is difficult to measure exactly ½ of the powder from the capsule, which would contain the right amount of medicine. Therefore, manufacturers in the instructions for use of Loperamide and doctors do not recommend breaking the capsule in order to divide it into two parts.
During pregnancy and lactation
The active ingredient partially passes into breast milk. For this reason, it is not recommended to treat diarrhea with Loperamide during breastfeeding. A study of the effect of funds on the fetus and the child was not conducted. Specialists take into account the properties and pharmacokinetics of the drug.It is allowed to take loperamide during pregnancy if the therapy brings the mother more tangible benefits, compared with the potential negative effect on the fetus or child.
Drug interaction
The simultaneous use of several drugs can lead to a change in therapeutic and side effects. Loperamide interacts with narcotic painkillers. The use of antidiarrheal drugs together with opioid analgesics poses a risk of severe constipation. For the same reason, you should not drink several drugs for diarrhea at the same time.
Loperamide interacts with antiarrhythmic drugs, antifungal drugs - itraconazole, ketoconazole. Some drugs facilitate the passage of loperamide hydrochloride molecules through the blood-brain barrier. As a result, the concentration of this substance in the central nervous system may increase.
Contraindications, side effects and overdose
Prima Loperamide should be avoided in case of hypersensitivity to the active ingredient and auxiliary components. Antidiarrheal medicine in the form of capsules is not given to a child under 6 years old, tablets - up to 4 years.
Other contraindications:
- acute diarrhea with fever, streaks of greenery and blood in the stool;
- inhibition and lack of gastrointestinal motility;
- salmonellosis and other acute intestinal infections;
- severe flatulence;
- intestinal obstruction;
- diverticula in the intestines;
- acute ulcerative colitis;
- constipation.
Treatment with an antidiarrheal agent may be accompanied by side effects. The most common - flatulence, constipation, dry mouth, nausea - develop in 1 out of 10 people. Very rarely (in one out of a hundred thousand people) drowsiness, dyspepsia, allergic reactions in the form of a skin rash appear.
In case of overdose, the appearance of impaired coordination of movements, drowsiness, muscle hypertonicity. The most dangerous consequence of non-compliance with the dose of Loperamide is intestinal obstruction. The antidote is naloxone. The victim needs to rinse the stomach and give an intestinal sorbent (Activated charcoal or Enterosgel).
Analogs of tablets
Loperamide was created in 1969 in Belgium. The release of the original medicine began in 1972. A quarter century later, the patent expired. Over the past decades, many generics have appeared, including in Russia.
Loperamide tablets are produced by the pharmaceutical companies Veropharm, Biocom, Ozon Farm (Russia), Ratiopharm (Germany), and capsules are produced by the domestic companies Biocom, Akrikhin. All of these drugs are generics of the original Imodium medicine.
The cost of tablets produced by Ozone Farm is only 9-10 rubles. Loperamide-Akrikhin capsules can be purchased in pharmacies at a price of about 60 rubles. For comparison, we present the cost of the original medicine Imodium - 460 rubles (20 pcs.) Also contain 2 mg of loperamide, Lopedium and Diara preparations (capsules and chewable tablets).
Analogues of drugs with an identical composition have the same indications, dosage regimen and contraindications.
Fever, impurities of pus and blood in the stool indicate a bacterial infection of the digestive tract. In these cases, it is undesirable to take Loperamide. With OKI, it is better to take Enterofuril or Ecofuril. The active ingredient nifuroxazide has an antimicrobial and antidiarrheal effect. Enterofuril suspension for young children.
Which is better, Loperamide or Imodium?
The main benefits of diarrhea tablets are stool normalization. To give preference to a particular drug, you should find out the composition, indications and methods of use. Imported or domestic loperamide - generic. From this we can conclude that its price is lower compared to the original medicine.
Loperamide is much cheaper than Imodium, although the active ingredient and its content in tablets or capsules do not differ.
The manufacturers of the original drug created a pharmaceutical composition, performed all the necessary clinical studies. Then came the improved forms. For example, the Imodium dissolving tablet dissolves in the mouth in a few seconds. No need to drink water. It is enough to put the tablet on the tongue, wait a couple of seconds, then swallow it with saliva.
Choosing between Loperamide or Imodium, which is better to take with diarrhea, you need to remember the feature of the active ingredient in the composition of the preparations. Loperamide hydrochloride stops diarrhea, but it can be harmful in case of a bacterial or viral disease of the gastrointestinal tract. Liquid stool in acute intestinal infections helps to remove pathogens and toxins from the body.
Loperamide is a commonly used remedy for diarrhea. It is important to use the drug correctly, follow the dosage regimen. Uncontrolled intake leads to constipation. During treatment with an antidiarrheal agent, you need to drink more fluid.
