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posted by martyb on Wednesday May 04 2016, @04:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the Antidiarrheal-overdose?-Oh,-crap! dept.

NPR is reporting on the latest drug scare, involving an over-the-counter antidiarrheal drug that is being used for its opioid-like effects by addicts:

Some people addicted to oxycodone and other opioids are now turning to widely available diarrhea medications to manage their withdrawal symptoms or get high. The results can be dangerous to the heart — and sometimes fatal — warn toxicologists in a study [open, DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.03.047] recently published online in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

The researchers describe two case studies where people who were addicted to opioids tried to ease their withdrawal symptoms by taking many times the recommended dose of loperamide, a drug commonly used treat diarrhea. Both patients died.

"Because of its low cost, ease of accessibility and legal status, it's a drug that is very, very ripe for abuse," says lead author William Eggleston, a doctor of pharmacy and fellow in clinical toxicology at the Upstate New York Poison Center, which is affiliated with SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Related:

Kroger Supermarkets to Carry Naloxone Without a Prescription
4/20: Half-Baked Headline


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  • (Score: 2) by devlux on Wednesday May 04 2016, @06:29PM

    by devlux (6151) on Wednesday May 04 2016, @06:29PM (#341602)

    Yeah but be careful with those "internet instructions". Side effects tend to include inflammatory reactions on par with getting your skin melted off.
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=367_1384564447 [liveleak.com]
    http://boingboing.net/2012/02/27/scientific-paper-of-the-day-h.html [boingboing.net] (link to paper is obvious troll look at the authors, you follow that and you'll be putting large quantities of HCL up your nose. )

    If you need a proper decongestant and antihistamine eat a fresh clove of garlic raw. Just unwrap it and chew until your mouth goes numb.
    After about 5 minutes you'll clear up and the garlic has some natural antibiotic properties that can help with secondary sinus infections. When I feel a cold coming on I'll eat a clove every 4hrs or so and it'll knock it completely out in a day or two.

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  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday May 04 2016, @07:20PM

    by sjames (2882) on Wednesday May 04 2016, @07:20PM (#341641) Journal

    Naturally, it's a parody highlighting the utter failure of the DEA to do anything but inconvenience people with colds and allergies.

    And yes, one must make sure to properly neutralize the HCL from the purification step. More problematic is making sure not to cause an explosion in a makeshift lab from heating the ether or not properly venting the chloroform :-)