Popular prescription drugs for diarrhea are opium (as paregoric) and its derivatives which include diphenoxylate with atropine and loperamide. These relieve severe diarrhea dramatically but are not recommended for mild, short-term cases because they tend to be addicting and they have a lot of side effects.
"They also should not be used for young children since they can mask signs of dehydration and cause severe toxic effects and even death," said Kurt Butler of the Quackery Action Council in Hawaii and Dr. Lynn Rayner of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii in “The Best Medicine.
One of the most widely prescribed antidiarrheals is loperamide. This drug slows down the movements of the gastrointestinal tract and has the least side effects. But it is not totally harmless.
Patients taking loperamide may experience constipation, dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting. These are minor side effects which should disappear as your body adjusts to the medication.
Abdominal pain or bloating, fever, rash and sore throat are major side effects which should be brought to a doctor's attention, especially if they are persistent or bothersome.
"In large doses or when taken with alcohol or tranquilizers, loperamide can cause excessive suppression of the central nervous system. Consult your physician immediately if there is vomiting, difficulty breathing or slow pulse,” warned Butler and Rayner.
In the “Drug Handbook”,Dr. Michael L. Tan, executive director of the Health Action Information Network, said this antidiarrheal should not be given to children below two years old because of the danger of central nervous system damage. In the United States, loperamide is contraindicated in children below two years old but the World Health Organization said this drug should not be used in children below five years.
Loperamide's dire effects in children were seen in Pakistan where infants died following the ingestion of this drug. That grim episode was reported in the British medical journal the Lancet.
"Two Pakistani hospital-based physicians report that in two months, their department of pediatric medicine saw 19 infants with severe abdominal distension and paralytic ileus (paralysis of the lower part of the small intestine) as a result of having been given loperamide drops. Of the 19 patients, six died, four left the hospital seriously ill because the parents wanted the child to be at home before he or she died and nine recovered. The physicians say that no other cause of abdominal distension could be established," said “The Drug Monitor.”
Diphenoxylate and atropine are other popular antidiarrheals. Like loperamide, they work by slowing the movement of the gastrointestinal tract. Atopine in combination with other drugs can cause blurred vision, urinary difficulties, nausea and rapid heartbeat.
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