Unexpected Serious Cardiac Arrhythmias in the Setting of

R I Med J (2013) · Apr 2017

Case Reports

Unexpected Serious Cardiac Arrhythmias in the Setting of Loperamide Abuse.

Loperamide (Imodium) is a non-prescription opioid receptor agonist available over-the-counter for the treatment of diarrhea. When ingested in excessive doses, loperamide can penetrate the blood-brain barrier and is reported to produce euphoria, central nervous system and respiratory depression, and cardiotoxicity. There is an emerging trend in its use among drug abusers for its euphoric effects or for self-treatment of opioid withdrawal. We report a case of ventricular dysrhythmias associated with loperamide abuse in a 28-year-old man who substituted loperamide for the opioids that he used to abuse. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-04.asp].

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- Somwail Rasla, Parag Parikh, Hoffmeister Peter, Amy St Amand, Marina K Garas, Amr El Meligy, Taro Minami, and Nishant R Shah.
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Pawtucket, RI; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
- R I Med J (2013). 2017 Apr 3; 100 (4): 33-36.
AbstractLoperamide (Imodium) is a non-prescription opioid receptor agonist available over-the-counter for the treatment of diarrhea. When ingested in excessive doses, loperamide can penetrate the blood-brain barrier and is reported to produce euphoria, central nervous system and respiratory depression, and cardiotoxicity. There is an emerging trend in its use among drug abusers for its euphoric effects or for self-treatment of opioid withdrawal. We report a case of ventricular dysrhythmias associated with loperamide abuse in a 28-year-old man who substituted loperamide for the opioids that he used to abuse. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-04.asp].

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Unexpected Serious Cardiac Arrhythmias in the Setting of Loperamide Abuse.

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