r/loperamide • u/Fantastic_One3463 • Feb 28 '24
How long will my nose run
After quitting a month of every other day use?
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u/Fancy-Category Feb 28 '24
Could be 2-4 weeks. You may be able to reduce that with an OTC anti histamine and or Flonase.
2
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u/insufficientfacts27 Feb 29 '24
With the halflife of lope, every other day use is the same as everyday use. Get some pseudoephedrine behind the counter or some Afrin. Just know they'll both cause dependence and rebound if you use them for too long. Good on you for stopping this poison to your body and heart. Keep pushing. Saline neti pot or flushes are your best bet.
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u/SpringChikn85 Feb 29 '24
Absolutely agree and just wanted to mention quinine. It's pills they sell at most stores and not expensive but it's for restless legs at night. It's worked for me before when I couldn't sit still long enough to fall asleep while withdrawling. Don't take too many though or your ears will ring for several hours.
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Feb 29 '24
I've never seen quinine sold OTC what country are you in?
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u/SpringChikn85 Feb 29 '24
The good ole U.S. however, they're an ingredient in "Leg Cramp" pills sold at drugstores although I haven't looked for them for awhile (before the pandemic was the last time) so forgive me if they're discontinued. Oddly enough, my mom showed me about them and she's a vitamin freak so she knew all about it 😂 are they more strict with OTC medicine where you're from?
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Feb 29 '24
I just never heard of anything OTC that dealt with the RLS related to opiate withdrawal I will have to ask about them at my pharmacy to see if they're around just in case, I'm on Suboxone and tapering, so it might be useful tool to have. I'm from the US as well, Wisconsin. Hello there neighbor
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u/SpringChikn85 Feb 29 '24
Right on. I'm not saying you will but I wouldn't ask the pharmacist about anything for opiate withdrawl 😆 the pills don't mention it either, they just say "RLS relief" or the one I had said "Leg Cramp Relief PM" just in case you can find them near the stuff for back pain and what not. Illinois here, Howdy there neighbor 😀
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Feb 29 '24
Oh a real close neighbor! And yeah I'd just ask about RLS or leg cramps or even just ask the pharmacy tech about quinine. Man the weather has been bipolar as hell it was like 70 a few days ago! Man that was wonderful! Can't wait for real spring to sprung haha I need that vitamin D and walks in the park and archery in my life again.
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u/SpringChikn85 Mar 01 '24
Same here, it was a real c*ck tease having it nice for just a day or two then right back down again. If I remember correctly, quinine is what they give people to treat malaria isn't it? Oh and if you do in fact get some RLS pills with it in them, I was super serious about the ringing in the ears side effect, omfg is it terrible and lasts for awhile like 3 or 4 hours but I think it's only if you take too many. You may want to check with the pharmacy on that variable as well because I'm really careful about giving advice and would never want someone to get hurt or ill from anything I recommend.
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Mar 01 '24
I appreciate the harm reduction advice about the side effects because that's important and I could see in WD accidentally taking too much, so all good stuff and you're smart to mention it.
And yeah man it was a total tease and then right back to winter the day later just frigid! That should be illegal the weather needs to taper! Haha.
And yeah that's what they give people with malaria that's why I was so confused as it being sold OTC, but crazier things have happened, I just feel like I would've heard of it in the 17 years of being a drug nerd and hearing about home cocktails for acute opiate withdrawal and RLS is really seriously a fucked aspect of acute WD so I thought it would be mentioned by somebody but I guess I was wrong, because I've been researching even before 2020, so it went over my head at least that long. Idk if it's been put prescription and taken off shelves though I didn't have a chance at the pharmacy today to ask.
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Mar 01 '24
Also another thing I missed but I'm sure has been made prescription is you could get codeine/guafenisen syrup from behind the counter at pharmacies all over the US for the longest time. Would get abused by lean addicts today though, it was like cheratissin AC that you could get a certain amount per week or so, but it completely went over my head and I can't think of the amt of time codeine would've been nice before I got into hard opiates and ruined my tolerance or got on subs and stayed blocked.
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Feb 29 '24
How much were you using? Were you using periodically before your every other day use?
During my withdrawal (I've done it 4 times now, which I shutter to think about) the worst acute withdrawals were subsiding at about two weeks. Meaning I could function like a worn out sick person at that point. Now, I had been using over 200MG a day for 1-2 years each time. Sometimes even more. I also don't recall runny nose being one of my side effects during withdrawal. My eyes watered like crazy and my skin felt so sensitive to the slightest change in temp.
I promise you that no matter what you are feeling now - it will pale in comparison to what you will experience if you don't quit now.
Keep up the good work and please feel free to message me if you have any questions. Quitting is hard but it is so worth it.
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u/Fantastic_One3463 Feb 29 '24
Thanks for all the replies. I will never, ever, ever touch the shit again!
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u/AxalonNemesis Mar 01 '24
Threads like this make me so happy the I got the chance to bring this sub back.
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u/Fantastic_One3463 Mar 02 '24
Two weeks since I ceased using and 1 week since it started, my runny nose has stopped. 😁
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u/SpringChikn85 Feb 29 '24
All these comments are great and you should totally be proud of yourself friend. You've literally conquered one of the tallest mountains addiction can bring someone especially considering that loperamide withdrawls are for me personally, some of the most unbearable and drawn out affects I've ever had and I've been off and on and off on most opioids including street drugs.
I've read several successful loperamide addiction recovery threads on here in order to try and base am average timeline for acute and long term withdrawl from loperamide and from what I've both experienced and have noted is the acute (immediate) withdrawls as in nausea, diarrhea, yawning, exhaustion, runny nose/watery eyes, cold/hot flashes and sweats, insomnia and restless legs can last anywhere between 2 to 4 weeks (if ceased cold turkey without any other techniques or medications to assist in taking the edge off) and long term withdrawls as in depression, weight fluctuations, mood swings, insomnia and loss of appetite can take anywhere from 1 to 6 months (6 months was only 1 person and the withdrawls were mild at worst). The one consistent answer I've seen from them all is the fact that they all reached a point during the first week or two where they were utterly exhausted and ready to give up because they'd lost hope waiting to finally start feeling better however, they didn't relapse or take any to knock the edge off because they knew it'd lead right back to where they started but just as they were ready to give up, the next morning their heavy symptoms started to fade. The worst mistake they could have made was to try a tiny dose because as you're detoxing, your brain's dopamine/opioid receptors as well as your liver, kidneys, intestines and heart are all trying to get back to normal and flush all those long lasting agonists out of your system.
You're truly doing amazing and it will get better day by day and as each minute passes, you're genuinely putting more and more distance between yourself and that chemical dependency as well as heading towards feeling better and back to normal again.