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Case Reports
. 2017 Jan;9(1):59-63.

Loperamide Dependency: A Case Report

Mehran Zarghami  1 , Maryam Rezapour  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Loperamide Dependency: A Case Report

Mehran Zarghami et al. Addict Health. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Loperamide is used as an antidiarrheal drug and is available over-the-counter. It cannot pass the blood-brain barrier and it does not have a considerable abuse potential. It can lead to dangerous cardiac arrhythmia.

Case report: Herein, we report a 35-year-old man with a 13-year history of abusing opioids who had undergone detoxification for four times during this period. He underwent detoxification for using 200 mg loperamide daily with anticholinergic agents, clonidine, non-steroidal analgesics, and diazepam. No evidence of arrhythmia was seen in the patient.

Conclusion: Tolerating high doses of loperamide could be dangerous and increases the risk of fatal cardiac arrhythmias.

Keywords: Addiction; Cardiac arrhythmia; Loperamide.

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