My Anus Horribilis (Imodium Plus)

Member Name: plipplop

Product:	Imodium Plus
Date:	07/01/09 (463 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quickly stops a bad bout of diarrhoea....

Disadvantages: ....unless you've got a virus.

Sadly, for me, 2008 will be remembered as the year I got diarrhoea four times. It's not a pleasant subject, let's face it, but it's even less pleasant when you're the one dashing backwards and forwards to the bathroom, narrowly avoiding jettisoning the contents of your bowels into your slippers. For my sins, in 2008, I twice suffered from what I believed to be food poisoning, once suffered from an excess of cider and finally, rounded the year off with a heavy dose of gastric flu. Along the way, Imodium Plus was my drug of choice in trying to cure the symptoms, with varying degrees of success.

There are currently three varieties of Imodium for sale. Standard Imodium tablets seem to be available pretty much everywhere and can be purchased "off-the-shelf". Imodium Plus (the subject of my review) only seems to be available in chemists, some of which insist that you speak to the pharmacist prior to making a purchase (although in Boots, I normally just pick it up.) I've not found that either the standard Imodium or the Imodium Instants are particularly effective at all and so, whilst the Plus is twice the price, it definitely pays to go for the strongest variety.

The active ingredient in all Imodium products is loperamide. In simple terms, loperamide acts on the intestinal walls, slowing down the passing of waste matter and allowing more water to be absorbed. By design, this should quickly treat the symptoms of diarrhoea, as the digestive system will be less inclined to pass things through so quickly. Clearly, it is also intended to return a degree of control to the sufferer who, in severe cases, simply has no control over his/her bowel movements; a most unpleasant condition.

The tablets are about the size of a normal painkiller (Anadin Extra are almost identical in size.) They are white and feel as though they have a slightly chalky texture, but you swallow them whole rather than chewing them. They're very easy to take; the faintly minty taste means that they aren't unpleasant and with a glass of water, you can get them down without any issues. Adults are supposed to take two straight away, with one to be taken at intervals after each bowel movement if necessary, but no more than 4 in a 24-hour period.

In three out of four instances, the tablets were extremely effective. I took them immediately after I'd been to the toilet and within minutes, my system started to feel slightly more settled. The manufacturers claim that they can ease other symptoms (such as wind or stomach cramps) and this was also true. In all three cases, the diarrhoea stopped pretty much straight away, meaning that I was actually able to rest/sleep (a critical thing when you're ill, which diarrhoea pretty much rules out.)

In fact, the drugs are almost *too* effective. The diarrhoea clears up very quickly but I then find that my digestive system grinds to a halt completely for 24 hours or more. In one case, I found that I became quite constipated and (bizarrely) this in turn seemed to lead to renewed bloating and wind. It takes some time for my system to get back to normal, and I could therefore only recommend the drugs in a real emergency.

For gastric flu, the drugs were completely ineffective. Having suffered with chronic symptoms for a day or more, I visited the doctor, who warned me that loperamide-based products are unsuitable for gastric viruses. Apparently, the whole point of these watery bowel movements is to enable your body to expel the toxins from your gut, and if you take something like Imodium, you will simply be extending the duration of the infection. Nonetheless, having spent a further 12 hours constantly in the bathroom, I decided that enough was enough and that I needed some sleep, so I resorted to Imodium Plus. In spite of my other experiences, the loperamide simply had no effect at all and I continued to suffer with diarrhoea until there was simply nothing left to get rid of. This may have been an indication of the severity of the infection, but the only remedy left to me then was to take re-hydration powders and lie pitifully in bed.

Imodium Plus is not recommended for children and I would go further to say that I would not use this unless it was for alcohol or food-induced symptoms. If you feel as though you may be suffering from a virus, then heed the advice of the professionals and try and live with the diarrhoea to get rid of the bug. At around £6 for twelve caplets, it's not entirely cheap, but in the right conditions it is, at least, effective.

Summary: An effective anti-diarrhoea drug - but heed the advice of the doctor!