Teh One Who Knocks
05-12-2016, 11:24 AM
By Alex Resila - CNY Central
http://i.imgur.com/JLY0Q6I.jpg
It's the newest way of getting high. It's completely legal and you get as much of it as you want as often as you'd like for only a few dollars from any drugstore. It's even being compared to heroin by Dr. Jeanna Marraffa at the Upstate New York Poison Center
"I think that it's just as dangerous if not more dangerous, if not more dangerous," says Marraffa.
Loperamide is the opioid found in medications like Imodium. Since it was approved by the FDA decades ago, loperamide has been used to help with diarrhea. However, now word is spreading about how dangerous this drug can be in high doses. Katharine Rayland needed to have her heart shocked back to life 28 times when she went to the emergency room after abusing the drug for a year.
"I went out and was code blue, I was on full cardiac arrest. I was blue blue," says Rayland.
That was in 2012. At that time, Rayland was the first person Upstate University Hospital had encountered who admitted to using loperamide to get high. Since then the Upstate New York Poison Center has seen a 70 percent increase in patients overdosing on Imodium.
"Cases that come into the emergency department are even dying from that, so unfortunately we're learning the hard way about the risk of toxisity of this drug," says Marraffa.
People like Rayland used it to deal with her withdrawal from vicodin. Others use it simply to get a cheap, legal high. Either way, unlike low doses increased doses push the drug into your brain making you high. When abused it can cause deadly heart problems.
"You very well could die, so in my opinion it's actually incredibly lethal," says Marraffa.
There are efforts being made to regulate this drug, starting with the doctors Marraffa who see the dangers this drug presents.
"I truly believe that we have to make efforts to really put this behind the counter, similar to pseudoephedrine or dextromethorphan that you can still get without a prescription, but there's quantities and limitations on how much you can buy."
By the time Rayland ended up in the ER four years ago, she was taking 144 pills a day.
"You needed to take a lot, but most people aren't willing to do that, but as a desperate addict I would do whatever it took."
At its recommended dose, doctors say it's perfectly fine. One of the reasons why people like Rayland start taking it, initially thinking it's safe.
"We've learned now that from loperamide that that indeed is not true," says Marraffa.
"When it became an over-the-counter drug that the was the best decision they made based on the information they had. I think it should be reconsidered now in light of what we know. You could buy codine cough syrup just by going up to your pharmacist, you can't do that anymore," says Rayland.
In addition to wanting changes to prevent someone else from nearly killing themselves, in the meantime Rayland hopes this story about her addiction will help remove the veil others have about their problems with diarrhea medication.
"I was ashamed and was afraid that there would be some red stamp on my folder at every doctors office that said addict, don't give her anything. Which is entirely untrue, but that's the rumor and I believed it," says Rayland.
Two people have died in upstate New York in the past year from loperamide overdoses. The Upstate New York Poison Center has issued a report on how dangerous it can be. We asked how this recent spike compares to other new ways of getting high, such as synthetic marijuana or bath salts.
"It has the potential of being much larger, so hopefully getting this out there and discussing this will help decrease that risk of having a larger problem," says Marraffa.
Hoping their stories and warnings will make a difference and stop even one person from continuing to abuse a drug that's proven deadly when you take way too much of it.
http://i.imgur.com/JLY0Q6I.jpg
It's the newest way of getting high. It's completely legal and you get as much of it as you want as often as you'd like for only a few dollars from any drugstore. It's even being compared to heroin by Dr. Jeanna Marraffa at the Upstate New York Poison Center
"I think that it's just as dangerous if not more dangerous, if not more dangerous," says Marraffa.
Loperamide is the opioid found in medications like Imodium. Since it was approved by the FDA decades ago, loperamide has been used to help with diarrhea. However, now word is spreading about how dangerous this drug can be in high doses. Katharine Rayland needed to have her heart shocked back to life 28 times when she went to the emergency room after abusing the drug for a year.
"I went out and was code blue, I was on full cardiac arrest. I was blue blue," says Rayland.
That was in 2012. At that time, Rayland was the first person Upstate University Hospital had encountered who admitted to using loperamide to get high. Since then the Upstate New York Poison Center has seen a 70 percent increase in patients overdosing on Imodium.
"Cases that come into the emergency department are even dying from that, so unfortunately we're learning the hard way about the risk of toxisity of this drug," says Marraffa.
People like Rayland used it to deal with her withdrawal from vicodin. Others use it simply to get a cheap, legal high. Either way, unlike low doses increased doses push the drug into your brain making you high. When abused it can cause deadly heart problems.
"You very well could die, so in my opinion it's actually incredibly lethal," says Marraffa.
There are efforts being made to regulate this drug, starting with the doctors Marraffa who see the dangers this drug presents.
"I truly believe that we have to make efforts to really put this behind the counter, similar to pseudoephedrine or dextromethorphan that you can still get without a prescription, but there's quantities and limitations on how much you can buy."
By the time Rayland ended up in the ER four years ago, she was taking 144 pills a day.
"You needed to take a lot, but most people aren't willing to do that, but as a desperate addict I would do whatever it took."
At its recommended dose, doctors say it's perfectly fine. One of the reasons why people like Rayland start taking it, initially thinking it's safe.
"We've learned now that from loperamide that that indeed is not true," says Marraffa.
"When it became an over-the-counter drug that the was the best decision they made based on the information they had. I think it should be reconsidered now in light of what we know. You could buy codine cough syrup just by going up to your pharmacist, you can't do that anymore," says Rayland.
In addition to wanting changes to prevent someone else from nearly killing themselves, in the meantime Rayland hopes this story about her addiction will help remove the veil others have about their problems with diarrhea medication.
"I was ashamed and was afraid that there would be some red stamp on my folder at every doctors office that said addict, don't give her anything. Which is entirely untrue, but that's the rumor and I believed it," says Rayland.
Two people have died in upstate New York in the past year from loperamide overdoses. The Upstate New York Poison Center has issued a report on how dangerous it can be. We asked how this recent spike compares to other new ways of getting high, such as synthetic marijuana or bath salts.
"It has the potential of being much larger, so hopefully getting this out there and discussing this will help decrease that risk of having a larger problem," says Marraffa.
Hoping their stories and warnings will make a difference and stop even one person from continuing to abuse a drug that's proven deadly when you take way too much of it.