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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 4/21/2014 7:48 PM (GMT 0)
So I started Remicade again. It seems to be working fairly well- I've been able to stop taking Loperamide completely (I had previously been taking it like clockwork just to maintain a tolerable level of diarrhea) and my body seems to be healing.

But I feel so darn restless! It's not even really an excess of energy, as doing things still makes me just as tired as before. I just can't seem to sit still. It's making it difficult to sleep. It's hard to focus. I'm jittery and it's driving me nuts.

Anyone else experience this?
Posted 4/21/2014 8:59 PM (GMT 0)
I'm glad the Remicade seems to be working. I would be suspicious of having a bit of withdrawal effect from the loperamide since you were taking it regularly. Even an over-the-counter medication can have withdrawal problems. -Joy
Posted 4/21/2014 10:08 PM (GMT 0)
Loperamide is an opiate and while withdrawl symptoms aren't common if you have been taking it for a really extended time then it can give you any of the many opiate withdrawal symptoms. One way to test this is to take some immodium when youre feeling the worst and see if it gets better. Obviously if youre already dealing with C then I wouldn't suggest doing this ;)
Posted 4/21/2014 10:20 PM (GMT 0)
darn, yeah, i should have done the research on that. symptoms fit exactly. well at least i know! i'm hesitant to go back on it as i'm afraid that may cause the constipation to resume, which is far more painful for me. I'll see how it goes. Hopefully since I wasn't taking nearly as much as the various bloggers talking about the symptoms it won't take as long for me.


Thanks guys. Really should have done the legwork on this beforehand. This is what I get!
Posted 4/21/2014 10:55 PM (GMT 0)
Just glad the remi is working for you. Loperamide withdrawals can be considered a happy event because you no longer need it so youre getting healthy :)
Posted 4/22/2014 9:50 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks again, guys. Told my parents about this whole thing and they were very surprised. They've both been taking loperamide (at much lower doses, and less frequently) for years now, and never had any issues even when stopping for a while. That's part of why I let myself get too comfy with it.

just goes to show: always do the research before making any changes, even if you think you know!

update: i've started to get some diarrhea again, so i'm reintroducing the loperamide at half the dose i'd been taking. hopefully this will also let me sleep.
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