Loperamide of a number of types of diarrhea. This includes control of acute nonspecific diarrhea, mild traveler's diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic diarrhea due to bowel resection, and chronic diarrhea secondary to inflammatory bowel disease. It is also useful for reducing ileostomy output. Off-label uses for loperamide also include chemotherapy-induced diarrhea, especially related to irinotecan use. Loperamide should not be used as the primary treatment in cases of bloody diarrhea, acute exacerbation of ulcerative colitis, or bacterial enterocolitis. Loperamide is often compared to diphenoxylate. Recent studies suggest that loperamide is more effective and has lower neural side effects. Adverse drug reactions
Loperamide physical dependence during preclinical studies, specifically in mice, rats, and rhesus monkeys. Symptoms of mild opiate withdrawal were observed following abrupt discontinuation of long-term treatment of animals with loperamide. When originally approved for medical use in the United States, loperamide was considered a narcotic and was put into Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act 1970. It was transferred to Schedule V on 17 July 1977 and then decontrolled as of 3 November 1982. Loperamide hydrochloride was first synthesized by Paul Janssen from Janssen Pharmaceutica in Beerse (Belgium), following previous discoveries of diphenoxylate hydrochloride (1956) and fentanyl citrate (1960). The