Stupidity with Regard to Imodium A-D

[jlbattin]

I have Walgreen's Anti-Diarrheal Loperamide 2 mg..........and my inactive ingredients are this:

corn starch, D&C yellow #10 aluminum lake, dicalcium phosphate dihydrate, FD&C blue #1brilliant blue lake, magnesium stearate, microcrystaline cellulose, and silica gel

No castor oil in mine................

[crervin]

Jari, mine are the liquid filled. Seems no one can come to a concensus on what to put in it!

[tex]

It appears that Jari is using tablets, and Martha is using capsules, thus the reason for the different ingredients.

Tex

[jlbattin]

Wow......never realized there was a difference in ingredients between something that seems as simple as a tablet and a capsule..........seems logical they ought to all be the same? Or that would be too easy!

[tex]

Manufacturers always try to use the cheapest ingredients that will meet the minimal requirement of the processing required to make the finished product.

Tex

[RKrumland]

I live near a major shopping area in NW Houston -- lots of stores of all kinds within a couple miles of my house including at least 10 pharmacies. Investigating issues raised here, among other things I've discovered that both the Walmart and Target near me have generic loperamide with (tabs) and without (capsules) "anhydrous lactose".

When I investigated originally a few weeks ago, both the Sam's and Costco generic loperamide offerings (tabs) also contained lactose. However, today when I was in Sam's I noticed that their generic had a new package, so I read the label. Turns out it doesn't have any lactose any more -- lots of other things that may be bothersome to some, of course, but no lactose. Same small greenish looking tabs ... indistinguishable from their previous offerings which contained lactose. A box of 400 tabs -- 2 bottles x 200 tabs/bottle -- costs $5.48 ... so a best buy on that score!

Also took the opportunity to (re)read Sam's offering of Imodium MS (branded) label ... and voila, it no longer contains lactose either ... although I'm not sure it ever did. Same large pills, though, as others have noted.

I find that Imodium MS (for Multi-Symptom) is helpful for me -- lots less gas -- although I know some folks here don't find it at all helpful. It is just regular Imodium with simethicone added to it, 128 mg/tab. None of the generics I've seen -- with or without lactose -- contain simethicone ... but Walmart carries it as a standalone drug ... small greenish geltabs ... and it's relatively inexpensive. So, cheapest way I've found currently to maintain my AD habit is Sam's generic loperamide plus Walmart simethicone.

Cheers,
-- Rand

[tex]

Hi Rand,

It appears that loperamide labels change about as often (and as unpredictably) as soap opera scripts.

Thanks for all the information.

Tex