LoperamideOver the counter

Pronounced lo-PER-ah-mide

Brand names: Imodium

Type: Antidiarrheal · All Digestive (GI) Medicines

What Loperamide is used for

  • Diarrhea, including traveler's diarrhea
  • Reducing output from an ileostomy

Common side effects

  • Constipation
  • Dizziness
  • Dry mouth
  • Stomach cramps

Important cautions

  • Taking far more than the label directs — a form of misuse — can cause fatal heart rhythms
  • Diarrhea with high fever or blood in the stool needs medical care rather than self-treatment

How it comes

Tablets, capsules, liquid. This guide lists forms only — it never lists strengths or doses.

Please note: This page is a patient-education summary, not medical advice, and it deliberately contains no doses. Medicines affect everyone differently — always follow your own prescription and talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.