{"id":9273,"date":"2026-05-12T09:33:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T09:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=9273"},"modified":"2026-05-12T09:33:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T09:33:33","slug":"health-chiefs-issue-alert-about-diarrhoea-medication-due-to-potentially-unlabelled-side-effects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=9273","title":{"rendered":"Health chiefs issue alert about diarrhoea medication due to potentially unlabelled side effects"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By ZOE HARDY, HEALTH REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published:<\/span>

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Health chiefs have issued an urgent warning to people taking a common drug used to treat diarrhoea, after a packaging error was discovered in some batches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has warned the patient information leaflet inside certain packs of\u00a0loperamide hydrochloride 2mg tablets contains incorrect information on how to take the drug.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The drug’s manufacturer, Milpharm Limited, said the leaflet also fails to mention a rare side effect which causes a ‘burning or prickling sensation of the tongue’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The affected medicines are from batches 25882X3 and 25882X2 and include both six-tablet and 12-tablet packs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Loperamide works by slowing down food as it travels through the gut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This allows the body to draw in more water from the intestines, firming up the stool.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The tablets affected by the alert – which should be dissolved on the tongue – are often dubbed Imodium Instants.\u00a0But only Milpharm-branded products are affected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Patients who have bought it at a pharmacy are advised not to follow the instructions printed on the patient information leaflet.<\/p>\n

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Loperamide is a medicine to treat diarrhoea, often sold under the brand name Imodium\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Instead, the tablets should be placed on the tongue and left to dissolve in the mouth. You do not need water to swallow it<\/p>\n

The warning continues: ‘The leaflet inside the pack may incorrectly tell you to swallow the tablet whole with water – please follow the instructions on the carton (outer pack) and the advice in this notice instead.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those who experience a burning or prickling sensation of the tongue on taking the medicine are also advised to speak to a doctor or pharmacist.<\/p>\n

Healthcare professionals should be aware that this is a recognised adverse side effect of the dissolvable tablets and will be able to treat patients accordingly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This side-effect is rare, affecting one in every 1,000 patients. Any suspected adverse reactions should also be reported via the MHRA Yellow Card Scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More common side-effects include constipation, nausea, headache and flatulence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Milpharm Limited have confirmed that all future batches will be packed with the correct patient information leaflet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Loperamide should not be taken for more than 48 hours without talking to a doctor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The recommended dose depends on the type of diarrhoea and age of the patient.<\/p>\n

For adults with short-term diarrhoea, the usual starting dose is two tablets taken immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One tablet is then taken after each bowel movement until symptoms settle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Patients are also encouraged not to drink alcohol whilst taking the drug as it can make side effects more likely.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most cases of diarrhoea improve within a week. If symptoms persist, the NHS advises speaking with your doctor to rule out any underlying health conditions and manage any complications like dehydration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is not usually serious but changes in bowel habits can be a symptom of another problem such as bowel cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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By ZOE HARDY, HEALTH REPORTER Published: 05:27 EDT, 12 May 2026 | Updated: 05:31 EDT, 12 May 2026 Health chiefs have issued an urgent warning to people taking a common drug used to treat diarrhoea, after a packaging error was discovered in some batches.\u00a0 The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has warned the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[520],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}