Diphenoxylate (Dhamotil) experience report

Diphenoxylate is chemically an opioid and has a structure that resembles meperidine (Demerol). It is available as an anti-diarrheal and reportedly does not appreciably cross the blood-brain barrier, although high doses exhibit codeine-like subjective effects, indicating opiate activity and possible recreational value. Diphenoxylate is primarily obtained from diphenoxylate and atropine preparations, which is used to control diarrhea. This is probably due to the general action of opiate antagonists in causing constipation and the reportedly low potential for abuse in diphenoxylate profile. The diphenoxylate was obtained in the form of Dhamotil, which contains 2.5 mg of diphenoxylate hydrochloride per tablet and 0.025 mg of atropine sulphate.

I obtained Dhamotil (also known as Lomotil) from the pharmacy I frequent in Sibu - it supposedly has opiate like subjective effects from what the pharmacist told me. He noticed a trend between people who obtained dihydrocodeine, codeine, and buprenorphine (drug seeking users of the opiate variety) had also bought Dhamotil in large quantities, presumably for recreational purposes (it sure ain't for helping them shit, that's for sure ;)). I was rather dubious about it, so I didn't look up diphenoxylate hydrochloride until I ran out of interesting pharmaceutical solutions to experiment with and found this in my Box of Interesting Pharmacuticals.

I was pleased with the initial results from looking up diphenoxylate. It seems that atropine was added to diphenoxylate to prevent the abuse of diphenoxylate, which can produce opiate like effects in large doses. The atropine was added in sub-therapeutic doses just to prevent the consumption of massive doses of diphenoxylate for recreational purposes. It sounded interesting enough to experiment with, so I consumed 20 x 2.5 mg tablets (2 blister packs) of diphenoxylate for a total of 50 mg of diphenoxylate. This was consumed on an empty stomach and several benzodiazepines (Dormicum and Rivotril) were also taken on a recreational dose. Cannabis was also concurrently used in this experiment.

I did notice a slight to moderate warmth consistent with opiate antagonists after about an hour and this effect was quite prolonged, lasting approximately 10 hours. This is what I wrote:

little bit of opiat3e warmth perceived
slightly sleepy too due to atropine or prrevious 3xdorms
little nausea tho cannabis was supposed to counter it
its okay i guess, to add a little bit of opaiat3e warnth to your nighty benzo + weed combo.
makes it feel more sedating...with the coldish but still noticable opiat3e warmth

The sloppy English is mainly due to the cannabis compounded by the close key proximity of the notebook, but subjectively, there is something interesting about diphenoxylate. The dosage I took (50 mg) was several times the daily recommended dose but the atropine did not have an impact on it. I can see the potential for diphenoxylate for a cheap and mild codeine substitute and I am interested to try it again at a higher dose (100 mg - 200 mg range) to get a more substantial appreciation for diphenoxylate.