Antimotility agents are drugs used to alleviate the symptoms of diarrhea. These include loperamide

Loperamide

Loperamide , a synthetic piperidine derivative, is an opioid drug used against diarrhea resulting from gastroenteritis or inflammatory bowel disease. In most countries it is available generically and under brand names such as Lopex, Imodium, Dimor, Fortasec, and Pepto Diarrhea Control...

 (Imodium), diphenoxylate

Diphenoxylate

Diphenoxylate is an opioid agonist used for the treatment of diarrhea that acts by slowing intestinal contractions and peristalsis allowing the body to consolidate intestinal contents and prolong transit time, thus allowing the intestines to draw moisture out of them at a normal or higher rate and...

 with atropine

Atropine

Atropine is a naturally occurring tropane alkaloid extracted from deadly nightshade , Jimson weed , mandrake and other plants of the family Solanaceae. It is a secondary metabolite of these plants and serves as a drug with a wide variety of effects...

 (Lomotil

Lomotil

The drug combination diphenoxylate/atropine is a popular oral anti-diarrheal in the United States, manufactured by Pfizer. Its UK BAN generic name is co-phenotrope....

), and opiate

Opiate

In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,...

s such as paregoric

Paregoric

Paregoric, or camphorated tincture of opium, also known as tinctura opii camphorata, is a medication known for its antidiarrheal, antitussive, and analgesic properties.-History:...

 tincture of opium, codeine

Codeine

Codeine or 3-methylmorphine is an opiate used for its analgesic, antitussive, and antidiarrheal properties...

, and morphine

Morphine

Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...

. In diarrhea caused by invasive pathogens such as Salmonella

Salmonella

Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...

, Shigella

Shigella

Shigella is a genus of Gram-negative, nonspore forming, non-motile, rod-shaped bacteria closely related to Escherichia coli and Salmonella. The causative agent of human shigellosis, Shigella causes disease in primates, but not in other mammals. It is only naturally found in humans and apes. During...

, and Campylobacter

Campylobacter

Campylobacter is a genus of bacteria that are Gram-negative, spiral, and microaerophilic. Motile, with either unipolar or bipolar flagella, the organisms have a characteristic spiral/corkscrew appearance and are oxidase-positive. Campylobacter jejuni is now recognized as one of the main causes...

, the use of such agents has generally been strongly discouraged, though evidence is lacking that they are harmful when administered in combination with antibiotics in Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile , also known as "CDF/cdf", or "C...

cases. Use of antimotility agents in children and the elderly has also been discouraged in treatment of EHEC (Shiga-like toxin

Shiga-like toxin

Shiga-like toxin, also known as verotoxin, is a toxin generated by some strains of Escherichia coli . It is named for its similarity to the AB5-type Shiga toxin produced by the bacteria Shigella dysenteriae....

 producing Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms . Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls...

) due to an increased rate of hemolytic uremic syndrome.