What’s the best way to treat travelers diarrhea?

[LGC]

There’s no quick fix if your gut flora can’t handle the local organisms. Just immodium, fluids, and small bland meals

______

 

Don’t eat anything that doesn’t come straight out of a boiling pot.

 

Do not eat cut fruit.

 

Do not any fresh herbs or condiments sprinkled on food.

 

Don’t drink any bottled drinks chilled in ice.

 

Pour all bottled drinks into a disposable cup.

 

Don’t drink ice drinks.

 

Don’t drink fresh juices.

 

Cover your toothbrush when not using

 

Only rinse and brush with bottled water

 

Don’t open your mouth in the shower

 

Don’t eat with any damp utensils

_______

 

You can always just eat and drink everything and just suffer the consequences.... and don’t forget the meds to treat your burning/inflamed anus!!!

 

[gcman68]

I got it in Mexico once our of my 15+ trips there and it was miserable. I didn't have anyone with me at the time and I will never forget it ever. I was able to get out of bed and walk in about 2 days. I looked it up afterwards and I had almost every single symptom where they said to seek medical treatment. I stayed in bed and just get on my  feet in time to make the trip home with no issues.  What I didn't know was that Cipro would have likely made things better much quicker.

The link below is where after the fact I got some additional information. I don't know if it is correct but it might be worth a look. 

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2018/the-pre-travel-consultation/travelers-diarrhea

 

[MD Puffer]

4 hours ago, cfc1016 said:

Dude... realistically, what is the likelihood that he will contract any of those conditions, as opposed to simply diarrhea? That comment seems a bit fear-mongering. @Nekhyludov 's comment illustrates the feasibility issues with this argument. Immodium to help him finish his trip without running out of clean clothes to fly home in... Doctor when he gets home - if adverse symptoms persist - to check for other causes. Sound like a fair compromise?

Confession time ( @99call will appreciate the odd, here) : part of me wishes I would get C. difficile just so I can say that I got sick and had to get a transpoosion.

The likelihood?  Odds... Hmm. Tough question. I don’t know. But I do know amebic dysentery abroad and C diff to a lesser degree are prevalent enough that I’d seek out a physican to work up the etiology (if abroad). That’s doesn’t account for a number of other causes- infectious and otherwise. The assumption here is that it’s more than a mild case of diarrhea- After all, he’s posting on an international forum about it right?  So, a proper workup involves basic labs, fecal studies, culture/parasites, occult blood testing, etc. Most importantly is the history (can you hold it in or do you lose control of your bowels, what’s it smell like, is it mucusy, watery, etc), how frequently are you going, what’s the volume, etc.  Different antibiotics for different bugs if antibiotics are even indicated. Some antibiotics are contraindicated as well for several causes of diarrhea. But this all comes town to just a couple of points:

1.  A cigar forum isn’t where one should go to seek out a solution for your pollution. 

2.  A proper remedy by a physician with intimate knowledge of the host country’s infectious diseases is your best bet for salvaging your vacation. 

3.  We’re blessed in the West. The cases of diarrhea we deal with are typically innocuous. Most aren’t even treated. And most of the time OTC Immodium is fine. But abroad- for one foreign to the region- it is a different situation. 

[bpm32]

6 hours ago, TheFullMontecristo said:

  thread should be moved to the travelers Diarrhea '"Clubs" thread.

Start it and I promise you I will join.

[Shelby07]

1 hour ago, MD Puffer said:

 

1.  A cigar forum isn’t where one should go to seek out a solution for your pollution. 

 

There are lots of folks on this board who do a lot of traveling. I travel to Africa with a charity I volunteer for about once a year along with a few other places overseas. I’m not talking about a life threatening situation, I’m talking about the occasional inconvenient bout that occurs when you travel. Is it inappropriate to discuss this?

[Homer]

If you allways use antibiotic for diarrhea you will end up getting multiresistent bacterial colonization in your colon. One day it maight cause you infection that cannot be trated with any antibiotic. And yes, I am ENT doctor.

 

[Cigar Surgeon]

Or just take a dose of Dukoral before you travel...

[Shelby07]

11 minutes ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

Or just take a dose of Dukoral before you travel...

I’ve known about most of the suggestions here but Dukoral was a new one. Looked it up. Sounds interesting but not available in US. 

Thanks. I’ll keep an eye out for it. 

[Cigar Surgeon]

3 minutes ago, Shelby07 said:

I’ve known about most of the suggestions here but Dukoral was a new one. Looked it up. Sounds interesting but not available in US. 

Thanks. I’ll keep an eye out for it. 

Alternatively there's the 'Surgeon special' which is chase all meals with copious amounts of hard liquor. Rum, whisky, scotch, whatever.

[Shelby07]

10 minutes ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

Alternatively there's the 'Surgeon special' which is chase all meals with copious amounts of hard liquor. Rum, whisky, scotch, whatever.

Ok. We can end this thread now. ??

[cigcars]

23 hours ago, HarveyBoulevard said:

I like an open and honest discussion on FOH as much as the next guy, but let me be the first to say...can we not use that as a title nor the other monikers contained within?  A little decorum would be nice

      *We call it "The Hershey Squirts"

[HarveyBoulevard]

1 hour ago, cigcars said:

      *We call it "The Hershey Squirts"

The original title and posting (before OP edited) was chock full o' mental images.  It is a much easier read now

[data]

Three shots of tequila. Always works for me in mexico. Rinse and repeat daily. not joking. Also buy new underwear daily.

[dageshi]

Honestly, the simple answer to this is immodium (carry this with you when you travel) and a 24 hour food fast. Just drink water for 24 hours and let the bug starve itself out. In my experience eating anything of any sort just keeps it going.

[thedame007]

If this doesn’t win the flip flop award this month...

[ayepatz]

1 hour ago, thedame007 said:

If this doesn’t win the flip flop award this month...

This thread could run and run. ?

[Drguano]

I only take Imodium if I have to travel and will not have a toilet readily available. Otherwise, lots of bottled water  and the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Rice (white rice) until things solidify. Last time I had it bad was in Syria. I knew it was serious when a banana went through so fast it exited before I finished eating it. And it was just as yellow...

[data]

I find that fast food helps as well. cheaper than going to the dr. 

[mt1]

There is a quick fix for this, especially when you are travelling.

It is this chinese medicine called "Po Chai Pills".  I've used them since I was young and I swear by them and don't travel without them.  I mean, just look at that guy's face, he must be right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po_Chai_Pills

[ebhead]

if you're going to Cuba specifically, not only have the above mentioned items handy, do not, I repeat, do not forget to take toilet paper (or any sort of wipe) with you...and if you have a spare one that you don't mind carrying along (?), a toilet seat might help as well - I've seen many stalls where the seat is not actually present while in Havana. 

[cigcars]

    Wow, you guys really are confirming what the late comic Richard Jeni had said about travelling abroad: "You can't get diarrhea like that anywhere else! I mean that is a germ wearing a sombrero and firing two six guns riding up your colon going: "BWOH! BWOH! BWOH-BWOH, BWOWBWOWBWOH!!! ANDELE`! ANDELE!!! VAMANOS! VAMANOS!! EVERYBODY OUT - EVERYBODY O-U-U-U-U-T!!!!!! 

[cigcars]

38 minutes ago, ebhead said:

if you're going to Cuba specifically, not only have the above mentioned items handy, do not, I repeat, do not forget to take toilet paper (or any sort of wipe) with you...and if you have a spare one that you don't mind carrying along (?), a toilet seat might help as well - I've seen many stalls where the seat is not actually present while in Havana. 

    U-U-R-G-H-H!!!  And thanks GREATLY for that advice!!! It's the little things of modern convenience we take for granted over here that would SCREW UP OUR MINDS to find missing anywhere else!!!

[Fuzz]

11 hours ago, mt1 said:

There is a quick fix for this, especially when you are travelling.

It is this chinese medicine called "Po Chai Pills".  I've used them since I was young and I swear by them and don't travel without them.  I mean, just look at that guy's face, he must be right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po_Chai_Pills

My grandmother gave me those when I was a kid! Haven't seen them in decades, but I think I still have a few vials somewhere.

[99call]

My most embarrassing story about loose bowels. Was walking back from an unreassuringly rural curry house in the uk.   I only got down two short country lanes before i had to stand buttocks clenched and grabbing a holly hedge so tightly, I could almost feel my palms filling with blood.   My hotel was in sight, at the top of the hill, but so liquid was my lunch, that the slightest movement could unleash a torrent of pure evil.        I minced up the driveway to the hotel at a couple of steps a minute.................thank god! I'm through the door!, just need to conquer the stairs. 

 As approach the stairs, I hear,,  "Hello!!  What are you doing?".    hot bubbles of brown lava rifled up through my body, like the sound of one of those gurggling office water dispensers    "Oh God!?" I think, as I slowly turn to the direction of the voice, the voice continues from behind a closed door  "Hello!! What are you doing??".    As I scurry through my mind to work out how on earth I'm going to hold a conversation with the owner of the Hotel, and explain my current state,   I remember they have a parrot..........little bugger.        I would like to say I made it up those 10 stairs with my dignity in tact. but that would be a lie.     I'm convinced to this day, if it hadn't of been for that parrot, I'd of made it. 

[LGC]

My most embarrassing story about loose bowels. Was walking back from an unreassuringly rural curry house in the uk.   I only got down two short country lanes before i had to stand buttocks clenched and grabbing a holly hedge so tightly, I could almost feel my palms filling with blood.   My hotel was in sight, at the top of the hill, but so liquid was my lunch, that the slightest movement could unleash a torrent of pure evil.        I minced up the driveway to the hotel at a couple of steps a minute.................thank god! I'm through the door!, just need to conquer the stairs. 
 As approach the stairs, I hear,,  "Hello!!  What are you doing?".    hot bubbles of brown lava rifled up through my body, like the sound of one of those gurggling office water dispensers    "Oh God!?" I think, as I slowly turn to the direction of the voice, the voice continues from behind a closed door  "Hello!! What are you doing??".    As I scurry through my mind to work out how on earth I'm going to hold a conversation with the owner of the Hotel, and explain my current state,   I remember they have a parrot..........little bugger.        I would like to say I made it up those 10 stairs with my dignity in tact. but that would be a lie.     I'm convinced to this day, if it hadn't of been for that parrot, I'd of made it. 

Once you break the seal, you can never get the valve to fully close again... until the tank is fully drained