Hi, I┤ll be doing Central America in a month and there┤s
something I┤m a bit worried about- the food.
I really love food but do I really dare to eat everything
that comes in my way?
Thanks in advance.
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Yeh, I eat everything but I've also had Hep A and 17 case of
dysentery over the years. Hep A is the biggie. See your
doctor for jabs. Lake Atitlan is famous for it. How can you
avoid food problems. According to the experts: Eat only
thoroughly cooked foods(what if the plate has been washed in
lake water or the cook has the grunge), peel all fruits and
veggies(Your hands and utensils are of course clean), drink
only bottled water(you certain about where it was filled),
all other fruits and veggies are soaked in treated
water(tastes bad). Eat what looks good and tasty and fairly
clean. If you get the trots take lomotil or equivalent. Drink
only beer or rum. If the runs don't go away in a day or 2
take flagyl-not the suppositeries. Carry lots of toilet
paper. The new waterless anti-bacterial hand cleaners help
with hygiene on long bus rides. Straining over disgusting
imitations of a toilet is no fun but makes very entertaining
stories for your friends back home. Actually, most of the
food is worth the risk.
Lime juice is said to be a good antibiotic, we squeezed it
over all our meals while in Mexico. Also, grapefruit (and
possible orange)seeds are natural antibiotics, so I always
eat those on the road.
And as someone with an Inflammatory Bowel Disease, I can say
DO NOT take the advice to drink beer or rum when you have
the runs. The standard is the BARTT diet: bananas,
applesuace, rice, toast and tea. Coke won't kill you
either. If you've got 'em bad, booze will help take you
out: it dehydrates you.
The beer and rum was not intended to cure anything...drink it
to avoid problems from water.
This looks to me as the tips of the day, I thank you all..
I can't really agree to take Flagyl in case of diarrhea. A
much better and generally prescribed drug is
Ciprofloxacine, or else norfloxacine (same type of drug).
Take 2 pills a day for 3 days, and you'll get better very
quickly in 90% of the cases. If not, consult a doctor.
Also, it seems very unlikely to me that bob had
dysentery 17 times. What he probably means is a simple
"travellers diarrhea" which is far less dangerous then
dysentery.
A much better and generally prescribed dru
Really was dysentery but spread out over many years. Can't
count the number of travelers trots. Sometimes you've got to
take what's available. Bright side is that after a decade or
two your body starts to develop an immunity.
I picked up a stomach bug in Panama last month. A resident
of Costa Rica swore that drinking the juice of 2-3 green
(unripe) coconuts would cure what ailed me. I was so sick
of the taste of the juice after just one coconut I couldn't
imagine drinking another two. My stomach did eventually
recover in a few days. But maybe if I had completed the
prescribed medication recovery might have come sonner.