Malaria Prophylaxis

[Doug3006]

Do you really think you are getting into your Doctor that day or a US pharmacy has the medicine in stock? Best case you are getting next day shipping and I think many will be going to urgent care with whatever PA they have that day.

Just a guess…but mentioning that you may have malaria probably gets you placed near the front of the line with most doc’s…or at least most emergency rooms. Malarone is a commonly prescribed malaria treatment..not just a prophylactic.

 

[revturbo9967]

I had some weird dreams on malorone but nothing crazy. I’ll take it again in May when I go back over.

 

[J.Ogilvie]

A side note to taking Doxy ....
Doxy has the tendency to kill everything in your stomach I always take a probiotic when taking Doxy to keep my stomach in order

Is there a particular probiotic you would recommend for travel? Most of the good ones that I know about have to be refrigerated.

 

[Rare Breed]

Good point, but I would think telling the doctor you’ve been to Africa would be a rather obvious thing to do. Keeping that to oneself would be a bit silly. Even if one were unconscious, surely someone in the family would think to tell them.

I returned from South Africa with a high fever and a terrible bite wound. I went to a doc-in-the-box and told them I had contracted African tick bite fever. The doc asked why I thought so. Well, I explained, I’ve just returned from Africa. I got bit (and showed her the rather hideous bite), and oh yeah, I have a 102 degree fever. Then I handed her a print out of the CDC pages on ATBF. She agreed with my diagnosis and prescribed doxycycline. I didn’t think it wise to test her knowledge of Africa-endemic infections.

Basically given I make my living from research and many doctors in my family I too have learned to do your own research and present your information to your doctor. Medicine is both an art and a science in spite of people thinking it is only the latter. My family who are doctors told me they are appreciative of patients that take charge of themselves like this versus thinking their doctor has all the answers…they do not

 

[mdwest]

Is there a particular probiotic you would recommend for travel? Most of the good ones that I know about have to be refrigerated.

When I take doxy I generally just eat foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, etc that are high in probiotics… that seems to be enough for me… unless I’m truly out in the middle of nowhere it’s generally not too hard to find something regional that is good for gut health… olives are high in probiotics.. kimchee, pickles, miso, sourdough, any fermented cheese, and a bunch of other foods can keep you in order…

 

[375Fox]

When I take doxy I generally just eat foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, etc that are high in probiotics… that seems to be enough for me… unless I’m truly out in the middle of nowhere it’s generally not too hard to find something regional that is good for gut health… olives are high in probiotics.. kimchee, pickles, miso, sourdough, any fermented cheese, and a bunch of other foods can keep you in order…

Just keep in mind you’re not supposed to combine dairy/calcium and doxycycline. It reduces the effectiveness.