A nasty stomach bug slapped me down recently and I was thinking about being prepped for longer trips. We have a three week long trip coming up in June and although it isn't adventuring across lower Mongolia it would still suck to get a bad infection or virus. Have any of you ever discussed big trips with your doctors and pre-arranged medications to take with you just in case?
I'm not suggesting Norco or similar, just a broad spectrum antibiotic, anti-nausea and anti-diarrhea is what I'm thinking. Sense we're not leaving the U.S. I'm not worried about anything more severe as an emergency clinic will generally be within a few hours at all times.
I'm 99% sure I could call in a prescription request while on the trip and get something filled via a chain pharmacy, so it's really not a big issue, just wondering if others have covered this ground before.
Edit: Dave I guessed at where to post this, not sure if it should be moved.
Unless you
are going to Mongolia or any other location outside the Continental US I discourage picking up a prescription for a broad spectrum antibiotic (BSA). It's just this philosophy that has created drug resistant infections that are becoming increasingly more prevalent in the US. Additionally, without the necessary skills to narrow down the potential source of the infection that BSA could actually worsen the conditions you are hoping to suppress and could actually result in a broader condition of sepsis. Be a good citizen - don't be "that guy" who wrangles a script for a BSA because they're "the smartest guy in the room."
According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), antibiotics and similar drugs, together called antimicrobial agents, have been used for the last 70 years to treat patients who have infectious diseases. Since the 1940s, these drugs have greatly reduced illness and death from infectious diseases. However, these drugs have been used so widely and for so long that the infectious organisms the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted to them, making the drugs less effective. Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections. Think of the environment you're creating for
your family. Just don't flippin' do it.
But back to treatment of those other distasteful conditions you described. I'm "old school" in the regard to the subjects of nausea, emesis, and diarrhea. There's a reason your body reacts with this type of response - it's a fairly clever design with a lot of autonomic features built in to survive, despite the best efforts to interrupt that process. Typically, you introduced something bad into the corpus and you need to get it out - it will effectively do it one of two ways and sometimes both, if it's noxious enough. Along with that a common sense approach by treating with a period of clear liquids to maintain hydration and small frequent amounts of bland easily digestible foods to maintain energy and hydration, and "hunkering down" for a couple of days, allows the normally healthy individual to return to a normal state of health within 24-48 hours. But I appreciate that if you're "on the march" and need to continue forward momentum and need to suppress some of these more uncomfortable conditions.
Medicines for nausea are called antiemetics. They can help relieve nausea and vomiting. There are several Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines you can buy without a prescription from your doctor. Bismuth subsalicylate (Kaopectate, Pepto-Bismol) may help treat some types of nausea and vomiting, such as gastroenteritis (also called “stomach flu”). It’s also used for upset stomach and as an antidiarrheal (medicine to treat diarrhea).
Certain
antihistamines may help prevent nausea and vomiting caused by motion sickness but for those driving have the unfortunate side effect of drowsiness. These include dimenhydrinate (Dramamine) and meclizine hydrochloride (Dramamine Less Drowsy).
Most of the time, diarrhea doesn’t require treatment. It usually lasts only a couple of days, whether you treat it or not. However, medicine can help you feel better, especially if you also have cramping.
When diarrhea is a symptom of an infection caused by bacteria or parasites, antidiarrheal medicines can actually make the condition worse. This is because the medicine keeps your body from getting rid of the bacteria or parasite that is causing the diarrhea. Talk to your doctor if you have any reason to think your diarrhea might be caused by a bacterial or parasitic infection. Based on what your healthcare provider determines, they will prescribe an antibiotic that targets that organism. A BSA will merely "shotgun" all the bugs, including the necessary normal flora in your gut, and just make things worse for you. Additionally, certain antibiotics, including those miracle BSA's, don't always play well with antidiarrheal medications so be certain to coordinate with your doc which works well with your prescribed bug-killer to minimize the time you spend on the porcelain Honda.
Common antidiarrheal medicines include loperamide (Imodium) and bismuth subsalicylate (Kaopectate, Pepto-Bismol). Remember, bismuth subsalicylate can also be used for upset stomach and as an
antiemetic. How do these drugs work? Loperamide works by slowing down how fast things move through your intestines (bowels). This allows more fluid to be absorbed so that you have less diarrhea and more formed stools. Bismuth subsalicylate works by balancing the way fluid moves through your intestines. It also reduces inflammation and keeps certain bacteria and viruses that cause diarrhea from growing in the stomach and intestines.
*The author of this post has spent extensive time at Holiday Inn Express' throughout the US and is a recognized Rewards Club member. In addition, since 1980, is also a Registered Professional Nurse with extensive experience in the production and disposition of emesis and diarrhea.
Those and some of the worst side effects have been linked to Gulf War Syndrome and several other musculoskeletal issues - but I got the VA thing going for me - which is nice, but not everyone does. The most negative side-effect is the prohibited consumption of alcohol, which rules this out for the majority of readers of this forum.
