Bad idea man!! Just because you have stopped taking the medication doesnt mean its out of your system. Indeed, after just 24/36 hours off the medication the level of drug in your system is greater than at any time up until the final dose. I once almost killed myself drinking heavily after medication.RockyMtnJay wrote:I guess it is actually more correct to say my parasite and I? I will try to write this as gross free as my feeble mind will allow. I assume most of the local guys here will know all about parasites. But for some reason, after spending more than a third of my time in SE Asia since the start of 2006, I didn't know.
Started having some G.I. tract problems very late in January. A pain a bit below my stomach with intermittent diarrhea. For the first few days I just assumed it would pass (no pun intended).
It drags on and I start checking the Internet. I find a lot of articles about travelers diarrhea. Usually treated with ciprofloxacin but the bugs in SEA are supposedly mostly immune to cipro so azithromycin (Zithromax/Zimax) is recommended. I waste a week or so playing with Zithro. Sometimes it seems to help but I later figure out some days are just better than others. So after a couple of discussions with an expat that had suffered the parasite problem twice its off for a stool test.
I arrive at Naga Clinic late afternoon. They give me a little bag with a small pill bottle and wooden tongue depressor to use as a scoop. I walk in the bathroom looking at this little bottle thinking this is going to be interesting. As chance would have it a couldn't make a sample so I take the kit and come back to my hotel.
The next day and the following day I don't need to go all day. Hallelujah, I have been cured. In fact I think maybe I now have the opposite problem. But later that night it's back to reality and the bathroom.
7 AM the next morning my stomach wakes me up. I take a sample and head off to Naga around 9 AM. They take the sample and tell me to call back for results around 5:30 PM. I call back at 5:30 and get the report I have the dreaded single cell parasite. I've made occasional fun of amoebas over the years. They apparently have chosen now to get even. You can get a stool test at Naga without seeing a doctor. The total damage for the test was $28.
Next morning I have an appointment with a doctor at Naga. I only have to wait 10 minutes past the appointment time to see the doc, not bad at all. He is French with a very thick accent. He seemed very competent but I made him repeat a few things with the thick accent. It takes less than 10 minutes for him to give me the script and all the advice/info. No drinking alcohol while on the meds. I also had him check another problem which took a couple of minutes. Total charge for the doctor visit was $30.
I got the script filled at the pharmacy at Naga. Seven days of 2x a day Flagyl (500 mg) and Intetrix. The total cost of the meds $14.54. BTW the Intetrix was very hard on my stomach.
I finished my meds yesterday evening so I can once again tonight. I'm going to paint the town red (rouge) tonight. If you see a totally pissed American out tonight, it could be anyone of us.
In our next medical episode I'll discuss having a fungus infection in a very bad part of your body while on parasite meds. So basically things like walking and other fun things you might do with that area of your body were out. This article will be called '101 fun things to do in your hotel room in PP'. It may take a while to complete as so far there are only three thing on the list...
So leave the drinking off for another 3/4 days and just stuck to water and juices!!