Taking an anti-biotic when travelling oversees?

"A Mate" wrote in message
u...
Lomotil is not available in Australia any longer because of a range of
possible problems - so is probably not safe. Loperamide is a 'stopper'
which can be used when you need to travel immediately; but it does
absolutely nothing to 'cure' the underlying cause of the problem.

I've always found that the diarrhea occurs once or twice - and then your
stomach is accustomed to the dominant foreign bacteria etc - and the
problem is over!

Well, that is your lucky experience
You clearly have not had dysentry or other nasty bugs where "occurences"
once or twice per hour would be good news (my worst case coming from being
doused in sewage when river rafting in a flash flood in Bali, a dramatic way
to lose a few kg quickly with trips to the loo a few times an hour)

Antibiotics are not suitable for use as prophylactics.

Wrong. Doxycycline (a broad spectrum anti-biotic) is widely used as a
prophylactic. I have no idea why it works as one, but it does not have the
side-effects of nausea etc, which some other prophylactics do (enough for me
to stop taking them in one trip to Borneo). But it does have a side-effect
of increased sensitivity to sunburn on some people.

See http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/cache/-724565949.htm and many other places.

(And I am pretty sure Lomotil is not an anti-biotic - see original message)





"Sanjay Punjab" wrote in message
om...
Last time I traveled to the middle east, I had stomach problems
throughout my trip. A friend mentioned that the problem could be
bacteria from food (I only drank bottled water). I did some research
and some people take an antibiotic with them on their trip and perhaps
even start taking it before they leave. I believe the name of
anti-biotic was Lotomil, but I no longer can find any reference to it
online. I would appreciate some advice from people who regularly take
an anti-biotic when they travel oversees. Thanks

In general, antibiotics are not appropriate for prophylactic purposes.

The last poster has pointed out an exception to this: Doxycycline is
effective as an anti-malarial prophylactic and is widely prescribed
for travellers to certain parts of the Far East (where standard
anti-malarial prophylactics are not effective).

Quite what this has to do with the OP's question (about preventing
minor stomach upsets while travelling) is not clear to me: the advice
already given is very sensible. Minor problems are likely to clear up
in a short space of time, while major problems will require medical
intervention.

"RAK" wrote in message ...
"A Mate" wrote in message
u...
Lomotil is not available in Australia any longer because of a range of
possible problems - so is probably not safe. Loperamide is a 'stopper'
which can be used when you need to travel immediately; but it does
absolutely nothing to 'cure' the underlying cause of the problem.

I've always found that the diarrhea occurs once or twice - and then your
stomach is accustomed to the dominant foreign bacteria etc - and the
problem is over!

Well, that is your lucky experience
You clearly have not had dysentry or other nasty bugs where "occurences"
once or twice per hour would be good news (my worst case coming from being
doused in sewage when river rafting in a flash flood in Bali, a dramatic way
to lose a few kg quickly with trips to the loo a few times an hour)

Antibiotics are not suitable for use as prophylactics.

Wrong. Doxycycline (a broad spectrum anti-biotic) is widely used as a
prophylactic. I have no idea why it works as one, but it does not have the
side-effects of nausea etc, which some other prophylactics do (enough for me
to stop taking them in one trip to Borneo). But it does have a side-effect
of increased sensitivity to sunburn on some people.

See http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/cache/-724565949.htm and many other places.

(And I am pretty sure Lomotil is not an anti-biotic - see original message)





"Sanjay Punjab" wrote in message
om...
Last time I traveled to the middle east, I had stomach problems
throughout my trip. A friend mentioned that the problem could be
bacteria from food (I only drank bottled water). I did some research
and some people take an antibiotic with them on their trip and perhaps
even start taking it before they leave. I believe the name of
anti-biotic was Lotomil, but I no longer can find any reference to it
online. I would appreciate some advice from people who regularly take
an anti-biotic when they travel oversees. Thanks

As you point out there are vastly different causes for the symptom.
There are also vastly different medical environments for problems to
occur in. What is appropriate in one circumstance can be inappropriate
in another.

RAK wrote:

"A Mate" wrote in message
u...

Lomotil is not available in Australia any longer because of a range of
possible problems - so is probably not safe. Loperamide is a 'stopper'
which can be used when you need to travel immediately; but it does
absolutely nothing to 'cure' the underlying cause of the problem.

I've always found that the diarrhea occurs once or twice - and then your
stomach is accustomed to the dominant foreign bacteria etc - and the
problem is over!


Well, that is your lucky experience
You clearly have not had dysentry or other nasty bugs where "occurences"
once or twice per hour would be good news (my worst case coming from being
doused in sewage when river rafting in a flash flood in Bali, a dramatic way
to lose a few kg quickly with trips to the loo a few times an hour)


Antibiotics are not suitable for use as prophylactics.


Wrong. Doxycycline (a broad spectrum anti-biotic) is widely used as a
prophylactic. I have no idea why it works as one, but it does not have the
side-effects of nausea etc, which some other prophylactics do (enough for me
to stop taking them in one trip to Borneo). But it does have a side-effect
of increased sensitivity to sunburn on some people.

See http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/cache/-724565949.htm and many other places.

(And I am pretty sure Lomotil is not an anti-biotic - see original message)





"Sanjay Punjab" wrote in message
.com...

Last time I traveled to the middle east, I had stomach problems
throughout my trip. A friend mentioned that the problem could be
bacteria from food (I only drank bottled water). I did some research
and some people take an antibiotic with them on their trip and perhaps
even start taking it before they leave. I believe the name of
anti-biotic was Lotomil, but I no longer can find any reference to it
online. I would appreciate some advice from people who regularly take
an anti-biotic when they travel oversees. Thanks

"david" wrote in message
om...
In general, antibiotics are not appropriate for prophylactic purposes.

The last poster has pointed out an exception to this: Doxycycline is
effective as an anti-malarial prophylactic and is widely prescribed
for travellers to certain parts of the Far East (where standard
anti-malarial prophylactics are not effective).

Quite what this has to do with the OP's question (about preventing
minor stomach upsets while travelling) is not clear to me: the advice
already given is very sensible. Minor problems are likely to clear up
in a short space of time, while major problems will require medical
intervention.

Well the reason I gave that reply is that some else had given the incorrect
information that
" Antibiotics are not suitable for use as prophylactics." and this is
not true in the case of doxy as you agree.
I included the original quotes which i was disagreeing with.
And I did not say or imply that antibiotics in general are suitable as
prophylactics.
You really object to me correcting some misinformation, even if that was not
related to the original question?





"RAK" wrote in message
...
"A Mate" wrote in message
u...
Lomotil is not available in Australia any longer because of a range of
possible problems - so is probably not safe. Loperamide is a 'stopper'
which can be used when you need to travel immediately; but it does
absolutely nothing to 'cure' the underlying cause of the problem.

I've always found that the diarrhea occurs once or twice - and then
your
stomach is accustomed to the dominant foreign bacteria etc - and the
problem is over!

Well, that is your lucky experience
You clearly have not had dysentry or other nasty bugs where "occurences"
once or twice per hour would be good news (my worst case coming from
being
doused in sewage when river rafting in a flash flood in Bali, a dramatic
way
to lose a few kg quickly with trips to the loo a few times an hour)

Antibiotics are not suitable for use as prophylactics.

Wrong. Doxycycline (a broad spectrum anti-biotic) is widely used as a
prophylactic. I have no idea why it works as one, but it does not have
the
side-effects of nausea etc, which some other prophylactics do (enough for
me
to stop taking them in one trip to Borneo). But it does have a
side-effect
of increased sensitivity to sunburn on some people.

See http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/cache/-724565949.htm and many other
places.

(And I am pretty sure Lomotil is not an anti-biotic - see original
message)





"Sanjay Punjab" wrote in message
om...
Last time I traveled to the middle east, I had stomach problems
throughout my trip. A friend mentioned that the problem could be
bacteria from food (I only drank bottled water). I did some research
and some people take an antibiotic with them on their trip and perhaps
even start taking it before they leave. I believe the name of
anti-biotic was Lotomil, but I no longer can find any reference to it
online. I would appreciate some advice from people who regularly take
an anti-biotic when they travel oversees. Thanks

"david" wrote in message
om...
In general, antibiotics are not appropriate for prophylactic purposes.

The last poster has pointed out an exception to this: Doxycycline is
effective as an anti-malarial prophylactic and is widely prescribed
for travellers to certain parts of the Far East (where standard
anti-malarial prophylactics are not effective).

Quite what this has to do with the OP's question (about preventing
minor stomach upsets while travelling) is not clear to me: the advice
already given is very sensible. Minor problems are likely to clear up
in a short space of time, while major problems will require medical
intervention.

Well the reason I gave that reply is that some else had given the incorrect
information that
" Antibiotics are not suitable for use as prophylactics." and this is
not true in the case of doxy as you agree.
I included the original quotes which i was disagreeing with.
And I did not say or imply that antibiotics in general are suitable as
prophylactics.
You really object to me correcting some misinformation, even if that was not
related to the original question?





"RAK" wrote in message
...
"A Mate" wrote in message
u...
Lomotil is not available in Australia any longer because of a range of
possible problems - so is probably not safe. Loperamide is a 'stopper'
which can be used when you need to travel immediately; but it does
absolutely nothing to 'cure' the underlying cause of the problem.

I've always found that the diarrhea occurs once or twice - and then
your
stomach is accustomed to the dominant foreign bacteria etc - and the
problem is over!

Well, that is your lucky experience
You clearly have not had dysentry or other nasty bugs where "occurences"
once or twice per hour would be good news (my worst case coming from
being
doused in sewage when river rafting in a flash flood in Bali, a dramatic
way
to lose a few kg quickly with trips to the loo a few times an hour)

Antibiotics are not suitable for use as prophylactics.

Wrong. Doxycycline (a broad spectrum anti-biotic) is widely used as a
prophylactic. I have no idea why it works as one, but it does not have
the
side-effects of nausea etc, which some other prophylactics do (enough for
me
to stop taking them in one trip to Borneo). But it does have a
side-effect
of increased sensitivity to sunburn on some people.

See http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/cache/-724565949.htm and many other
places.

(And I am pretty sure Lomotil is not an anti-biotic - see original
message)





"Sanjay Punjab" wrote in message
om...
Last time I traveled to the middle east, I had stomach problems
throughout my trip. A friend mentioned that the problem could be
bacteria from food (I only drank bottled water). I did some research
and some people take an antibiotic with them on their trip and perhaps
even start taking it before they leave. I believe the name of
anti-biotic was Lotomil, but I no longer can find any reference to it
online. I would appreciate some advice from people who regularly take
an anti-biotic when they travel oversees. Thanks