Denizen Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 Who on here has had it? How do you know? What do you do if you have it - do you have to take medication? Quote
Argus Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 You're not posting from the toilet, are you? Quote
Bug Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 I have not had it but a few friends in the Bitterroot have. They were feverish and week for extended periods. All except one had diahrea for a week or more. They all continued to decline and were convinced they would die if not treated. They knew they were seriously sick. They all went in during their second or third weeks. The medication escapes me. It is harsh and the directions for drinking water etc MUST be followed or you risk destroying your kidneys and liver. The sooner you get it diagnosed and treated, the less chance there is of organ problems. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardia Good luck! Quote
JosephH Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 If you've had it you'd know. Basically all i remember is being in a face down, kneeling and rocking fetal ball with large-scale cramps cycling from my asshole to my throat at a rate of about once every three seconds. I remember telling the ER doc to either make it stop or kill me. Don't remember what they gave me; something for the cramps and something for the Giardia I believe. Â We lived in a little town of 400 in NH with a jury-rigged water supply and a lot of beavers - never a good combination. Never again. Quote
catbirdseat Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 You'll know you have it from the smell. Horrible greasy burps and gas. Metronidazole is the treatment. It's a drug developed long ago for gram negative infections like gangrene and other anaerobic infections. Since it is prescribed so infrequently, the bugs still haven't developed a resistence to it. Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 You'll know you have it from the smell. Horrible greasy burps and gas. Metronidazole is the treatment. It's a drug developed long ago for gram negative infections like gangrene and other anaerobic infections. Since it is prescribed so infrequently, the bugs still haven't developed a resistence to it. Â quick, post the chemical diagram Quote
Sherri Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 I'm no scientist, but I think he's referring to "Type 7." Â Â Â (Nothing we didn't already know, of course. But, interesting that the word "sausage" appears three times on a stool diagram.) Â Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 I'm no scientist, but I think he's referring to "Type 7."   (Nothing we didn't already know, of course. But, interesting that the word "sausage" appears three times on a stool diagram.)  no, silly, this   Quote
Sherri Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 (edited) I'd KNOW I was sick if I was looking at THAT in the terlit. Â Â Â It even spells, OH NO! Edited October 23, 2007 by Sherri Quote
marylou Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 The degrees of misery vary, but you will know if you have it. Greasy floaty stool, bad bad gas. May be diagnosed correctly, may go away on its own, giardia=not recommended. Ugh. Quote
cj001f Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 I've heard anal sex relieves the symptoms Quote
JosephH Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 Someone could have tried anal sex with me at the time and I would likely not have noticed. Quote
iluka Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 The medication escapes me. It is harsh and the directions for drinking water etc MUST be followed or you risk destroying your kidneys and liver  The main medication for treating Giardia is Flagyl, also known as Metronidazole. It is taken as 500 mg three times a day for 5 days. An alternative which is now available in the US is Tinidazole. It is taken as a single 2 gram dose.  The medications are actually reasonably well tolerated from the standpoint of the kidneys and liver. The bigger problem is that you cannot drink alcohol while you take them. If you do, there is a good chance you will feel like absolute crud.  When combined with alcohol, metronidazole causes what's called a disulfiram effect. Disulfiram, also known as "Antabuse" is a medication occasionally used to help treat alcoholism. Drink alcohol while on the medication and you feel violently ill. Alcohol plus metronidazole causes a similar reation so down those beers at your own risk while on the medication. Quote
joblo7 Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 health food stores sell a program to get rid of it.it is milder on your system and wont affect your immune system the way antibiotics do.very effective. Â Quote
Bug Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 health food stores sell a program to get rid of it.it is milder on your system and wont affect your immune system the way antibiotics do.very effective. Tell us more. Quote
lizard_brain Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 health food stores sell a program to get rid of it.it is milder on your system and wont affect your immune system the way antibiotics do.very effective. Tell us more. Â Pics? Quote
builder206 Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 I've heard anal sex relieves the symptoms  This isn't a dating site. Quote
tvashtarkatena Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 Had it. 10 day gestation period on average. Symptoms can vary from mild to 'explosive'. Bloating, dog farts (farts that will clear dogs out of a room) nausea, the hershey squirts. It loves dairy, don't eat it. Some strains are incurable but controllable. Â Go to the doc and get the cancer causing cure as quickly as you can. Or you can trot down to your nearest PCC and try to take care of it with love and understanding by gently nudging it out with doses of metamusil and meditation. Â BTW, there are other water born bugs out there these days. Don't necessarily assume it's the big G. Quote
ClimbingPanther Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 the trick is finding someone who wants giardia in his pee-pee Quote
Bug Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 Or you can trot down to your nearest PCC and try to take care of it with love and understanding by gently nudging it out with doses of metamusil and meditation. There are some nudgers and some explosive cleansers. I would still like to know what specifically is recommended for giardia. Â BTW, there are other water born bugs out there these days. Don't necessarily assume it's the big G. I have been drinking water from nasty places all of my life. No serious results so far. I'm probably a carrier. Quote
tvashtarkatena Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 I wouldn't rely on Grandma Rainbow's naturopathic treatment. If this is a new infection, you'll want to kill this stuff if you can, because it can do very bad things to you if you don't. Â The web has a bunch of stuff. A sample: Â BTW: I took Flagyl to get rid of mine. Â The most common treatment for giardiasis is metronidazole (Flagyl) for 5-10 days. It eradicates the Giardia more than 85% of the time, but it often causes gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea and a metallic taste as well as dizziness and headache. Despite its effectiveness, metronidazole is not approved by the FDA in the US for treatment of giardiasis. Â The only drug approved for treating giardiasis in the U.S. is furazolidone (Furoxone) for 7-10 days. It is approximately as effective as metronidazole. Tinidazole is available outside the U.S. and is highly effective at treatinggiardiasis(>90%). It also can be given as a single dose and is well tolerated. Quinacrine is very effective for treating giardiasis but is no longer available in the U.S. Paromomycin and albendazole, though effective, are less effective than other treatments. Â Occasionally, treatment fails to eradicate Giardia. In such cases, the drug may be changed or a longer duration or higher dose may be used. Combination therapy also may be effective (e.g., quinacrine and metronidazole). Â Â Quote
cj001f Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 GIARDIA... the next fad diet? Â The feds killed my eat whatever you want and still lose weight tapeworm diet scheme. Quote
Couloir Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 Who on here has had it? How do you know? What do you do if you have it - do you have to take medication? I thought this was going to be a thread about the gal on Food Network. Â Â Quote
Stefan Posted October 23, 2007 Posted October 23, 2007 I am immune to giarda. Â I have built up an immunity. Quote
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