Giardia Medicine

[Mr._Blister]

A friend thinks he might have giardia. I swear it's not me. What is the medicine/std. dose that he should take? His doctor is out of town, and he would like to get it through another source, but needs to know what to ask for. He believes that if he gets it quickly, he may recover in time to climb this weekend.

Any help is much appreciated.

John Sharp

[Cpt.Caveman]

Ask Mikeadam. He had it before.

[mikeadam]

Metronidazole, 500MG tablets 2x's daily for up to 7 days.

After 1 days dose your friend should feel better, but make sure to take it at least 6 days. If he gets the 7 day prescription tell him to save 1 days worth in case it ever comes back. In some cases it will spontaneously dissipate, but was not so in mine. After 9 days I'd had enough.

[This message has been edited by mikeadam (edited 08-08-2001).]

[Kyle]

Your friend should start with a visit to his Dr, as his foul symptoms could be caused by something other than giardia, and there's almost no way to know w/o doing a stool smear (I thought I had it once, but the smear revealed an acerbacter infection, which didn't require treatment). There are several prescription meds available for giardia, such as Flagyl; not sure if there are any effective OTC meds for this.

[mikeadam]

Have you ever had giardia?

I read the description on the internet and pretty much told the doctor what I had. There was no stool sample. Simple, it's not brain surgery.

FORMULA: Drank some mountain water + got sick=giardia

[mikeadam]

One thing I better add! This medicine acts the same way as ANABUSE. Don't DRINK alcohol or you will pay the price.

Another reason to legalize....

[Kyle]

Flagyl (metronidazole) is strong stuff, with potentially very nasty side effects... I wouldn't take it so lightly. Sure it's not brain surgery, but hey, it's your gut- do what you want with it.

[mattp]

Flagyl is the medicine used in the United States, but if your friend can hop a jet and fly to France (or Peru or ...) he could get Tinaba (I think it is tinidimidizol or something like that). With one dose, the Giardia is gone and I believe there are fewer side affects. And while he's in France or Peru, he could go climbing.

[Mr._Blister]

Thanks, Matt. Ironically, he is going to climb the Matterhorn next week, so needs to get better.

John

[hollyclimber]

That's funny, I have some of that medicene at home...on the DOG SHELF. Guess it works on canines too.

[mikeadam]

Are you calling me a dog?

[Mike]

One more vote for Tinuba. I've had giardia twice - once in India, once in Nepal. Tinuba cured it with one dose both times. The symptoms were pretty clear - explosive diarhea and sulphur burps. It's a shame you can't get Tinuba in this country unless you have friends who've stocked up while overseas.

[Cpt.Caveman]

Blister,

Dont even thank Mike eh?

[jmag]

I've had the sulphur thing for years but it turned out not to be giardia but a digestive disorder. This helped me:

http://www.site-online.ws/digestion.htm

[jport]

Good luck with the recover process. I struggled with Giardia last year. It took a full month before I was really feeling healthy again. Quick treatment is probably the key (I went a few days with full symptoms before getting Metronidazole).