Illness? on me travels (mildy gross)

[Itchy]

Dear amateur doctors of the BCF, (I do not know where to get medical attention on Mongolia) and thus turn to the mighty knowledge of the BCF.

I'm currently on oh day erm 43 of my trip , and have been puking and having runny poos every day since day 14 , I recall reading on the back of a packet of imodium if your runs continues for more than a few days you should consult your doctor.

My doctor is 18000km away.... I know only this:

My runny poos contain undigested recognisable food, so does my puke. I have lost a lot of weight, I was on the biggest belt loop hole on me belt I am now on the smallest.

What the hell is up with me? , and can I die from this?. The only thing I can digest that doesn't make me sick is snickers and mentos which makes for an appauling diet. (does not matter if I cook the food myself or buy it ready prepared). I wash my hands fairly carefully before I eat.

Before any joker says it its not AIDs or HIV , I've not nailed any of the natives and had a clean test 1 month before this trip.

Boot note, I have taken it easy lately ie staying 5 days lazing around in Irkusk , then 3 slow days to Mongolia and lazing around the past 4 days and thus I am not in white line 1000km per day fever mode.

Any suggestions? Is this grounds for a Medical evac I can claim off the insurance?.

Thanks
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[MaybeGuy]

snickers probably isnt that bad for you. they taste good too.

the solution is, swallow an entire pack of mint mentos if its the only thing you can stomach, then wash it down with 2 litres of coke.

you'll thank me later.
____________________
Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[instigator]

No idea blurk but I hope you get it sorted.

Can you not phone the company with which you have medical insurance to seek their advice?

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

1st of all layoff the booze. Carry on drinking water and start eating normal food for a start.
You may need to fast for 24hrs so a slight delay in your trip now could stop a long delay if you carry on running your body down.

Do yer best

Pat
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[stinkwheel]

From the experience of mates in similar travelling. You may well have picked up campylobacter, giardia or both. Probably from contaminated water or salad.

Ideally find a doctor, for which you will have to pay. Keep the receipts as you'll probably be able to claim it back. It may be cheaper than you think. Do not let them inject you with a needle and syringe that hasn't been removed from a sterile packet in front of you.

You may even be able to buy drugs directly off a pharmacist (or off a veterinary suppliers, say they are for your dog) that would require a prescription over here. In may third world countries the pharmacist is your best bet initially, they often have a doctors surgery too.

Erythromycin is and antibiotic effective against campylobacter.

Erythromycin taken at 150-300mg every six hours for at least a week. It is also marketed as Dalacin-C for Humans and Antirobe for animals (same stuff).

Metronidazole is an antibiotic effective against Giardia.

Metronidazole should be taken at 400mg every eight hours with some food for a week. The first dose should be an 800mg loading dose. It is also marketed as Flagyl and Metran.

You can take clindamycin and metronidazole together. If you drink alcohol on metronidazole you WILL vomit uncontrollably for two hours.

Drink plenty of fluids. Drink boiled, bottled or disinfected water only. (8 drops of household bleach in a gallon of water and leave to stand for 30 minutes). Avoid salads, uncooked vegetables and ice.

If you are becoming dehydrated drink electrolyte solution like dialyte. If you can't get it stirr 8 level teaspoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt into a litre of water and choke it down little and often.

I have a friend who lived and worked in Mongolia for four years. I'll try to get in touch and ask him what the procedure is.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[tatters]

I,ve had this problem in my resent and past travels to russia, l put it manily down to our high standards of hygeine in the western world and us not having the resitance to baterica and filth found there.

Wash your hands before eating any food, and try to eat from tin or sealed foods that you can cook yourself, all water and cold drinks should be suspect as there are mostly made from local tap water near the bottling plant. l normaly drink iced tea as its been prevoiuly boiled and is widely drunk in the east.
____________________
Past:NRG50,AF1125(x2),NSR125RR,ZZR250,CX500,VFR400,KR1S,ZZR600(x2),CB400N,YZF1000(x2),KH125,Z200,FX400R,CBR954RR(x2)GPZ500S,GT550,VFR750F(x2),RD350N,XR650R,CBR600F,CB250,KDX250,YZF750R,CRM250,400EXC,KLR650,TTR600RE,DR350S,R100GSPD,RGV250,VMAX1200,DL650,KZ750 Present:G650XC,C12,CRF450X,1190ADV

[stinkwheel]

Ok. Just get a reply from my mate (who spent 4 years editing the only English language newspaper in Mongolia and has a Mongolian wife).

He says 1st, if you aren't already there, get your arse to Ulan Butor ASAP because that's where pretty much everything is.

Pharmacists can pretty much sell you anything and you don't need a prescription. Apparently there are lots of pharmacists in the capital. They display a green cross sign just like over here. If the first one doesn't have what you want, keep trying.

Obviously my guesses as to the cause of your problem are just that, guesses. Giardia in particular causes steatorrhoea (fatty poo, pale in colour and you'll never be done wiping) and a strong smell of eggs on passing wind from either end.

He reckons seeing a doctor will be very difficult without being able to speak Mongolian. His advice is if you are in serious problems, check into a tourist guesthouse and enlist the help of the owner.

If you are in really bad shape, he has contact details for an english speaking private medical service somewhere. They are apparently mega expensive though so it would need to be done through your insurance. PM me if you need me to get him to look up the details for you.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[UnknownStuntm...]

(off topic, sorry Ichy, and I seriously hope you get this sorted soon and feel better) - Stinkwheel, that is the absolute best answer anyone could have ever answered with. I can't imagine what it must feel like being in a mad country like Mongolia, and having a potentially life threatening illness must be immensely worrying. To post a message on a bike forum and get that quality advice is just staggering. I hope you know how valued you are.

(presuming of course you haven't just offed our resident numbercruncher with a random cocktail of drugs! )

[Tonka]

Aside from the as expected top advice from Stinkwheel are mentos not laxative inducing in large amounts? I know that some sugar-free mints are, so perhaps they may be adding to your woes, as I'm pretty certain they won't be the major cause.

Hope you get yourself sorted asap!
____________________
'The core of a man's spirit comes from new experiences'
Suzuki SV650S (Clean); Yamaha XT250 Serow (Dirty)

[Clanger]

Just cross your fingers and hope it isn't swine flu?
____________________
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[stinkwheel]

I've met Itchy personally so he can decide if he wants to take my advice or not.

Obviously it is nearly impossable to tell what he has from halfway round the world, even medics over here struggle somewhat making a diagnosis of campylobacter with the support of lab testing. They are however two very common causes of dysentry in third world, easily contracted from contaminated food and water.

It is normal practice in the UK to allow these problems to run their course and not treat them with antibiotics due to resistance issues but the degree of weight loss sounds severe and the symptoms have persisted for far too long. Could be approaching a life-threatning level if not dealt with soon.

I'm familiar with both of the drugs I named, I use them regularly in animal medicine. The doses and usage were taken from the 2008 British National Formulary which is what your doctor is sneakily looking up on the computer in his office as he's writing your prescription. My local quack gives me his old one which is why it's a year out of date.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Phoenix]

Mentos are indeed laxative, as they contain artificial sweeteners so if you're eating large quantities of them you're stuffing yourself even further. I'm guessing you're also probably not drinking anything like enough water (clean water as Stinkwheel/Tatters mentioned, Russia is apparently terrible for contaminated water). Not only will you be sweating a lot on the bike no doubt if you've got severe diarrhea and vomiting you're losing a hell of a lot more water so need to replace that too.

I wouldn't leave civilisation until you're sorted, if you can't retain fluid you might not be able to replace it quick enough or get hold of enough to keep you going and obviously that's not going to end well.

[Itchy]

Thanks for the help, time on target to Ulan Batar is 2-3 days as I typed the original post at Choir a desert town and surprisingly found another net cafe (I use the term loosely) in a tiny little town.

Heh I'd trust stinkwheel's advice more than a Dr's anyday ..... its much much tougher to train and practice as a vet than it is to be a doctor.....

If I were backhome it would be here take these painkillers for 2 weeks and come back if it still hurts or some placebo.
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Noxious89123]

Even if it isn't one of the 2 things Stink wheel said it could be, surely the antibiotics would help against a number of other things it could be?

Not a doctor, I'm just musing...
____________________
'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[Visitor Q]

[Noxious89123]

Screw NHS Direct, we've got Stinkwheel and wikipedia!


____________________
'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[Visitor Q]

Screw wikipedia, I have Robert Desowitz.
____________________
China traffic/travel bike vid - When I make a sweeping statement, please add the word 'statistically' in to the sentence before you bitch...
From September 2014 to January/February 2015 I will not be using any English, nor reading any. As such, I won't be on here. PM at will, but I won't be checking/posting unless in emergencies. Certainly not for the first couple of months. Please berate me savagely if I break that rule...

[Moo.]

Can you get those tablets that purify water? Seeing as normally arnt we supposed to drink something like 2 litres a day.. you'll need to be drinking alot more

[_sketch_]

always drink bottled water - tap water can cause bubble gut in some places, especially as westerners have such a shit tolerance for bacteria.

hope you get it sorted
____________________
A sucker for 2 strokes
Cagiva Supermoto project

[Itchy]

To keep you guys updated , I managed to get hold of the antibiotics but decided not to take them as the price ie not being able to go on the beer for an entire week seemed incredibly high , but since the original post have started feeling alot better and the poos are becoming a tad more solid with much less gas. So it seems as if I have let it run its course and thus feelin' much better.
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Clanger]

It lives! Itchy survived!
____________________
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[JonB]

Strange attitude, re, not being able to go for a beer for a week or possibly die.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Itchy]

[Visitor Q]

[Itchy]