I'm so sorry that you've been so ill; take it slow and eat lightly.

Bottled water, pedialite, rice, banana, dry Crackers, Gatorade if no pedialite available. Soft boiled eggs or egg salad usually are what I want. Best of luck to get well quickly.

I'm sorry Lars. The same thing happened to a friend of mine her last trip to Mexico and she'd been a few times. She spent the first two days in bed or the bathroom - and she's an RN, not clueless when it comes to these things. Feel well soon....

I can feel for you. last month I was very sick while on vacation in Costa Rica. Thankfully it was for 24 hours. You never really know. I just assumed food, but someone mentioned it could have been something I handled.

Feel better.

I've had both South of the Border as well as East-West transoceanic digestive distress. Sometimes it can be a simple reaction to a change of uncontaminated water or food and not the action of a pathogen from contamination or mishandling.

As eld suggests, it usually passes quickly, rarely in longer than 36 hours. Pharmacies in tourist areas, especially to the south, can provide the equivalent of OTC products to help relieve symptoms.

When I've had such distress, I had no interest in eating at all. Some say it's better to not eat to give your GI system a rest. Everyone can go several days without eating without any problem, there's no need to force food. Keep sipping water and some carbonated soda and you'll soon be feeling better.

I hope you are feeling better by now!

Lortatadine...trade name Lomotil....wont cure the bug but will help smyptoms....did that once.....oystgers I think....never eat oysters moire than2 00 miles from the ocean!

Oh geez, Lars, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you get better quickly and go on having a good time in Cabo.

Happy Birthday to Kevin!

Annie

I think it can happen to almost anyone.

I never heard of Pedialyte before, but I will look for it tomorrow. I plan to have yogurt and fruit for breakfast tomorrow, as that is one of the options at the hotel here - I will not have eggs as they can upset my stomach. I'll also have camomile tea, as that is the only tea they have. I often take teabags with me on trips, but I didn't this time.

I feel much better now, and am optimistic about tomorrow, but Kevin said he saw rain clouds. We want to take another boat ride tomorrow, but the whale watching tours are already booked up.

I would like to visit a botanical garden,but I don't know of any. Kevin does not want to drive any more, but we will have to drive to the airport Monday. It's a tiny airport and it only had five planes when we arrived. Also we had to take stairs from the plane and walk on the tarmac. The worst experience was all the people trying to sell timeshare - something I have absolutely no interest in.

It's true that there's no quaintness here, but Todos Santos makes up for that although it is about a one hour drive from here.

So sorry Lars! That really stinks for you and for Kevin. Feel better soon and Best birthday wishes to Kevin. My son's gal had a terrible bout and they gave her Reglen (a generic) to get her gut back in line. If you're not healing well, ask about that.

Meanwhile-- Linda C- Loratidine is Claritin-- used for allergies. Lomotil (Diphenoxylate and Atropine) isn't recommended very often any more. Pepto Bismol will combat some bacteria and halt the trots.

We just returned from 12 days in Mexico and Arizona. I picked up a bit of a bug but we were back in Arizona. Felt rotten, little energy and had nausea. I went through all the meds that I had with me with no relief; resorted to going to a Wal-Greens. Super nice employees there; the clerk walked me back to talk to the pharmacist. He recommended Pepto-Bismol. Told him that I didn't think so because my mom gave it to me when I was a kid. Several times. Each and every time, it came right back up. (The color of Pepto Bismol is enough to make me nauseous!) Pharmacist said that maybe it was the taste and recommended the pill version. I didn't know that it came in pills. Anyway, it fixed me right up. Within 10-15 minutes, I felt better. Took it a couple more times just for insurance. It's now earned a spot in my medicine cabinet.

Anyway, I hope you continue to improve. Really sucks to get sick on vacation. Oh, and tell Kevin 'Happy Birthday' for me!

My neighbor spends a month each winter in Todos Santos and loves it there!

Remember to avoid ice cubes and things like lettuce that grow with a lot of water!

Pedialite is a water for babies that contains electrolites (sp) that you loose when you are loosing fluids. Gatorade also has them.

I also haven't visited Mexico for several years due to the violence.

Parts of Mexico are more dangerous than others, and Cabo is considered one of the safer places. Except for the timeshare hawkers, the Mexicans here have been much nicer than the American spring break crowd - which can be loud and downright rude. In. Todos Santos people thought I was Italian or French - perhaps because of the way I speak Spanish. I do accidentally throw in a few Italian words if l am not careful enough.

We did eat lettuce and have margaritas with ice. Also one day I accidentally rinsed my toothbrush with tap water, but I tried to wipe it off thoroughly.

I do think that Mexico is more dangerous for women than it is for men.

I love Cabo. Hope you get to walk around the marina, the malls....and see a few local festival events. Happy Birthday to Kevin! Walking by The Giggling Marlin bar always makes me smile. It used to be almost dead center of the town, years ago.

Have traveled world wide. Imodium AD usually puts a cork in it, better than lomotil, and if that doesn't work then Cipro or Azithromyacin (SP?). Those two kill everything. I was able to get Cipro over the counter in Morocco. Once you get amoebic dysentery, you need the big guns. That can kill you. Don't wait.

-Babka

Oh, Lars, I'm sorry this happened during a special trip like this. Well, I'd be sorry any time, but especially now. Feel better soon.

""sold over the counter in Mexico, as well as oxytocin and other opioid""

FYI, oxytocin is not an opioid, it is a hormone used to increase uterine contractions during labor and decrease bleeding after childbirth.

Rotten luck! Hope you're back to normal now!

I meant to write Oxycodon, but spell check changed it to oxytocin. I feel pretty much back to normal now and don't need pain or diarrhea medication any more. I slept a lot yesterday but woke up again at 3am. I'll try to get a couple of hours more of sleep, but I'm not sleepy now.

Thanks for all the advice and recommendations - that really helped my mood, as the pain was making feel like I was going to die! Fortunately I had just watched Gilda Radnor as Roseanne Roseannadanna on the flight over!

P.S. I cannot take Claritin or anything related to that as it causes me extreme anxiety which increases after about the third day of taking it. My only problem in Costa Rica was extreme allergies , which may have been worsened because the volcano erupted the day we arrive, and then the airport was shut down for a couple of days. Things can always be worse, it seems.

Lars, there are two versions of Claritin. Claritin and Claritin D, (Claritin decongestant which contains pseudoephedrine.)

Years ago, I learned that I could not take Sudafed because it caused anxiety--to the point that I felt like my hair was standing on end. Sudafed is pseudoephedrine. Could it be that you had problems with Claritin D? And that you were having adverse side effects to the pseudoephedrine component? (I also have similar reaction to Novocaine.)

I rarely take allergy meds outside of Benadryl sometimes to help me sleep...but I did take a cetirizine (Zyrtec) a few days ago for a snuffy nose. No negative side effects w/ it.

Glad to hear you're feeling better. I hope the rest of the vacation is enjoyable.

GLad you are better! Do enjoy what you can !

Glad to hear you're feeling better, Lars. Not a good way to be on a trip where you're suppose to be having fun. BTDT

Glad you are feeling better. A suggestion that helped me when I used to have the lower intestine explosion some women have just before or just after their periods start. To reduce the cramping and diarrhea run as cold of water as you can stand over your stomach. You can also used cold cloths. Have no idea why it works for some but not others but it helped me.

I am not doing as well as I thought and sent Kevin to go out on his own. Later I will go back to the farmacia to see how much and how often to take the Bactiver. Evidently I am supposed to take it twice a day for five days-according to one web site. The diarrhea has stopped but I am still too weak to walk more than a few blocks. I hope I will do okay in the airport tomorrow. I will need strength to handle my luggage.

Thanks for listening and being supportive. BTW I can take Sudafed without problems but not Claritin.

The maid at the hotel said that mango will help my stomach and so I will get some mango juice when Kevin gets back but I would rather have beer or a margarita!

Sorry that you are so ill on what was supposed to be a fun trip. I had food poisoning a few years ago (from a casino buffet, I think) and it was just awful. It was several days before I felt normal again. Be sure to keep yourself hydrated. Hoping that after you take it easy today and get a good night's sleep, you'll be feeling able to tackle the airport tomorrow.

Do you think you might have gotten Norovirus? I had that on a cruise ship and while I vomited several times for one morning, the exhaustion lasted for two weeks! I was astounded by how weak I was and for that length of time. I'm sorry this happened to you, Lars.

Encourage taking advice from a reliable source with medical expertise.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/travelers-diarrhea/symptoms-causes/syc-20352182

Lars, I'm so sorry your trip has been ruined. Hope you feel better soon.

Madonna

The Mayo clinic site is very helpful.

My trip has not been completely ruined as the first half was very nice. I am concerned about getting to the airport in our rental car because now Kevin says he is not feeling that well.

I’m so sorry you have been ill, Lars. It surely put a damper on what should have been a great vacation with your brother. I hope you get rid of whatever has apparently affected both of you. Good luck to you and Kevin!

Oh dear, I do hope Kevin isn't getting the same thing, travelling home would be terrible.

Good luck to you both.

Annie

Sadly I think he is, but at least I had medication to give him. We have to check out at 7:30am and I hope we don't get lost again. We have no GPS here - just paper maps and I need to find one that I packed already. Thanks

That's such a bummer for this to happen to your vacation! I hope you and Kevin both feel better soon. Any photos of the trip?

I used to go to Baja Mexico - mostly Ensenada, sometimes San Felipe - to fish and sea kayak, frequently, when I lived in LA. Never went to Cabo, as it was too long a drive in a Jeep.

One early morning we were some miles offshore in the Pacific, in sea kayaks, when a pod of blue whales swam under us. I remember sitting still in the glassy water, and watching one whale surface a hundred feet away then submerge and glide beneath us, the swell gently lifting our boats. SWMBO remembers it better because she was only about fifty feet from the surfacing whale. The water was unusually smooth that day and the paddling was magical, each stroke seemed to propel the kayak effortlessly.

The previous day we'd paddled out to the Isla San Martin (?), in rough waters with people capsizing, being towed by other kayaks, and one person threw up in her kayak. The paddling was exhausting, as our boats went up and down the troughs and crests you had to expend energy bracing and steering, fighting through the water.

On rough days launching through the surf was difficult. We'd send one of the stronger paddlers out as a "probe". You paddle as hard as you can, when the big wave approaches you point your paddle along the boat and flatten your chest into the deck of the kayak, and try to punch through the wave. If the probe came swimming back, we knew the surf was too high to launch.

Other trips I went with my friend and we'd drink all night, then go to the docks early in the morning with a cooler and gear, hire a panga with a captain, and fish all day. Sometimes we got yellowtail, usually rockfish, and I learned that eel are delicious. We carried extra wallets with some cash and expired ID, when we were stopped by the police we'd hand over those wallets, while our real wallets and the rest of our money was in a secret compartment under the Jeep. The police didn't care about our fishing stuff or kayaks.

That was where I learned to love fish tacos and ceviche. Sometimes you'd beach your kayak and there would be a guy selling tacos with fish just caught and cooked from the ocean you'd just paddled in. Or a shack with beer and bowls of ceviche.

This was a long time ago when I was a lawyer. Then I got retained in a lawsuit arising from a murder on the road from Tijuana to Ensenada. The lawsuit was over the life insurance of the woman who was murdered, the dispute was whether her husband had murdered her, I represented the US insurance company who believed he did, in which case the proceeds would go to her minor children, so we also retained lawyers in Mexico to represent the children. The husband had some connection with the Ensenada drug gangs, and it was believed that he'd arranged for gang members to stop their car and kill his wife so he - and they? - could collect a million US dollars.

The Mexican lawyer was suing my client, but that was what we'd retained him to do, so we had a good relationship. One day the Mexican lawyer called me and strongly advised that I not go to Ensenada or Baja anymore. So that was the end of my Baja trips :-(

I never got the turistas on those trips. We took some precautions, but not many. Later we were in Indonesia and I'd go out at night and buy nasi goreng from the street vendors, who'd wave away the flies and scoop the fried rice onto paper plates. Never got sick from that either. However, I've been sick from food in the US and it would surely ruin a vacation!

In fact, when SWMBO and I went away together for the first time to some romantic getaway on the California coast, she got food poisoning and spent the whole weekend with one end planted on the toilet and the other end hanging in the sink - it was a small bathroom. It's funny now but she was kind of mortified at the time. I laid on the bed and read a book :-)

I'm very late to this Lars, and you most likely are on the road now. I just wanted to also add I'm so sorry this happened on your vacation. Wishing you and your DB Kevin a complete recovery and safe trip home.

I hope you both are well enough to travel with no bad mishaps!

We got back yesterday, but I'm still not feeling completely well, but Kevin has recuperated. I think he had something different from what I had because he only vomited, and I mostly had severe diarrhea, which is still lingering on somewhat. The pills I got in Mexico took care of that completely, but now I don't know where I put them, and so I'm taking Pepto Bismol, which is not as effective, but probably safer. I stopped taking Bactrim after three pills, and maybe that was enough, but I can't find those pills either. I'd rather not take them if I don't have to, and I generally only take them when I'm in extreme pain, which I was the first day I got sick.

I'm off this week from work but have to go back on Monday, and then Thursday I have an appointment with my dermatologist to remove some melanoma that he found the last time he saw me. He wasn't sure it was anything because it was so small, but the lab test came back positive. At first I though my appointment was this week and I was going to have to reschedule, but fortunately it was now.

I've never been to Ensenada and have only been to Tijuana once - that was enough. I've been blue whales on trips to Catalina, but the Sea of Cortes is supposed to be a better place to get close to the whales. I've also seen whales on a ferry ride from Victoria, BC to Port Angeles, WA but Kevin has not has these experiences except for one whale encounter coming back from Catalina, and the whale did not flip its tail out of the water - only its blowhole.

I don't think we will ever go back to Cabo - it was too crowded - mostly with obnoxious college-age Americans. On our way back from our first dinner (which was at the beach), a group of (probably drunk) guys passed by us on the extremely narrow sidewalk, and one of them waved a plastic fork in my face. One of his friends said, "Don't bother the old people." That should give you an idea how how respectful the American spring break crowd it, and it might help explain why the Mexicans thought I was European instead of American. I did not see anyone there that I though was from Europe, however, as I think the Europeans know to avoid it during Spring Break.

I have no interest in sports fishing or kayaking (and never have), but when I went to Puerto Arista, Chiapas with my friends Jose and Gloria (whom I met on my trip to Guatemala and ended up traveling with), Jose went out fishing with some fishermen, and they gave him one of the fish they caught. We then took to the fish to a woman's house who had a sort of makeshift restaurant set up in her back yard, and she cooked it for us. We had great seafood in Cabo, including shrimp, but the shrimp is better in Vera Cruz and Costa Rica.

I'll add some photos in my next post.

John, the first kayaking experience sounds lovely, the second one, not so much, LOL. The only kayaking I've done was on my pond and I haven't convinced myself that kayaking on Lake Michigan is a great idea. Yet.

Poor SWMBO, what a way to spend romantic getaway so early in a relationship. She must have done OK, though, as you now have children. (grin) I've eaten a lot of suspect things but I don't THINK I've ever gotten food poisoning. Then again, I've only been to Mexico and Canada, so it's not like I've travelled the world. I've eaten rattlesnake at Devil's Tower, though, from a little food wagon kind of thing, and roadside BBQ in Texas, and various travelling lunches that probably should have been refrigerated but weren't. I do love nasi goreng. I've only had it in a little shop in Kalamazoo, with sheshebop, and now I make my own, with a fried egg on top.

Lars, I sure hope you feel better soon and that melanoma is quickly taken care of. With your fair complexion, it's best to be careful. Lots of sunscreen!

Annie

Not usually included in the travel brochure. :-)

I don't think Costa Rica belongs in the red zone, and we had no problems in Brazil either, which seemed to be rather safe. I think we made ice with tap water in Brazil and we also drank tap water Costa Rica - something I would never do in Mexico.

I'm still not completely well and feel very tired - plus my stomach still aches.

I'm glad you are feeling somewhat better, and sorry your vacation was made less enjoyable.

The title of your post reminds that an aunt of mine always claimed to had had what she called "Montezuma's Revenge" which from her point of view was more severe and more long lasting than the usual traveler's diarrhea. She claimed that she became very sick on a trip to Mexico, and forever after that her "body chemistry" was changed so that she could only drink hot tea, Dr. Pepper, or water, anything else would make her sick, and that if she wore any metal except gold, her skin would become inflamed, which hadn't happened before her illness. I have no idea of the truth of what she said, and I may be misremembering some of the details, but her story was so striking it stuck with me.

I wonder if you got what DH and I got in Cancun many years ago. We were sooooo ill for about two days and then still had problems for weeks afterwards. I can't remember what the Dr. said we had but it was definitely nasty and long lasting. At first we wondered if someone at the restaurant had drugged us, but it turns out that the sudden onset and dizziness is typical of the pathogen. I don't envy you your troubles.

We pretty much could guess where we got it because the only food we had shared was the salsa and guac at a highly respected restaurant.

ugh, so sorry to hear of your problems in your vacation and your melanoma. In Bali, they call it "Bali Belly". We too always carry immodium and Pepto tablets when traveling. I did not know they sold opiods OTC in Mexico -- such a contrast with here. In Switzerland, I had to get a prescription just to get ibuprofen after oral surgery. Such a difference in standards worldwide.

They sold Valium over the counter in Guatemala when I was there, and my friends bought some, but I don't like it. They sell a lot of antibiotics over the counter in Mexico - or at least they used to. A lot of people from the U.S. go to Mexico to buy opioids at Mexican drug stores, according to the pharmacist that Kevin talked to. They are not cheap. Vicodin cost $300 for 30 pills, but they are twice as strong as what I was prescribed here.

I still do not feel completely well and have been unable to do my normal exercises. I also lost about six pounds in Mexico, from not being able to eat. I'm still having trouble eating, but am getting slightly better each day. I'm just glad I had the strength to make it back home.

Lars, do I remember that you and your brother have had stomach surgery in the recent past? Considering the pain... if you haven't already, you probably should bring this to the attention of your gastric doctor. IMHO.

Yes, and I got a letter from my gastric doctor saying it is time for me to see him again for a follow-up. I'll call his office next week. This week, however, I have to see my dermatologist to have melanoma removed from my chest. It is just a small spot but necessary just the same. I was surprised he could see it, but I think he is very good.

Ummmm.... the more life-threatening might be the stomach pain... if you’re still having it. IMHO

While I know it was necessary to take it to return home Imodium can cause bad bacteria to colonize as it prevents the body from flushing out what needs to leave. Perhaps a call to your gastric doctor early tomorrow may be in order. The bacteria??? or whatever can cause damage that could be life threatening if the wall of your intestines was damaged. Hopefully the pain will be gone by tomorrow and all of this will be just a memory.

I had surgery today, but that was to remove basal cell carcinoma from my chest. The doctor at first had told me that it was going to be minor, but he ended up having to take four or five layers off from a spot on my chest that was barely noticeable before - in fact my regular doctor never noticed it, and the dermatologist happened to notice it when he was operating on my arm a few weeks ago to remove something else that was not benign but not melanoma or carcinoma - just a sore that would never heal.

Anyway, since my insurance will pay for me to have rides to doctor visits, I decided to take advantage of this service this time, partly because they had told me that it might take four hours, and there is a three hour limit in the parking garage, and partly because I was afraid I might not feel like driving afterwards and would not be able to use my shoulder harness on the seat belt. Also, the appointment was for 8:45 AM in Santa Monica, and I don't trust myself driving that far that early in the morning. So a Lyft driver picked me up, and I was going to tip him, but I had no American money yet. I meant to get some yesterday and forgot. Normally you tip through the Lyft app, and I don't know whether my insurance does that or not. Anyway, the drivers I've had through this service do not seem to expect tips, although I usually give them.

On the way back, my driver was Mexican (from Jalisco, although he said he was born in Acapulco), and so I thought it would be okay to give him a tip in Pesos, which I still had not changed back into American money. I gave him the equivalent of almost $5 American, and he accepted it, but I wonder if it was inappropriate for me to tip in Pesos. I'm pretty sure he can get them exchanged more easily than I can, as he has family in Mexico and visits them. I felt that giving him Pesos was better than giving him nothing, but I would not have given them to the first driver.

I have a bit of pain now from this surgery, but I expect it to be significantly less tomorrow. Anyway, I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the day and take Tylenol if I need it.

As for Imodium - I do not take it, but the anti-diarrhea medicine (Treda) that I got in Mexico has the following ingredients:

·Sulfato de Neomicin, equivalenta a 129 mg de Neomicina base,
·Caolin coloidal - 280 mg
·Pectina citrica anhidra - 30 mg (I know this is innocuous).

I only took tthree of those tablets, but I still have 10 left, after giving some to Kevin. I guess it is okay to hang onto them for a while.