Taking an anti-biotic when travelling oversees?

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

"Sanjay Punjab" <piclistguym> wrote in message
news:97d41df6.0411240004.6b4fd041@c 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

Lotomil doesn't sound like an antibiotic.

Taking antibiotics for possible travellers tummy is a very, very bad idea.
First of all, stomach upset is frequently caused by a different mineral
balance in the water, rather than any actual impurities. Antibiotics would
be useless to prevent that. Second, excess use of antibiotics is resulting
in breeding drug-resistant superbacteria. If you're really worried about
getting sick, stick to bottled water in sealed bottles (in many 3rd world
countries, refilling bottles is a common scam), eat well-cooked food, avoid
raw, unpeeled fruits and vegetables, and be scrupulous about washing your
hands before eating.

If I remember correctly Lomotil is not an antibiotic. As the name
implies it was to reduce the impact on the intestine. I also remember
it having some safety problems. In any case talk to a physician.

Sanjay Punjab wrote:

> 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

PTravel <ptravel@ruyitang.com> wrote:

>If you're really worried about
>getting sick, stick to bottled water in sealed bottles (in many 3rd world
>countries, refilling bottles is a common scam),

Stick to fizzy/carbonated water if you want to be sure it's the
real thing. It can contain less bacteria than legit bottled
water, as well.

--
Ken Tough

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!

Antibiotics are not suitable for use as prophylactics.




"Sanjay Punjab" <piclistguym> wrote in message
news:97d41df6.0411240004.6b4fd041@c 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

I really can't believe, that some people take antibiotics
prophylactic.

As the name "antibiotics" says: it is against life - so it kills
bacteria. But it doesn't only kill harmful bacteria but also those in
our stomach, which live with us in symbiosis. SO we need them and we
get stomachproblems when taking antibiotics. So most antibiotics won't
help with diarrhoe.

Another really import reason not to take so much antibiotics, ist that
the bacteria mutate and get immune against that antibiotic. So that
the antibiotis has no affect on the illness next time you are sick -
and that time it might be a serious illness. that mutation and
immunisation is somehow specific to the person (that's why a doc asks
you what kind of antibiotics you already had) but also non specific to
the bacteria.
The immunisation is a serious problem, because there are not infinte
different antibiotic we can make use of.

I also travel a lot and there are other ways to prevent illness. As
some people have already written: drink bottled water, eat clean and
cooked food, that also means to prevent eating salads and fruits which
is not washed with bottled water! coal or carbon tabletts help also
against diarrhoe, you can buy them everywhere.

So please don't take antibiotics anymore unless you have a serious
illness. You are doing yourself a favor and also other people, who
need effective antibiotics !!

Ask anyone else and they will tell you the same.

bye,
Rita

Then again, if you are going to an area where antibiotics are not
readily available you certainly should pack them. When out of reach of
reliable medical care you should have something available.

Rita wrote:

> I really can't believe, that some people take antibiotics
> prophylactic.
>
> As the name "antibiotics" says: it is against life - so it kills
> bacteria. But it doesn't only kill harmful bacteria but also those in
> our stomach, which live with us in symbiosis. SO we need them and we
> get stomachproblems when taking antibiotics. So most antibiotics won't
> help with diarrhoe.
>
> Another really import reason not to take so much antibiotics, ist that
> the bacteria mutate and get immune against that antibiotic. So that
> the antibiotis has no affect on the illness next time you are sick -
> and that time it might be a serious illness. that mutation and
> immunisation is somehow specific to the person (that's why a doc asks
> you what kind of antibiotics you already had) but also non specific to
> the bacteria.
> The immunisation is a serious problem, because there are not infinte
> different antibiotic we can make use of.
>
> I also travel a lot and there are other ways to prevent illness. As
> some people have already written: drink bottled water, eat clean and
> cooked food, that also means to prevent eating salads and fruits which
> is not washed with bottled water! coal or carbon tabletts help also
> against diarrhoe, you can buy them everywhere.
>
> So please don't take antibiotics anymore unless you have a serious
> illness. You are doing yourself a favor and also other people, who
> need effective antibiotics !!
>
> Ask anyone else and they will tell you the same.
>
> bye,
> Rita

"PTravel" <ptravel@ruyitang.com> wrote in message news:<30jthuF32j417U1@uni-berlin.de>...
> "Sanjay Punjab" <piclistguym> wrote in message
> news:97d41df6.0411240004.6b4fd041@c 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
>
> Lotomil doesn't sound like an antibiotic.

Lomotil (not Lotomil) is the branded name for a combination of
diphenoxylate and atropine. It is an intestinal
antispasmodic/motility reducing agent commonly used in pateints with
chronic diarrhea.

> Taking antibiotics for possible travellers tummy is a very, very bad idea.

Antimicrobial prophylaxis is a valid treatment and often indicated
medically for the prevention of travelers diarrhea (TD). Doxycycline
is often used when patients are at risk due to comorbities, when the
region traveled to puts people at greater risk, and/or when travel is
expected to last less than 2 weeks. Medically, it is often a very GOOD
idea. Medically, it may not be necessary in many patients though once
you have it, treatment with antimicrobials (ciprofloxin for example)
is effective and medically indicated.

> First of all, stomach upset is frequently caused by a different mineral
> balance in the water, rather than any actual impurities.

Travelers diarrhea is caused by bacteria, parasites, or viruses - most
frequently enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli but also Salmonella
gastroenteritis, Shigellae, Campylobacter jejuni, Vibrio
parahaemolyticus and less common bacterial pathogens including other
diarrheogenic E. coli, Yersinia enterocolitica, Vibrio cholerae O1 and
O139, non-O1 V. cholerae, Vibrio fluvialis, and possibly Aeromonas
hydrophila and Plesiomonas shigelloides. Viruses (rotovirus as an
example) and enteric protozoa and related enteric pathogens are also
frequent causes of TD though less frequent than E Coli and its
brethren

It is not caused by mineral content. It is caused by bugs. The
resulting diarrhea and concomitant loss of fluids can result in a
"mineral" imbalance (they are called electrolytes) in the body and
that can result in medical problems beyond simply dehydration.

> Antibiotics would
> be useless to prevent that.

If in fact TD were caused by that, which it isn't.

> Second, excess use of antibiotics is resulting
> in breeding drug-resistant superbacteria.

Yeh, right. Inappropriate use is implicated in the creation of drug
resistance, not "excess use." In fact, underuse is more likely to
result in resistance than overuse.

> If you're really worried about
> getting sick, stick to bottled water in sealed bottles (in many 3rd world
> countries, refilling bottles is a common scam), eat well-cooked food, avoid
> raw, unpeeled fruits and vegetables, and be scrupulous about washing your
> hands before eating.

Making sure, of course, not to eat with your hands you just washed in
contaminated water, or use the utensils provided which similarly have
been rinsed in contaminated water.....

js