Contributors to this thread:
Alright, so how many of you guys had a hunt ruined because you had to stick close to an outhouse?
I ask for a couple of reasons: 1) It's late July on Bowsite and it's a little boring. This should generate some good stories. 2) I've had to make 2 trips to Korea in the last month and on the first one I caught some kind of food poisoning at the airport in Seattle. 13 hours is a LONG time to be stuck in a 747 with those little bathrooms when it's coming from both ends.
I've personally never had it ruin a hunt, but I can only imagine making a big trip to Africa, Alaska etc...and being totally grounded.
There is something about the nerves and excitement of the hunt that loosen things up for me, but it has never ruined a hunt for me that I can remember.
Always carry a scrip of Cipro and some imodium....takes care of intestinal issues pretty quick plus a good broad spectrum antibiotic for many other infections.
Don't leave home without it!
I hunted CO a couple years back. I felt fine during the hunt and then spent the night in a hotel before the 18 hour drive home.
Well, I was on the toilet for the next 2.5 days and could not stand up for more than 2-3 min before I had to get back in there. I was trapped in a strange town with no one to get me medicine or food. I, for the first time in my life, seriously considered getting Depends because I had no idea how else to get home.
After the 2.5 days, it cleared and I was able to gently drive home.
SteveB has some good suggestions that I would have laughed at until I went through this crappy episode. If that happened in the woods, it would have been 20x worse.
I used Imodium ONCE. I coulda made it to Africa and back on a ten day hunt before I crapped again !
Damn Pat, I hope you fell forward!
A wilderness remedy is to mix a tbl spoon or so of ash with water and drink it. It stop you up like a cork. Have heard it tastes horrible but works.
Got a case of it on the way to my MN deer hunt last year....I had to stop at every single rest stop while driving across NE and SD.
At least we were staying in a motel that trip, it would have been brutal in a tent. It took three days of popping Imodium and Pepto like candy to get ahead of it.
My hunting partner has to go drop his drawers every time we get close to a herd. We laugh about it but it sure is a pain.
As for me, I can eat most anything and never have a problem, hope age doesn't change this!
Picked up Giardia on my elk hunt last year. Didn't kick in until home. 29 mile horse ride one way in and out. Glad it didn't hit then. Always carry Cipro and Imodium or the like. That stuff will help many things. Antibiotics finally kicked the pest. New it right away, terrible experience. Bathed in a river only way I can think of I caught. All filtered water.
Caught a bug on a barren ground caribou bowhunt in the Northern Yukon after running out of TP...every 10 minutes I was literally dragging my ass over the tundra!!
Guess we need to pick up some of this cipro & Imodium stuff. I'd try the ash, but we always pee on the fire pit to put it out....
Pat, I don't have dystentery, but I almost shat myself reading that! :-)
Amoebic dysentery can cause a good case of the trots. I think that immodium and such can help with that.
In the case of Giardia (beaver fever), I have read about and spoken to people that have had it. It can be so serious that if a person was in a remote area by themselves, they may not be able to rescue themselves. Plus, when it hits, most of us would think "what did I eat/drink yesterday"? Giardia has to incubate for a while, it may be many days before you have the actual symptoms.
I too carry immodium (I am a wastewater plant chief operator and have had the wastewater trots many, many times! Likely from amoebic dysentery.), but I'm not sure how much it would help with Giardia because its bacterial and it needs an antibiotic to fight it off.
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We went into a two gas station town once to get fuel and have a meal there. Kind of a bar/restaurant/ gas station. I ordered up a hamburger from there which turned out to be a big mistake. At around three in the miring I awoke ringing wet and could hardly get the tent unzipped fast enough. I spent the rest if the night out with Mother Nature. I won't stop to eat ever at some little greasy spoon again. Fast food places may not be the greatest food but they do try and prevent food food poisoning. Places like this probably have no clue what they're doing cause it.
From Curvebow: "but I'm not sure how much it would help with Giardia because its bacterial and it needs an antibiotic to fight it off.:
Hence, the need for Ciprofloxin (Cipro), a broad spectrum antibiotic which will certainly eradicate Giardia. If you tell your family doc you are traveling and going into the wilds and ask for it he will give you a prescription to have on hand with no problem and it's cheap...maybe $10. The military has also tested it for longevity and it had incredible effectiveness after many, many years.
Never leave home without it on any trip! I took it with me to East Africa for 3 weeks and it may have saved my life!
Giardia is a parasite, not a bacteria. But otherwise you're spot-on.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/giardia-infection/basics/definition/con-20024686
Hunting Stone sheep in BC we rode into a spike camp. Really nice place, stream and all. Hunted for 7 days. About day 3 we found a Moose carcass about 50 yards downstream. We found it because of the Grizzly that was on it. Any way after 7 days with no success we rode back to the main camp. The outfitter flew us to a new location where we put on our packs and headed off on an 8 hour hike to our new spot. That night all hell broke loose. My stomach started churning and that was all she wrote. The next day we were socked in with fog which was ok with me since I felt like I was dying. 2 days later the fog cleared and all I could think of was the hike out. It was one of the most brutal experiences of my life. Joseph my guide wasn't feeling good but was nowhere as bad as me. We made it back to main camp where I hung around a day before surrendering. On the next hunt a different hunter and guide went into our original camp. The hunter did not feel to good but the guide was as sick as i was. They had used this camp for years with no problems. In the end i lost 15 lbs and my doctor told me if I had been an older guy it would have killed me. I don't know about that but I tell everyone it killed the moose! Now I carry Cipro wherever I go. As far as Imodium goes I was told if you have a water borne parasite like Girardia you want it out of you as fast as possible and you should NOT take Imodium.
If you think you have Giardia, you're going to want to consider using Flagyl (Metronidazole)......but remember, Flagyl is a "cousin" to Anabuse.
Anabuse is used to help people quit drinking. If you take Flagyl, and have a drink, it probably won't kill you....but it'll make you wish you were dead........
I had my first case of food poisoning a couple months ago. I threw up (or dry heaved) every 15-20 minutes for over 12 hours straight, it felt like I'd done 10,000 situps in a row when it was over. I can't imagine going through that on a hunt!
How much trouble is it to get a script of Cipro?
Do the docs just hand it out if you tell them you are going into the backcountry?
I got a CO Elk hunt planned for November and I wouldn't mind having some to take along.
Being tested for parasites or anything else isn't fun. All those stupid vials you have to put junk into that you have to collect. After two go arounds of doing that I cured myself. I think my brain told my body to knock it off because it couldn't handle spooning crap out of a vetted top hat given to me by the Lab.
Cipro does not kill Giardia.
Prarie: Yes, your doctor will happily give it (Cipro) to you if you are his regular patient. No problem.
Medicineman and IdyllwildArcher:
Cipro TZ will certainly kill Giardia. Regular Cipro for Travelers diarrhea which is our most common enemy anyways.
DL, it's not that bad, I'm a gov't employee so I'm used to shovelling $@#^ ;-)
Yes but you get paid to do it.
U guys sure you didn't have a beef stroganoff mountain house the night before. ...?
Is Cipro TZ even available in the US? I thought it was just overseas.
Either way a tinidazole 2g one time dose usually knocks out giardia. You will have to have a pretty trusting doc to hand out multiple abx scripts though. Working in antibiotic stewardship programs currently, the thought makes me cringe haha.
SteveB,
Go to your Browser....type in "Will Cipro treat Giardia"? Several responses will show up....go to the patient/doctor exchange entitled "Cipro for Giardia?"......Cipro TZ is a whole different story because of the Tinidazole.....Idyllwild's comment pertained to just Cipro.
edit: If the typical bowhunter asked a doctor to write a scipt for Cipro, they probably wouldn't know to mention the "TZ"....and without the TZ, the Cipro is ineffective against Giardia....and even if they did mention it, is it even available in the US?
Yes regular Cipro is prescribed along with Flagyl for many intestinal disorders. Regular Cipro is easy to get and carry and will cure most of our stomach disorders 99% of the time. Giardia is rather rare. I always keep Flagyl on hand as well...and together nothing intestinal has much of a chance.
I get diverticulitis attacks unfortunately and discovered this as a result of having these scripts on hand. It has saved my bacon a few times in some places help was a long ways off.
Don't leave home without it!
SteveB,
Agree that if Tinidazole is included, the Cipro TZ would work....original comment was Cipro (without Tinidazole). Is Cipro TZ now available in the US? That would definitely make it an attractive alternative.....if you can get it.
I'm not sure.....but I'd just carry regular Cipro (Would work 99% of the time for bowell/urinary tract issues and many other infections too) and Flagyl which is also cheap for parasites. You'd be covered.
I'm not sure.....but I'd just carry regular Cipro (Would work 99% of the time for bowell/urinary tract issues and many other infections too) and Flagyl which is also cheap for parasites. You'd be covered.
Agreed, but your comment implied that Cipro kills Giardia.....it does not....only Cipro TZ does, and only because of the TZ.
Pat must have had a good wind on that bull.....
Personally.... I'm not gonna argue medicine with a Medicinemann.... =D
I got some kind of bug when I was I Haiti back in 89. Three months after I came home I could be doing just fine and out of nowhere I would get a gut punch and better find a bathroom NOW!
No arguing here! Just sharing what I take and it has saved my bacon! Being prepared can save your trip....and maybe your life. Good luck when poop happens everyone!
I'll never forget being in a caribou camp and listening to BPM explain his "urgency" to go, when he had a bug (don't remember if it was giardia or what)....but his eyes got as big as his pizzas!! LOL