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#97638 - 06/08/08 05:38 PM think I've got giardia
tchiker Offline
member

Registered: 08/28/06
Posts: 162
Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA
well I was a bit reckless in the Smokies about two weeks ago and drank some unflitered water a couple of times and based on some online research and the symptoms, I'm 95% sure I have gotten giardiasis.

Has anyone out there ever had this and did you go to the doctor to get medication for it or just let your body fight it off in a couple of weeks? It isn't clear from the websites I've gone to whether I should go to the doctor or not. I'm leaning towards going early this week.

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#97639 - 06/08/08 06:03 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: tchiker]
12Step Offline
member

Registered: 03/04/08
Posts: 89
Loc: Southwest Ohio
I've never had it, but know people who have. My mother had it when she visited Mexico. They all said it really sucked, (needless to say).

I suggest you go to your doctor ASAP. The sooner you go the doctor the sooner the solution comes to a very obvious problem (also needless to say.)



Tom
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"Let's not miss the beauty of the forest by the ugliness of some of its trees." Bill W.

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#97640 - 06/08/08 07:17 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: tchiker]
Dryer Offline

Moderator

Registered: 12/05/02
Posts: 3591
Loc: Texas
I got it in Mexico many years ago. Got sick 3 days after returning from the trip and stayed that way for 10 days. It ran it's course and symptoms declined over a month. Had I gone to the doc and taken medication, it would have been gone in 3-5 days.
So, yes, go get checked out and take the meds. I've heard of cases lasting much longer and recurring. I remember being dog sick and staying hydrated was a chore.
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#97641 - 06/08/08 09:18 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: tchiker]
jshannon Offline
member

Registered: 02/14/06
Posts: 410
Loc: North Texas
You should have no blood or pus in stools. Go see your physician because Giardiasis can become chronic, with malabsorption and weight loss. If doc agrees, go get your Metronidazole prescrip for $4 at Walmart. Get well soon.
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#97642 - 06/09/08 02:22 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: 12Step]
12Step Offline
member

Registered: 03/04/08
Posts: 89
Loc: Southwest Ohio
It's is your and other stories that remind me to always treat the water I drink.

I have struggled with a personal fear of drinking tainted water. I could filter the water in the best filter/purifier money could buy and boil it and still show hesitation in drinking it.

The fear is in my head and I'm doing better to get over it.


Tom
_________________________
"Let's not miss the beauty of the forest by the ugliness of some of its trees." Bill W.

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#97643 - 06/09/08 05:52 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: 12Step]
tchiker Offline
member

Registered: 08/28/06
Posts: 162
Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA
Another guy from the hiking group I was in over memorial day had the same symptoms and went to the dr today and got put on the meds. So I will make an appt tomorrow. A group of 7 of us drank from the same water, but only two got sick. Wel I'm vigilantly filtering all my water in the future.

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#97644 - 06/11/08 10:10 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: tchiker]
Paul Offline
member

Registered: 09/30/02
Posts: 778
Loc: California
Have had it twice - got it in Nepal and got in in Mexico. In Nepal, there is over-the-counter medication available (Tinidazole) that was very effective and quick. after getting home from Mexico, I found that my doctor was reluctant to treat me with medication until we got a positive test from a stool sample. Several attempts later, no positive tests. Since I had had it before I was familiar with the symptoms and was pretty sure it was the same deal. Both my wife and I were not getting any better, so we contacted a specialist who told us the stool samples hardly ever come back positive. and was sure from the symptoms that we had Giardiasis, and prescribed the usual treatment here isn the US (Flagyl at that time). It was unpleasant but effective. It's not uncommon for Giardiasis to stick with you at a low level: you think you've gotten rid of it, but then when your body comes under stress (like your next strenuous trip to the mountains) it comes back. So I would not leave it untreated If I got it again.

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#97645 - 06/12/08 02:49 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: tchiker]
12Step Offline
member

Registered: 03/04/08
Posts: 89
Loc: Southwest Ohio
The sad thing about me is I will be so worried about getting giardia I will physically make myself sick having pretty much the same symptoms. I will get extremely paranoid about drinking anything that didn't come from a pretreated source no matter what precautions were taken. It is because of this I need to bring Imodium when out on the trail.

I refuse to let this silly fear prevent me from enjoying backpacking. I know that if I take the proper precautions I have nothing to worry about. If can only let my warped mind know this one day I'll be ok.

I'm a recovering alcoholic, as well as being treated for depression. My mind doesent work like a normal persons does. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />


Tom
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"Let's not miss the beauty of the forest by the ugliness of some of its trees." Bill W.

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#97646 - 06/15/08 09:53 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: 12Step]
Earthling Offline
member

Registered: 02/22/03
Posts: 3228
Loc: USA
Taking Imodium on the trail won't help you because you'll more than likely be off trail when it hits. You also do not want to intentionally 'stop yourself up' with the 'reversing meds' because you'll only be fighting your bodies natural defenses. which is to flush out your system to rid itself of the infectious parasoites. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
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PEPPER SPRAY AIN'T BRAINS IN A CAN!

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#97647 - 07/01/08 12:06 AM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: Earthling]
tchiker Offline
member

Registered: 08/28/06
Posts: 162
Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA
Well to hopefully end my story, I did go to the doctor on about the 6th day I felt sick...I was beginning to feel better with my appetite coming back but once I started taking the Metronizdazol, it killed me appetite and gave me a headache and some stomach cramps.

Advil helped deal with those, but I was still weak and not feeling well. I finished that medication and was still a bit tired. Now 3 weeks down the road, I'm finally feeling fairly back to normal. Hopefully I am giardia free at this point.

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#97648 - 07/01/08 12:06 AM Re: think I've got giardia *DELETED* [Re: Earthling]
tchiker Offline
member

Registered: 08/28/06
Posts: 162
Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA
Post deleted by tchiker

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#97649 - 07/02/08 11:48 AM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: tchiker]
midnightsun03 Offline
member

Registered: 08/06/03
Posts: 2936
Loc: Alaska
Did the doctor confirm your diagnosis? Did I miss this somehow?
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#97650 - 07/04/08 09:58 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: midnightsun03]
johndavid Offline
member

Registered: 04/23/08
Posts: 260
Loc: jersey city NJ
Some relevant comments I've excerpted from a nationally recognized expert on giardasis as related to backpacking, from his article at

http://www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm

I haven't edited out the footnotes, but you can study the citations in the link to his original article.

Understand that giardasis is among various fairly common diarrheal illnesses, and the vast majority of cases are not contracted from backcountry water sources.
Here are selected excerpts :


If you have symptoms it may not be giardiasis 1, 7, 13, 16, [32]

Many people claim that they “got it” on a particular trip into the wilderness. Yet upon questioning, they usually report that the presence of Giardia was not confirmed in the laboratory. (Only 8 percent of persons with a diarrheal illness in this country seek medical care.22) ..

,,,,The diarrhea being blamed on Giardia from that climbing trip a week ago may instead be due to some spoiled food eaten last night or Campylobacter in undercooked chicken four days ago. Or because the incubation period is usually from one to four weeks, even if it is giardiasis the uncertainty range indicates that the culprits could have been ingested anytime during a full three weeks worth of meals and beverages. People in high-risk groups for Giardia, such as family members of children in day care centers or promiscuous male homosexuals, have even more possible sources to consider. To indict a particular stream or lake under such circumstances, without being able to at least verify that cysts are indeed there at all, is illogical at best.

...Almost always, giardiasis goes away without treatment 1, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 30, [34] ...

The US Food and Drug Administration, observing that giardiasis is more prevalent in children than adults, suggests that many individuals seem to have a lasting immunity after infection. [35] Furthermore, citizens of cities and countries where the parasite is numerous clearly seem to have few if any problems with their own water, which also points to an acquired immunity. So there is a possible bright side to contracting the disease.
....
Rare individuals not only do not spontaneously rid themselves of the organisms but instead develop serious symptoms of malabsorption, weight loss, ulcer-like stomach pain, and other chronic disturbances. Fortunately, this occurs in fewer than 1 percent of those with infestations. These unlucky people need medical treatment.

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#97651 - 07/05/08 07:33 AM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: johndavid]
Pika Online   content
member

Registered: 12/08/05
Posts: 1814
Loc: Rural Southeast Arizona
The only confirmed cases of Giardia that I have ever encountered were in Morocco. I have certainly encountered a lot of folks who claim to have had Giardia but have never had it diagnosed. Interestingly, I had an Alaskan Malamute who contracted a diagnosed case of Giardia after a stay in a boarding kennel in Seattle.

Until recently, I never treated my drinking water while hiking and climbing in the U.S. Aside from the occasional case of the "green-apple-quickstep", I have never suffered any serious GI disease "at home". I'm getting a bit long in the tooth now and don't have the resistance to infection I once had so I've started treating my water if it looks suspicious.
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May I walk in beauty.

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#97652 - 08/12/08 07:36 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: Pika]
johndavid Offline
member

Registered: 04/23/08
Posts: 260
Loc: jersey city NJ
I think the Rockwell article linked above, or possibly another source, mentions that more than 7% of everybody in the U.S. is infected with Giardia at any one time, although most are asymptomatic.

Apparently, if you shake hands or share finger food with any of them, at umm...er, the wrong moment....you too can join the club, but you probably won't get sick and you might gain immunity.

I read a survey that said in a given month, 5% to 10% of everybody in America gets the trots.....Giardiasis is extremely common, and we're absolutely not talking just among campers. But apparently, various viruses (Giardia is protozoa) are even more commonly the culprit..

Vectors for all the bugs are the same:..mostly hand-to-mouth, or contaminated food...which is pretty much the same thing.....water-borne is the other possibility, but comparatively rare.....

Merely in terms of statistical chances, sharing GORP with the wrong person.......is a far greater hazard than tainted water..

This is the general point that Rockwell makes, although most of the (voluminous) research he cites pertains specifically to the Sierra Nevada where he notes Giardia, in infective amounts, is nearly unrecorded despite lots of testing.

All of this, by the way, isn't a matter of Rockwell's opinion. He documents it all rather carefully, and many of his citations can be viewed on the Web.

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#97653 - 09/10/08 10:09 AM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: johndavid]
BlountCountyBackpacker Offline
newbie

Registered: 08/06/08
Posts: 9
Have drank lots of unfiltered water from smokies streams and been fine. Not sure where you were drinking at but probably didn't get it there unless it was from the stream that runs behind the bathrooms at one of the visitor centers <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

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#97654 - 09/21/08 09:12 PM Re: think I've got giardia [Re: BlountCountyBackpacker]
tchiker Offline
member

Registered: 08/28/06
Posts: 162
Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA
I definitely got it on that trip because both myself and the other person on the same trip got it....and around the same time a couple of weeks after the trip. I think it was at the Tricorner shelter although we stayed at Peck's too, but filtered the water there.

One possible factor may be that our water filter clogged up and I was given one by a guy at a shelter. It was old but still worked, but when I took it apart when I got home, it was kind of funky in there.

Anyway, I have heard of many people who hike the entire AT without filtering water and have no problems....I wouldn't blame anyone for rolling the dice, but I am being strict about my filtering in the future. That was NOT a fun two weeks and I really didn't feel totally back to normal until closer to 3...and then I was so out of shape that it took me even longer to get back in the groove.



Edited by tchiker (09/21/08 09:16 PM)

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