1

This is not the best place to ask such questions. Sorry to give you bad news, but you need to see a doctor. At the very least, a stool sample needs to be checked.

It could be a bacterium, a virus or a parasite. You won't know the right thing ot take unless you get it properly diagnosed. Gassiness & having been in INdia suggests giardia, but that's just a wild guess.

List of physicians in Egypt from the US Embassy. They note that most Egyptian doctors are English-speaking.

2

yep see a doc. or you could try the sledgehammer approach if you have had your Hep shots and are not turning yellow:

500mg cipro 3 times a day
plus
500mg flagyl 3 times a day

taken at the same time for 7 days.

no booze whatsoever for one week after you're done.

Edited by: Geer37

3

Personally, I'd try the above one at a time, not both together. The two don't touch all bases between them, but they hit the most likely possibilities.

G.I. issues that don't rise to the urgency and gross factor of giardia, but come and go and never seem to completely vanish, always make me nervous about amoebas. Trouble with those is they can cause permanent damage. You've got a long life to live, and would prefer all major organ systems remain functional, right? Don't you think perhaps it's time you quit thinking a bit of yoghurt is going to make everything better? I do.

Either get tested, or start self-treating (all standard caveats apply).

Hope that helps.

Mark

4

Listen to #1.

Do not start popping pills as stated by #2 -- those meds will not cure everything. A friend had similar symptoms after a trek across Borneo and it took MONTHS and a lot of drugs to get rid of it.

5

"Months and a lot of drugs" could mean your friend had something difficult to cure. It could also mean his/her treatment providers messed up (it sure happens: I've had labs miss all sorts of stuff in stool and blood samples, and I've had doctors prescribe incorrectly, and I've had what I assume were counterfeit medicines). Or it might just indicate that modern medicine doesn't know much about a lot of tropical diseases, and this results in a lot of trial-and-error treatments. It might be more informative if you said what your friend actually had, and what actually cured it.

When I write "all standard caveats apply," I mean to indicate that of course there's a risk your self-treatments will fail. That's also happened to me. Failed treatments are sometimes bad for your health, and sometimes acutely dangerous. But realistically speaking, the OP indicated a distaste for seeing a doctor, and in the absence of worms, a course of fluroquinolones and a course of metronidazole will probably cure whatever is going on. If not, that's what doctors are for, right?

Mark

6

G.I. issues that don't rise to the urgency and gross factor of giardia, but come and go and never seem to completely vanish, always make me nervous about amoebas. Trouble with those is they can cause permanent damage

Agree. I got giardia in Bolivia and didn't treat it right straight away. It has since re-occurred twice and now I have a lot of problems with my stomach, as in there are now certain things I cannot eat (it makes me vomit within 30 minutes). My tolerance for dairy and eggs is almost non-existent so have had to cut almost all dairy out of my diet, as well as almost all meat - I just can't eat meat like I used to and I don't know why. Lactose intolerance is a known consequence of giardia, it usually disappears but in my case, 2 years on I still can't tolerate dairy so it seems like permanent damage.

It's really not worth messing around here, go to a Tropical Disease specialist and get tested - your health really isn't worth the risk. My mistake was not taking the fluroquinolones and metronidazole, I only took cipro...lesson learnt.

7

Many doctors in India would give something like what Markharf suggested - and together - and if that doesn't work look at a sample. One of the most well-used medicines in India kills both bacterial and amoebic infection, since both are common. However, a good doctor would attempt to figure out what is most likely and not put your body through that sort-of treatment. The problem is, is that many symptoms are too vague to make a confirmed diagnosis (without a stool sample).

I agree that you should go to a doctor. I have found that often using medical terms (I don't mean anything too technical but the sort you are likely to know) is useful in non-English speaking countries. It shouldn't be too difficult getting an idea of your symptoms across to the doctor and request a stool sample. Results should be quick and then you might now what you are dealing with.

8

fyi.....first a dose of tinadazole or whatever its called, 2000 mg dosage as per thai stuff i carry...(less severe , only 1 time, and I hate matronidazole which is almost worst than the giardia itself) ...... and now 2 days into a cipro dosage....... Feeling human again but waiting for the full effects of ...... "happiness is a firm stool". Last thing is a worming thing in about a week....