Avoiding the shits...

[weyland]

I don't want to be morbid, but at my age (65) it is only sensible to give some thought to my endgame. Having visited my mother in her last years in a retirement home where the main topic of conversation among the residents was the frequency and effectiveness of their visits to the bathroom, I am determined to die in action during a Happy Hour in the DR. So I come on here to research my chosen method of euthanasia and read all you macho young guys discussing your bowel movements in detail. WTF!

[Drjetman]

I agree with previous poster that Immodium is good.For a stronger medicine pick up the antibiotic Cipro.Cipro closes you right up!

[gdogg]

I'm sure there are others who are moe familiar with this issue, but my understanding is that you don't need the malaria pills. There was a problem a year or two ago near Punta Cana because of standing water after a hurricane, but in general the DR is pretty safe in terms of Malaria. If you were taking pills daily you were probably taking something quinine based like Chloroquine or Methlaquine, and these are known to put a bit of a hurt on the tummy. I say just drink a lot of Gin and Tonic!

I know I'm not trying to avoid malaria, just the "shits"!

[PapiQueRico]

I agree with previous poster that Immodium is good.For a stronger medicine pick up the antibiotic Cipro.Cipro closes you right up!

For me all of this depends on how long I'm going to be somewhere, and how bad I feel. There is a big difference between getting the squirts because you are not accustomed to the normal bacteria that is present in a country you are visiting, which, BTW, can happen to people visiting the US and Europe also, and getting food poisoning.

I'd stay away from anti biotics as a way to keep my stomach settled, just seems like overkill. Even regular imodium use seems a bit much. If the problem is that you've eaten something bad you are better off suffering the shits for a day and getting it out of your system. Thnigs that clog you up are good if you are hiking in the mountains, or in some other situation where you just can't deal with going to the can all day, but eventually ya gotta get rid of what's making you sick.

If i'm going to be somewhere that has basically decent sanitation, and i'll include the places most of us stay in Sosua, for a couple of weeks, I'll take a day or two of upset stomach just to adjust to the local water and such. If it's a 4 day trip I will be much more cautius about bottled water. No sense wasting half the trip.