Re: [at-l] flagyl

["Jim Mayer" <jmayer@rochester.rr.com>]

Leslie,

I'm no doctor, but I think that you'll find that Flagyl is an antibiotic and
that Imodium does something to shut down the bowels and stop diarea.  In
particular, Imodium does nothing to actually treat giardia.

For myself, if I had a bout of diarea that didn't go away by itself fairly
quickly I'd get off the trail and find a doctor.  My current understanding
(someone tell me if I'm wrong) is that:

(1) Lots of things besides giardia cause diarea.
(2) Flagyl only works for some things.
(3) Flagyl has potentially serious side effects.
(4) Taking Immodium can mask some serious conditions.

I usually carry some pepto-bismol which I believe to be less problematic
than Immodium.  And, as I said above, I plan to get off the trail if things
don't get better quickly.

-- Jim (medically cautious) Mayer

----- Original Message -----
From: "Leslie Booher" <lwbooher@halifax.com>