Can you still buy Cipro in Coz w/o seeing a dr there?

[Bratface]

Bratface,
I wasn't trying to be mean; I was just responding because you advised her to see her doctor at home, and in her OP she stated that she had seen her doctor and he or she had given her a prescription for 6 Cipro pills. That gave me the idea that checking with her doctor was probably not going to net her any more. Apparently 6 was the limit for what her doctor was going to give her "just in case."

Gee whiz, relax will ya?

 

[Blue Sparkle]

Gee whiz, relax will ya?

I don't understand your comment. I read that you felt a bit attacked ("Well excuse me") and I was just trying to explain why I said what I did in order to make sure we didn't have a misunderstanding. I am and was relaxed (lying on the couch, in fact).

 

[Christi]

Just to verify that they really are enforcing the prescription rule - I went to 5 different pharmacies ("local" and in the tourist areas) AND had my assistant try also at different ones - no one would sell us Cipro without a prescription!

 

[cxg31s]

Just to verify that they really are enforcing the prescription rule - I went to 5 different pharmacies ("local" and in the tourist areas) AND had my assistant try also at different ones - no one would sell us Cipro without a prescription!

Thank you so much Christi, I'm so glad to have an answer to the question I actually asked from someone who is on island and has firsthand information!

 

[Bratface]

I don't understand your comment. I read that you felt a bit attacked ("Well excuse me") and I was just trying to explain why I said what I did in order to make sure we didn't have a misunderstanding. I am and was relaxed (lying on the couch, in fact).

You didn't offend me at all, nor did I feel "attacked". So when i say relax, I mean don't worry about it. Sometimes you've got to have pretty thick skin to post on SB.

 

[TSandM]

It is often quite difficult to tell illnesses like Norwalk agent from things like toxigenic E. coli, even for physicians. The presence of blood in the stool, or fever, can point you toward something more significant, and I would use either as a trigger for antibiotic therapy. Cramping, water diarrhea, and even vomiting can occur in situations where antibiotic treatment is not needed -- one of the most impressive things I've been involved in was a food poisoning case involving a taco truck, where pre-formed toxin was involved and caused cramping, diarrhea and violent vomiting, yet the illness was self-limited and antibiotics were neither needed nor helpful.

I am inclined, where I think I can, to give my patients the benefit of the doubt. I do the best job of counseling them that I can, and explain the indications for the use of antibiotics and the time course. We do this a LOT these days with ear infections in kids, where research has shown that many will resolve without antibiotics. But parents are not happy at the thought that if THEIR kid is the one who doesn't get better, they're going to have to go through the whole process of getting the kid to the doctor a second time. So I write the prescription and ask them to wait 48 hours to start it. I don't know what they actually DO, but I hope they respect my advice.

I would do the same thing with pre-prescribing Cipro. Wait 48 hours, or treat if you have bloody stool or fever.

My husband has one bad day on EVERY trip we make to Mexico. I do not treat him with anything but Phenergan and PeptoBismol.

 

[ggunn]

At a restaurant on Cozumel a few years ago, my wife ordered a Caesar salad, which they made tableside. The recipe calls for a coddled egg, but the waiter dropped it and sent for another, which they didn't bother heating up (not that I'm sure that coddling an egg makes all that much difference). Later that night she became violently ill, but the weird thing was that between dashes to the bathroom, she was experiencing vivid hallucinations. We gave her Pepto and Immodium, and by noon she was fine.

Our trip was shortly after Easter, and that year there had been a ban on the importation of those confetti filled Easter eggs from Mexico because of some sort of contamination. Maybe there was a connection.

 

[Mossman]

I am inclined, where I think I can, to give my patients the benefit of the doubt. I do the best job of counseling them that I can, and explain the indications for the use of antibiotics and the time course. We do this a LOT these days with ear infections in kids, where research has shown that many will resolve without antibiotics. But parents are not happy at the thought that if THEIR kid is the one who doesn't get better, they're going to have to go through the whole process of getting the kid to the doctor a second time. So I write the prescription and ask them to wait 48 hours to start it. I don't know what they actually DO, but I hope they respect my advice.

No matter how much you might "patiently" explain (is that why they call them "patients"?), and plenty of docs won't bother to spend too much time with a patient nowadays, a lot depends on the intelligence of the patient and his or her understanding of what exactly antibiotics do and don't do. I hope you have smarter patients. And even with the smart ones, compliance can still be an issue. If we all listened faithfully to our docs, no one would smoke, drink more than moderately, or eat fatty foods, and we'd all be exercising regularly

At a restaurant on Cozumel a few years ago, my wife ordered a Caesar salad, which they made tableside. The recipe calls for a coddled egg, but the waiter dropped it and sent for another, which they didn't bother heating up (not that I'm sure that coddling an egg makes all that much difference). Later that night she became violently ill, but the weird thing was that between dashes to the bathroom, she was experiencing vivid hallucinations. We gave her Pepto and Immodium, and by noon she was fine.

Vivid hallucinations and vomiting? Sounds like peyote salad to me. Where did you say that restaurant was?

 

[ggunn]

Vivid hallucinations and vomiting? Sounds like peyote salad to me.

Or the Merciless Pepper of Quetzalacatenango, maybe? :shocked2:

 

[DandyDon]

At a restaurant on Cozumel a few years ago, my wife ordered a Caesar salad, which they made tableside. The recipe calls for a coddled egg, but the waiter dropped it and sent for another, which they didn't bother heating up (not that I'm sure that coddling an egg makes all that much difference). Later that night she became violently ill, but the weird thing was that between dashes to the bathroom, she was experiencing vivid hallucinations. We gave her Pepto and Immodium, and by noon she was fine.

Our trip was shortly after Easter, and that year there had been a ban on the importation of those confetti filled Easter eggs from Mexico because of some sort of contamination. Maybe there was a connection.

I generally trust the food on Coz, but not salads nor coddled eggs.

I avoid chicken too, anywhere: Which Food is Most Likely to Make You Sick? - Slashfood

Anyone who has ever tangled with food poisoning knows it's nothing to fool around with. But it's often difficult to nail down what, exactly, made you sick.

A new report from the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute points the finger in one clear direction: poultry. Birds contaminated with Campylobacter bacteria is the food-pathogen combination that causes the highest number of illnesses in the U.S. Just how many people fall victim? More than 600,000 people a year.


The top five illness-causing pathogens -- Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Toxoplasma gondii and norovirus -- cause $12.7 billion in economic losses each year, with the top 10 pathogen-food combinations accounting for more than $8 billion a year, according to the report. (Lost productivity, medical care and serious complications or chronic disabilities associated with the illness are all factored together to come up with these figures.)

So enjoy your grilled chicken this summer -- just invest in a meat thermometer and make sure you see 165 degrees on it before you begin your feast.