BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm off to India September 13th for 3 months. Last time I travelled to Africa the tablets I took made me really bloody ill and besides, I can't afford to fork out for 3 months supply for when I'm away.
Quite a few friends,who have sampled the delights of India, ditched the tablets and went for the repellent and the mosi nets.
What do you all reckon ??
Suggestions greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Dawn

Dawn,

I used Larium for a bit when I was in India, but the stuff made me hallucinate and feel not so good. I got off it, and focused on staying away from the buggers via nets and repellents as you mentioned. Many of the other travellers did the same. Of course, the risk for malaria is still there, depending on your location and probably lots of other factors, that us silly travellers are not aware of.
I am not a Dr., but that is what I did for what its worth. I guess, weigh the risks in your own mind after gathering sufficient data, and surely the correct decision will stare you right in the face.

Good luck and have an excellent trip!

Sean

You're right about the correct answer staring you in the face. A student at Florida State University took a trip to Costa Rica and was warned to take a special inoculation against a particularly virulant strain of Malaria, but due to the cost he opted out. (Obviously you know where I am going with this.) To make a long story short, he contracted the virulant strain and died within twenty-four hours, just long enough for his body to be delivered to Miami so his family could bury it.

Now, I don't mean to scare you, my intent is not to simply print horror stories, but you should take the risks into consideration.

The only way to do that is to research the areas you are going to. Much in the same way you would research crime. But, using crime as a meteaphore, we would not be traveling if it was not for the fact that being out of our element far outweights the risks involved.

Good luck and let me know how you are getting along.

Sean/Tom,
Cheers for the advice. When I was due to set off for Africa the doc recommended Larium and I forked out a fortune for a supply. I was sitting watching the TV and just before I was about to take my first tablet – I’m talking minutes here – I flicked to a programme which had a feature on all about Larium and it’s effects. There’s some horror stories and I went straight back to the chemist and demanded my money back. I opted for a more established set of drugs which still made me pretty queasy but I’m glad I saw the programme. I forget their name. I’ve recently found out a friend of mine took just one tablet before she set off to Malaysia and it sent her completely potty. She was at work at the time and apparently she tried to strangle a colleague!! She remembers waking up at home and that’s about it – her parents had to collect her from work and put her to bed. This was before all the warnings started to surface, before they started their research on the effects.
I’m at the docs tomorrow to get a typhoid update so I’m going to sit down with my nurse and discuss it further before I make a decision.
Thanks for the advice and the well wishes – I’ll let you both know how we get on!!
Cheers
Dawn

Dawn, that's pretty creepy, your friend losing it at her office. I bet she was red faced.

But seriously, I am assuming Larium is a brand name, any idea what the drug is really called. By more established drugs do you mean Chloroquinine? I am going to Peru, as you already know by e-mail, ands since the drugs here in the US are more expensive I am going to get mine in Lima.

Talk to you later, Tom.

Hi Tom and Dawn, Please try and take some malaria tablets,mosi nets and insect repellants with you.They do help a lot during your holidays.Dengue Fever and Malaria could be serious.Enjoy yourself.I would think 99.9 % of the travellers come home scot-free.Be happy!
Heng London.
GMT2008

I know this is being posted a little late for those asking, but it's an important topic nevertheless. I just found a great site for travel health information, http://www.medicineplanet.com, and they have an article on Larium and the controversy of using it. http://www.medicineplanet.com/article/article.phtml?tcat=1&aid=4

Larium is the brand name of the drug Mefloquin (i may have spelt that wrong).

I worked with a group of 10 people in Zambia last summer, all of who took Larium and all of them had some sort of reaction (normaly the worst being funky dreams) and one girl turned into a real space cadet (she's better now).

Basicly 1 in 10,000 people have a SEVERE reaction. If you have ANY history of mental illness dont even go near the stuff.

My girlfriends Uncle was a normal bloke who took it for a trip to africa. He went totally weird and hung himself a month later. Not nice.

Nothing is easy in this travelling malarky, and for malaria its the choice between a rock and a hard place - go mad on the drugs, or get killed by the malaria. Fun huh?

dodgybarnet@hotmail.com

Some years ago I met a guy in Hanoi who took Larium and claimed to suffer from hallucinations... intrigued, I looked it up when I got home, and read a study bymedical college in London, where 2 out of 700 participants in the test programme had to be hospitalized for mental instability... a psychosis in the Thai jungle? No thanks! Just a month ago, a friend of mine who's a doctor himself took Larium in the N of Thailand, and had severe reactions. At the hospital where he ended up, the British doctors advised him to stay of Larium, and instead try not to get bitten in the first place. Sounds like good advice to me! :-)

R.

I've heard loads of scare stories about Larium, like everyone else it seems. I and my friends took it for 3 months with no probs though (1 girl had some weird dreams, that's all), so it is pretty random. Anyone with a history of mental illness (or close family) should probably steer clear, but apart from that I think it's a good alternative to taking a tablet a day of the other stuff (sorry it's name escapes me!)

I've heard the same horror stories.

I was in India for 3 weeks and took Larium as prescribed. I had absolutely no problems of any kind; no sickness, no wierd dreams or hallucinations, etc.

British troops sent out to help the UN in Sierra Leone were given the wrong anti-malarial drugs.
Result 38 cases of malaria within the first month and the figure expected to rise.