Malarone or Doxycycline
 

We will be going to India/Nepal in October..Was wondering if anyone had taken either of the above anti-malarial medication and if they had any side effects..Which one do you recommend? Thanks.

Tracy-

I would strongly suggest you pose this question to your regular physician, rather than annoymous persons whom you have never met on the internet. Even if someone on this board is a qualified physician, he/she would still need to know your personal health problems, medications etc to be able to advise you safely.

Take a look at www.cdc.gov/travel and read the info on malaria and anti-malarials. Remeber that there is no "best" anti-malarial. The best anti-malarial for you deoends on your individual characteristics as well as on exactly where you will be going and for how long. You will be best served by being as informed as possible before talking with your physician about this. Do consult with a travel medicine specialist as general practitioners usually have little knowledge in this area. I assume you will also consult about recommended vaccines.

I have already went to a medical doctor and and she recommended one of the 2 I mentioned...This post was for opinions of side effects for each one..So I still would appreciate any feedback, not medical but your own personal experience...So yk, I think you are getting a little carried away with your serious reply..You obviously misunderstood my question..I am aware of the potential side effects of each. As well, I have been travelling for just about 20 years and all my vaccinations are updated!!

Doxy gave me constipation, so I went off it after three days.

Harzer

I've used doxycycline without problem. As I recall its a 1 a day tablet and was not unpleasant to take (unlike some of the tablets which can be very bitter). Doxycycline is just an antibiotic.

Never tried Malarone, but I believe it comes with warnings related to those with Kidney problems (I suffer with Kidney Stones), so have avoided.

After having taken Lariam (which has weird side-effects for many users) for travel to Africa, it was a pleasure to take Malarone for Asia.

None of us had any problems with the Malarone tablets, taken with food (best with dairy - milk, yogurt) each morning.

As to the doxycycline, while a generic antibiotic and way less expensive than the Malarone, it is known to cause sensitivity to sun, some women have discharge problems (common with many antibiotics), and they have to be taken much longer than the others.

Only one friend has ever taken the doxycycline as she just couldn't take any of the Malaria specific meds-and had every reaction that is known with doxy.

Those have been our experiences.

Tracy-
I am sorry that I sounded too serious in my previous post. Since your original post did not mention that you had already seen a doctor and that you already knew the side effects of each drug, I jumped into my conclusion. With so much information available on the internet these days, it is not unusual that one can find out about these anti-malarial drugs without consulting a physician.

I just got back from a trip to India and took the Malarone. I didn't have any problems, any side effects at all. I thought it was easy to take.

I took Malarone last month while in Cambodia and had no side effects. Other travellers we spoke to had no problems with it either.

Malarone is the newest antimalarial, and comes with the reputation of having the fewest side effects. I have taken it on several trips with no side effects. You start Malarone one day before entering the malarial-risk area, and continue it for one week after leaving, making it the anti-malarial you have to take for the least amount of time.

Doxy, the only antibiotic used as an antimalarial, has the added benefit of reducing GI problems by 50%. (Obviously, that doesn't mean you can eat juust anything, but it does provide an extra margin of safety.) It must be started one day before entering the malarial risk area, and continued for one month after leaving the area. Some people (approx 3%) develop such extreme sun sensitivity that they have to discontinue it. Many people do become more sensitive to the sun and must use added sun protection. Some women develop vaginal yeast (thrush) infections. It must be taken with food or milk, and must not be taken in the hour or so before lying down. A traveling companion (a woman) took doxy on a trip to Cambodia and had no side effects.

Both of these medications must be taken at the same time each day to maintain a consistent blood level.

Both of these anti-malarials are effective world-wide. There has been no documented resistance to either of these drugs.

Thanks all for your replies, I think we will go with Malarone...And thanks for the apology yk...