kenav

As it says in this title - wondering if you went anyway, and if so, what your experience was. How sick did you get? Why did you decide to go or not to go? Where in Europe were you?

elnap29

Yes - Last June before our 1st trip to Europe, I had a viral infection, miserable, The doctor said "You might as well be sick in Europe as sick at home." She gave me cough medicine with codeine, decongestants for the plane and told me to take a prescribed sleeping pill right after dinner on our evening flight. I was miraculously better by the time we arrived in Rome the next morning. Sometimes a vacation provides a great cure!

Jean

I developed a very sore throat and all the classic symptoms of a common cold over the 36 hours before our departure for Italy last October. Some friends gave me a box of Zicam nasal swabs. Directions say to swab every 4 hours and keep using for 24 hours after symptoms are gone. I couldn't believe how well I felt almost immediately, but I used the entire box anyway. Zicam is now in my travel stuff for every trip.

StCirq

If it's a cold, go get Zicam...works like a charm. If something else, can't help you, but European pharmacies rock! If you're sick when you get there, go to a pharmacy and place yourself on their mercy and you'll get wonder drugs.

cigalechanta

I broke my wrist on year just before we left for France. Because of the cast I couldn'tcut my food but strangers helped so my husband could enjoy his meal. Several times we ran into some person also in a cast and they'd raise their arm to me in recognition. Taking a shower was a bit of a problem as I had to hold the arm outside the tub.

MichelleY

In 1990, the night before our first trip to Europe, we went to spend the night near SFO. I woke up during the night and proceeded to vomit about every hour or so. Food poisoning? A virus? Needless to say, I barfed all the way to Madrid. My DH was great, but I had planned all the first day site seeing in Madrid. He didn't want to venture too far, so he just hung out with me and got me food, drink & meds. I was pretty good the next day, so we took off for Toledo.

elnap29's dr. is right. May as well be sick in Europe than at home!!

MY

suz12

When we were in Yosemite Valley after a long drive in in bad snowy conditions, my 8 year old began to vomit at 4 am. So we started in on the optomist game. .. Good thing we got the Curry cabin "with bath"! And the next day, as we took turns reading to her and hiking in the golden warming snow-melting day with our 5 yr old, we kept saying, "well, she cold be throwing up in a really ugly part of the world!"

So I'd say, if you are going somewhere where you can get medical care if you need it, then go. (there is a string form earlier this year on a guy who went to Paris with a badly messed up knee - perhaps you can search for it).

kenav

Some of you recommend ZIcam - ever use the lozenges? I think I feel this in my throat.

tudorprincess

Was sick most of my recent vacation to London and Venice. Didn't get sick until we touched down. Kept going to the pharmacy, nothing really helped.
Had a good time but could have been MUCH better.

Dukey

With the greatest of respect for all Zicam users I would do a Google on it and read all the "controversy" about it before possibly taking it.

Kellye

I have taken the Zicam lozenges--used them for the first time this past Christmas when I got a really bad cold. It helped tremendously. I didn't trust the nasal swabs, but only because I have so many sinus issues, I don't put anything up there except "Ocean."

basingstoke2

On my first ever trip to Italy, I developed an eye infection on the flight over. I found a doctor soon after arriving at our hotel. He was more interested in my trip than my eye. After prescribing some antibiotics and telling me the eye will clear up in a day or two, he asked what our plans were and took out a sheet of paper to show us where we REALLY should be going and what towns to see. We were in the north. I figured he knew more about the country and region than we did and followed his itinerary - it was perfect!

kenav

Dukey - Are you talking about loss of smell from Zicam?

rbnwdln

St. Cirq - You are so right about the pharmacies. On our first trip to Rome a few years ago I got a weird sore on the side of my tongue on the plane over. Never had such a thing before but it was miserable. It stung/hurt so bad I couldn't eat without wincing. I stopped into a farmacia right outside the Vatican and told the pharmacist my problem. She gave me some medicine that was literally miraculous. It practically cleared it up instantly! I took it home with me and used it again for a mouth sore. I don't know what it was but it was amazing.
As far as travelling while ill, I get vertigo evey once and awhile and it I live in fear of it happening before a trip. A bad case means I can't even walk without falling down or throwing up so getting on a plane would be impossible.

MissZiegfeld

Not my own story, but a friend of mine got a yeast infection in Italy two years ago. She doesn't speak fluent italian, but went to a lievito pharmacy murmering something about "lievito..femmina" They had no idea what she was talking about. It makes me giggle.

missypie

I had already planned to go on a church choir tour to the UK and had paid a large deposit when I became pregnant and had 24/7 "morning sickness." I went on the trip anyway, but it was really miserable. It truly made me not want to return to the country for a very long time.

Lest we all feel too sorry for ourselves, last year when I was on the Latin America board planning a trip to Costa Rica, there was a lady who was planning an action-packed Costa Rican honeymoon. A couple of months beforehand, however, her fiance had his leg amputated. They ended up going on the trip anyway, but had to change a lot of their planned activites. The posts were pretty inspiring.

Ilovetotravel18

Have any of you ever gotten "really" sick and were not allowed to travel by your doctor? We had this happen back in the fall of 2005 when I experienced having diverticulitis for the first time in my life three days before we were scheduled to fly to Europe! My doctor would not let me travel, but fortunately, we had bought travel insurance and recouped the entire amount, I got over it, and we flew out a month later. We had the most wonderful time ever and are hoping to go back this fall. We did a 16 day trip to Paris, Florence, and Frankfurt. Has anyone else had this experience? We used the Travel Ex insurance and bought it through the www.insuremytrip.com website. You can choose any travel insurance company through that website and it is very helpful. Any comments?

Christina

I have been very lucky and have never gotten really seriously ill just before a major trip, but last summer I did come down with a cold just about the day I departed. I could tell one was coming on, but the first day is never the worst for me -- slight sore throat, etc. Sure enough it got worse the next couple of days, but I was settled in by then, at least in a city I knew pretty well and in a very comfortable hotel so I didn't feel too bad (I was in Prague). I just took my usual cold remedies (aspirin, some decongestant, nothing major), and luckily that cold was less severe than my usual yearly one (which lasts 7-10 days and I can be very bad the first few days). So, it didn't really slow me down that much and it was gone in a few days.

I work in the health policy field and while I don't have a clinical background, I do have a degree in public health and keep up with the literature in the mainstream journals, and is no consensus in the literature as to the effectiveness of using zinc to treat the common cold. The studies have shown disparate results, and many of the ones showing some benefits had inadequate controls. Most show little effect on the severity or symptoms, but some show a slight benefit in the duration, although you really have to take it regularly (eg, popping an occasional lozenge does no good) and there can be bad side effects. I don't believe the nasal spray has been shown to be good at all, and the results are split on the lozenges and nasal gel. In theory, the nasal gel should be a lot better as that is the whole theory of why zinc may do anything for the cold -- that it may inhibit the replication of the virus, and that mainly takes place in the nasal membranes. Oral lozenges are really a round-about route to that mechanism.

I won't take Zicam myself after reading the literature, as the risks aren't worth it to me, given it is often not effective and doesn't do much anyway that is crucial.

highflyer

The day before our overnight ferry left for Normandy we stayed with friends and had homemade spaghetti carbonara for dinner. I felt so sick that night I was convinced I had food poisoning but didn't actually vomit. By the morning I didn't feel so bad but refused breakfast just in case... I didn't feel hungry and skipped lunch too so we boarded the ferry and had dinner on board. A couple of hours later, far from land I felt terribly hot/cold/faint and nauseous but it didn't seem as bad as the previous night so I just lay in my bunk moaning gently! On arrival in France I felt better again and decided I just had to starve myself until I saw a doctor so we drove into the little town of Tinchebray and asked the owner of the gite to call a doctor.
It took a while to work out that the doctor thought I had kidney stones but as it was the weekend I was sent to a nearby clinic for a blood test and antibiotics.
A day later and after ultrasounds, xrays and more examinations I had my appendix out!
Apparently it was an unusual presentation so the diagnosis was slow.
I spent 5 days of our 2 week vacation at the clinic and on day 4 my son fell down outside the hospital and broke his arm. My French improved but my husband was a little fraught!
On my discharge we looked like a very sorry pair as limped around Normandy for the second week of the vacation!
Luckily all hospital bills were covered by an E111 form (most healthcare is free in Europe for Europeans).

tudorprincess

Loss of smell can result from years of nasal spray use as well. I'm living proof.