Jed

My wife took sulfa in Turkey - diarrhea stopped in one day.

There also <i>comes a time</i> to take Lomotil, when the diarrhea is unremitting. It helped me in Tibet.

hopefulist

I agree, take cipro only when you're really sick (fever, shakes, etc.), not for regular diarrhea. Immodium, surprisingly, can be dangerous if you have something really bad as it keeps the toxins in longer. A few years ago there were even signs up in tourist places in Honduras because something nasty was being experienced by travelers and immodium could make it life-threatening, especially with children. I have used both with good success as needed on my trips to CA.

I take a probiotic that has multiple strains (lactobacillis, acidophilus, etc. - sorry about the spelling); there are many on the market but I take a shelf-stable product called Jarro-dophilus:
http://www.houstonbuyersclub.com/miv...Category_Code=
and carry enzymes made from papaya and pineapple (papain and bromelain) to take after heavy protein meals; it helps you digest proteins faster so you're less likely to get sick. If I get diarrhea I take cayenne capsules - amazing! I starting packing those along after a tip on a different forum and they've worked really well for me.

I'm careful to eat hot foods hot and filter my own water if I'm suspicious, though I haven't traveled in Latin America in countries known to have safe water. I try to prevent illness and next try to treat with cayenne; if that doesn't work I use more traditional options as needed.

Have a great trip!

kodi

Suze I just looked at the prescription the travel doctor gave me last week. Guess what? It's cipro.
But I'll be sure to follow everyone's advice and will only take it if I'm really, really sick.

Hopefully I won't need my Lomotil.

Debi

I travel all the time - and wouldn't every go without Cipro. In Argentina and Chile, if you're eating in nice restaurants, you might be okay - but I would still follow your obvious suggestions. We, in the US, are not used to the water sources in Latin America - they are not bad, they are just different. Having had issues in the past even at extremely high end hotels - I will eat a salad at a very nice restaurant (especially one that caters to international tourists), but not in small local places. Same with fruit that is washed and not peeled. Imodium - which you can get over the counter - is also helpful, but if you get sick, you can usually get cipro in the city you're visiting. Have a great time - you are probably going to two of the safest places in South America to visit - and you're just going to have a wonderful time. If you are a beef eater - Argentina is the place to visit!!!