vibratoking wrote:You haven't lived until you've had giardia...OMFG...
I don't know whether medicine has advanced, but from what I was told decades ago, giardia is a virus that never really goes away. Once you've got it, you carry it for the rest of your like and you never know when it'll hit again. I hope I'm wrong.
On a lighter note, does anyone know how to make navy bean pie? I had some, years ago, and the person serving it refused to share the recipe.
vibratoking wrote:You haven't lived until you've had giardia...OMFG...like 3 months of everything you don't have the words to describe...yes, you're a federal toxic waste site.
Giardia is a single-cell parasite not a virus. Commonly gotten by "drinking right out of the brook." Unlike most other gut bugs, it will plug you up from one end to the other. Happened to a friend of mine who happened to be an MD. His MD "friends" had him convinced he had cancer, and he was about to start treatment. Then he figured out what it really was, and fixed it overnight with a prescription that cost less than $10. Docs at the cancer center were pretty upset - all that money they wouldn't be making for treating a patient who didn't have it...
vibratoking wrote:You haven't lived until you've had giardia...OMFG...like 3 months of everything you don't have the words to describe...yes, you're a federal toxic waste site.
Giardia is a single-cell parasite not a virus. Commonly gotten by "drinking right out of the brook." Unlike most other gut bugs, it will plug you up from one end to the other.
Thanks for pointing out the bit about parasite vs virus. I hadn't heard of getting plugged up from it - most people that I've known to have it, have had quite the opposite experience.
My info predated the internet - now I can look it up and learn more. Here's what I found:
The symptoms of Giardia, which may begin to appear 2 days after infection, include violent diarrhea, excess gas, stomach or abdominal cramps, upset stomach, and nausea. Resulting dehydration and nutritional loss may need immediate treatment. The typical infection within an individual can be slight, resolve without treatment, and last between 2–6 weeks, although sometimes longer and/or more severe. Coexistence with the parasite is possible, symptoms fade, but one can remain a carrier and transmit it to others. Medication containing tinidazole or metronidazole decreases symptoms and time to resolution, albendazole is also used and has an anti-helmintic (anti-worm) property as well, ideal for certain compounded issues when a general vermicidal agent is preferred.
So it looks like the possibility of remaining a carrier is true.
Ah, I found the source of my confusion - the parasite can exist as a cyst!
From the CDC: Once an animal or person has been infected with this protozoan, the parasite lives in the intestine, and is passed in the stool. Because the parasite is protected by an outer shell, it can survive outside the body, and in the environment for long periods of time. Cysts are resistant forms and are responsible for transmission of giardiasis. Both cysts and trophozoites can be found in the feces (diagnostic stages). The cysts are hardy and can survive several months in cold water. Infection occurs by the ingestion of cysts in contaminated water, food, or by the fecal-oral route (hands or fomites). In the small intestine, excystation releases trophozoites (each cyst produces two trophozoites). Trophozoites multiply by longitudinal binary fission, remaining in the lumen of the proximal small bowel where they can be free or attached to the mucosa by a ventral sucking disk. Encystation occurs as the parasites transit toward the colon. The cyst is the stage found most commonly in non-diarrheal feces. Because the cysts are infectious when passed in the stool or shortly afterward, person-to-person transmission is possible.
I had it...there was no plugging, just unplugging at both ends, then unplugging at one end, then toxic waste syndrome. I lost 1/4th of my body weight, yet had none to spare.
vibratoking wrote:I had it...there was no plugging, just unplugging at both ends, then unplugging at one end, then toxic waste syndrome. I lost 1/4th of my body weight, yet had none to spare.
Exact same thing happened to my Brother-in-law who lives north of you in the Ft Collins area a number of years ago, Seems to affect those of us who spend a lot of time camping in areas that beavers frequent and set up lodge.
I first learned of it in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, later in the northern Sierras of California. I used to enjoy cross country skiing and drinking from ice covered streams. Nowadays, I use a filter. The thrill is gone.
Of all the times I've been white water canoeing, it's a wonder I've not encountered more cases of giardia. Lucky.
