Landed in Barranquilla Pt2: Sick as a Dog

[JWR]

Jselva,
I don't know what % get sick while down there, but things just have a way of getting out of control in many ways......  I was at a great New Years Eve bash down there, and a rum and coke went down the gullet before I thought about it.  There was a bit of ice in that drink, and I got so sick, I ended up on an IV in the hospital.  Could not keep any liquids down at all, and I got too dehydrated.  Dating was the last thing on my mind after that.  Sh#t happens....literally.  But after living in Cali for several months and BQ for months, that was the only time....  You take your chances.  If you have a limited amount of time down there, and quite a bit of money invested in your trip, consider eating conservatively.  Now I want to see the bag the ice came out of before it goes in my drinks....

[robert angel]

Of course getting sick from something you eat or drink can happen anywhere. A couple days ago we were out and passing a Burger King, my wife said  "We never eat there". I explained how it's a bit different than McDonalds and always the big spender, I pulled in and we each had their signature hamburger--'the Whopper', sans onions. For those of you unfamilar, it's pretty big, messy and like the 'Big Mac', you can easily end up wearing some of it home.
 
It tasted OK, but it wasn't twenty minutes later that we both had to use the restroom at the same time. Not even one on a scale of ten. ten being awfully sick, but it happened close to home.  There was a huge Chinese all you can eat buffet that was the same way and they ended up closing down.
 
I have seen people with really bad food poisoning from right here in the USA, including some who had symptoms for months, including one lady who almost died and has issues from it to this day.

[bcc_1_2]

i suspect we've all (or almost all) had a mild case of food poisoning at some point in our life. But I must state that the amount of guys getting sick in BAQ is pretty troubling and it was something that never got any PUB here until very recently. I've never heard of the water being as bad as you guys are saying it is in BAQ. I mean the dishes are washed with this stuff... you shower in it. No matter how careful you are this illness is going to get you and in time maybe you build up your tolerance... but this is serious business... we are talking hospital stays...

[fathertime]

i suspect we've all (or almost all) had a mild case of food poisoning at some point in our life. But I must state that the amount of guys getting sick in BAQ is pretty troubling and it was something that never got any PUB here until very recently. I've never heard of the water being as bad as you guys are saying it is in BAQ. I mean the dishes are washed with this stuff... you shower in it. No matter how careful you are this illness is going to get you and in time maybe you build up your tolerance... but this is serious business... we are talking hospital stays...

No doubt, for me that BAQ what is devastating for my body...I got sick once in the middle of one trip and it definitively impacted my ability to 'date' and enjoy the way i wanted to....other time, i got sick after my return home..that was MUCH better, much nicer to be moaning on the home court toilet when these messy things occur.


Fathertime!

[jselva]

Do most real restaurants in BAQ have canned coke? is it chilled? That would be good enuff for me (or bottled water).
Food thats been cooked should be fine tho imo.
 
 

[benjio]

Do most real restaurants in BAQ have canned coke?

Yes
 

...is it chilled?

Depends on the place but usually. The problem is they bring you a cup of water with ice along with the can and people never think about it. It's just natural to pour the soda into the cup over the ice. As a matter of fact I've noticed that it's not very common for people to drink directly from containers in Latin America. When you order a beer somewhere, they will always bring you a glass to pour it in. Same thing with soft drinks, except they'll usually bring you ice as well. I've even seen people pouring Gatorade into cups after working out!! I mean seriously...WHO DOESN'T DRINK GATORADE STRAIGHT FROM THE BOTTLE?!!!!!

Food thats been cooked should be fine tho imo.

Oh yeah? If I were to sit raw chicken out on a table at room temperature for 2 days and then cooked it, would it be okay to eat?

[Stevieboy]

Damn, this thread is still going? That's funny. Something to remember that I mentioned before; except for the 5 star hotel (Sonesta) I stayed at, none of the restaurants we ate at washed their dishes with hot water. When I mentioned that there must be hot water in the these kitchens to Monica (my date) she laughed at my claim. So, when we went to eat steak at an uppity place, I asked the waiter if they had hot water in their kitchen. He thought I was asking him to boil me water for tea. I said, no, do you wash your dishes with hot water? Do you have a hot water source in your kitchen other than boiling it? He looked at Monica and asked her with a smile if i was serious. That actually made me laugh because it seemed absurd to me considering i had a medium rare t-bone steak sitting in front of me. I asked him how they kill bacteria off their utinsils and dishes, he said with soap and cold water. BTW, I inspect commercial properties including restaurants for a living back home. So, I sent the steak back and had them cook it well done. 
.
As for drinking the water; most to all the restaurants i ate at served bottle water. But, I definitely brushed my teeth with tap water at the hotel, and even had mixed drinks with ice cubes. If I'm correct, however, the hotel has filtered water. I think I got sick from the ceviche i ate at an outdoor low income restaurant.   
 

[jselva]

I didn't really think about the eating out part at all when I travel not that I have a lot in South America but no where else I have travelled have I worried. I just assume normal people use hot water humans have had the ability to heat stuff  for a long time. I agree with stevie its kinda weird to not have hot water for cooking/cleaning at the very least.
 
So do the girls who come back to the states start appreciating hot water and see how weird it is eventually?
 
 

[robert angel]

My wife grew up w/o usually having hot water showers and after eight years in the USA, still doesn't mind cold water showers. She does warm the water a little nowadays, but for the last few minutes, always turns it full on COLD. She's convinced that it keeps her hair shiny and that it's also good for her skin--something about the skin's pores. She's the cleanest person I ever met--she really doesn't need deoderant, doesn't have to shave her legs or underarms and just naturally smells great.
 
However, when we shower together, I insist that we use hot water, although she lingers after I leave for a full on cold rinse. I can't argue--it saves utility bills and she looks like a million bucks. It's fun to swoop her cold body up in my arms when she's done toweling and warm her with my body heat. When I'm staying at her family's home, it takes a couple of days, but I get used to full on cold showers too.
 
Hell--that's what we had when I was into scouting and I spent many a day swimming in Lakes Superior and Michigan, where once they start to warm up a wee bit, it's winter again already. People can adapt to almost anything. You might be surprised at the amount of Filipinas you see in places like Chicago and Anchorage....

[Stevieboy]

My wife grew up w/o usually having hot water showers and after eight years in the USA, still doesn't mind cold water showers. She does warm the water a little nowadays, but for the last few minutes, always turns it full on COLD. She's convinced that it keeps her hair shiny and that it's also good for her skin--something about the skin's pores. She's the cleanest person I ever met--she really doesn't need deoderant, doesn't have to shave her legs or underarms and just naturally smells great.
 
However, when we shower together, I insist that we use hot water, although she lingers after I leave for a full on cold rinse. I can't argue--it saves utility bills and she looks like a million bucks. It's fun to swoop her cold body up in my arms when she's done toweling and warm her with my body heat. When I'm staying at her family's home, it takes a couple of days, but I get used to full on cold showers too.
 
Hell--that's what we had when I was into scouting and I spent many a day swimming in Lakes Superior and Michigan, where once they start to warm up a wee bit, it's winter again already. People can adapt to almost anything. You might be surprised at the amount of Filipinas you see in places like Chicago and Anchorage....

That's true that they think the cold water is better for their skin. May be true, may not be, but, I know hot water opens pores and gets rid of crap, and is better for shaving. The girl I was with also didnt like a hot shower either. I dont get it. Things shrink in cold water...    

[jselva]

So how does Jamie get around the hot water issue? I read he had a beach house and now doesnt correct? Why that sounded cool.
 
Anyway, will a translator know which restaurantes in BAQ are safe to eat at?
 
 

[whitey]

Don't sweat it ... any half decent restaurant is going to be fine. 


I got sick eating a veggie burger at Harvey's here in Canada last week ... any time you eat out you're taking a few chances.

[DRGUY1]

I go to Mexico on business a few times a year and got very sick one time a few years ago.


My US Doctor who had spent 1 year as an exchange student in Med School in Guadalajara, said they always avoided the stomach issues by taking Pepto, as it stops the bacteria from building in your stomach or DI.


I've been down several times since and never gotten sick, just buy the Pepto tablets, but these only work if you take them before your exposed to the virus.


It seems to work great. FYI

[benjio]

I just came from spending a week in Barranquilla. I can't remember one, single moment when I consumed tap or ice from tap and I still had the runs for about 3 days when I came back. I just don't know what the hell it is sometimes.

[robert angel]

I just came from spending a week in Barranquilla. I can't remember one, single moment when I consumed tap or ice from tap and I still had the runs for about 3 days when I came back. I just don't know what the hell it is sometimes.

 
I've pushed my luck too long, only to see those around me fall terribly sick. From here on out, I am going to not only be more careful, but will also take Pepto Bismol tablets before breakfast, lunch and dinner when overseas. Also--always having those little immodium pills close by is wise--I've taken them preventively in the past, off and on--One 'just in case' and two after something doesn't quite agree with me.
 
My wife just got back from a few days in Manila (first Manila, then a few weeks in Davao)---she drank and ate every thing and only for the first few days did her stomach feel a little off. But 8 years in the USA or not, that's still her native country. She ate like a beast over there--vegies, fruit, fish, deserts, all kinds of meat etc and she still LOST a couple pounds! The one thing she said a lot though was how she wasn't used to the heat anymore.

[jselva]

So maybe it isn't just water.. maybe its where/what you ate? Can you mention what you ate in BAQ and where?
 
 

[SkyNorth]

Benjio...I hate to break this to you but you must be full of $hit.

[benjio]

Benjio...I hate to break this to you but you must be full of $hit.

Pun intended? 
 
I ate mostly soups when I wasn't cooking for myself. I went to three restaurants but had sparkling water or coffee anytime I ate out. So, dunno....must have been something I ate, or the bottled water I bought and drank wasn't actually bottled water. It wasn't bad this time but did last for about three days after I left. I had already been in Colombia for a month so it might have been something that caught up with me after so much time there.

[LatinSharpei]

Is it worth it to pick up medication for what ever this bug is in advance?  I assume if I have medication that I will be fine in a day or so?

[robert angel]

Some folks suggest taking a petpo bismol  tablet or two before meals, but it sounds like there's some wicked bugs in the food, water and maybe even air down there and I have no idea if antibiotics or any kind of medicine can overcome the 'nasties' once you've already eaten, drank or breathed a 'no no'.
 
Typically the places you're most likely to encounter these problems sell antibiotics and other typically "Rx only' meds right over the counter--IF they'll help.
 
I am a pretty seasoned traveler to remote, third world areas and I've been pretty lucky, but I've been pretty careful too. Seems a lot of guys here who've traveled even more than I--some sharp fellows at that, have gotten sick, so I'd have to say being careful and that thinking 'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' is wise.
 
Food or water poisoning can lay you up for months and in the worst cases, leave you with after effects for life--nothing to be trifled with.

[dewey4350]

sounds like a parasite to me also if so you need to get rid of it quickly it can get deeper in your intestines - not good

[fathertime]

Is it worth it to pick up medication for what ever this bug is in advance?  I assume if I have medication that I will be fine in a day or so?

ive been sick in baq and one time came home and got sick (diarrhea)...you can use that pink pepto bismo...in addition i had a prescription for cipro which can be used if catch something...might shorten the life of the sickness...i think some people take it preemptively but i didn't


Fathertime! 

[jselva]

Does that agency in BAQ I think Jamies have any stats on sickness of men who use his service? Anyone know who has used him?

[vikingo]

Just came across this topic. I've been living in Barranquilla for more than three years now and only had a stomach problem once even though I always brushed with tap water but never drunk it; I'm buying a 5 gal. tank of bottled water once a week. I'm in my seventies, BTW. When I did get sick it was after buying shrimp cocktails at the beach in Santa Marta of a vendor. The next day I threw  up like never before and barely made it to the bathroom, the gf and her mom were sick too but not anywhere near as bad as I was. All of us went to the clinic and got treated. Seafood needs to be taken care off properly, especially in the tropics. I have been very reluctant to eat fish after that, always thinking of contaminated waters around big cities. And I don't trust these careless people with seafood, not with chicken either. They seem to have a different stomach then we do.
Back in the States I had a neighbor in his early fourties, an apparently healthy strong man who suddenly got very sick and lost all his strenght. When I asked him what happened he said he was in Mexico and ate a lettuce salad in a restaurant and that was the only thing he could think off. He was a religious man and never drunk or smoked. He was diagnosed with Hepatitis and died within a few months, left a wife and two teenage daughters behind. I often thought about his case and find it hard to believe that eating contaminated lettuce can kill a man. Maybe there was something else wrong with his liver?

[bcc_1_2]

Just came across this topic. I've been living in Barranquilla for more than three years now and only had a stomach problem once even though I always brushed with tap water but never drunk it; I'm buying a 5 gal. tank of bottled water once a week. I'm in my seventies, BTW. When I did get sick it was after buying shrimp cocktails at the beach in Santa Marta of a vendor.

Sounds like at least two times you've been sick so far. Using the tap is obviously bad and personally I don't do street vendors but some do.

Back in the States I had a neighbor in his early fourties, an apparently healthy strong man who suddenly got very sick and lost all his strenght. When I asked him what happened he said he was in Mexico and ate a lettuce salad in a restaurant and that was the only thing he could think off. He was a religious man and never drunk or smoked. He was diagnosed with Hepatitis and died within a few months, left a wife and two teenage daughters behind. I often thought about his case and find it hard to believe that eating contaminated lettuce can kill a man. Maybe there was something else wrong with his liver?

Hep A is very rarely a killer and there is a vaccine for it. There could have been an underlying condition sure. A travel doc would have done the vaccine and warned him about the lettuce. Even his regular doc would have known that stuff.
I say this as sensitively as possible... there are other forms of Hep that are more dangerous.