So my daughter and I went on an amazing vacation to the Hard Rock Resort in Punta Cana. The place is AMAZING until after the fourth day I was hit with major stomach issues. On Monday I couldn't leave the room it was so bad, not vomiting, just the other end if you know what I mean. I had to go to the doc there because they told me I wouldn't be able to fly home Tuesday dehydrated. Doc gave me a huge bottle of electrolytes to drink and antibiotics. With a lot of Imodium I made it home and thank god yesterday and today I am on the mend. My daughter not as severe as me but is going after each time she eats. My question has this ever happened to anyone, and what was it from? I drank bottled water only but after reading I realized we did not brush our teeth with bottled water and we did have the fresh fruit, some lettuce, and mostly fish etc. Oh and Friday morning I woke up with my eyes swollen shut lol!!! I had to use ice to get the swelling down. I ate fish a lot the first 4 days so I was attributing that to the high salt used in the foods. I know sounds like vacation from hell, I really loved the resort but wouldn't go back now because I don't know exactly what made me so sick. I am a fairly healthy eater and was thinking the difference in the foods could have upset my stomach but not to the degree of how sick I became. I have been to Mexico on cruises and have never had any issues, this is my first bad experience. Just wondering if anyone else has had this experience.
The sickest I have EVER seen my mom was when she came back from Mexico. She lost 14 pounds in just a few days and had to be taken to the emergency room and admitted. She had some sort of parasite I think, and needed IV hydration (and possibly antibiotics?).
If you're not all the way better soon I'd get to the doctor (and I can't stand most physicians and don't say that lightly).
Good luck.
It's called Montezuma's Revenge.....lol.
I had this returning from one trip to Mexico - the culprit was I had used tap water to brush my teeth. I didn't even THINK about using bottled water for that.
Also can happen if you get shower water in your mouth at all during the shower.
Most resorts use bottled water for ice, so it shouldn't have been the ice and once you cook the water all the bacteria that WE can't handle is gone.... but the regular tap water is a no-no....even at most of the resorts. Bottled only.
Hope you feel better soon.
We just survived a trip to the Mexican Riviera.
We were vigilant about the bottled water (including teeth brushing) and no uncooked veggies or unpeeled fruit. No problems.
The other family we traveled with? Not so vigilant & not so lucky.
It's not "bad" bacteria--it's different bacteria. That were not used to.
It will take time to process out of your body.
If its still happening after 2 weeks, call your doc/s.
Good luck!
I've been to Mexico (Cozumel) but never had stomach upset this badly. My solution: drink beer :) (I'm being a little silly, but as much as I wanted frozen drinks on the beach, I didn't have any because they are made with ice.)
I would suggest that in addition to the antibiotics, you should start taking some probiotics to help your body recover.
Sounds like you picked up something from either the tap water or perhaps something with ice in it? A lot of times travelers forget about the water in the ice cubes. Also whatever was in the water your food was washed in. I suppose it could be the fish as well, or general food handling techniques. It really doesn't mean for sure that anything was done badly or in a non-hygienic way - you just have immunity to the bacteria in your own area of the US and not to anything they have in Punta Cana. Everyone there is drinking the water and doing fine because they have some immunity built up.
I don't think this was just a "change of food" issue - it really sounds like a bacterial/lower GI bug. It should resolve itself - use the BRAT diet to control diarrhea: bananas, rice, applesauce, toast (or turkey). No roughage or fiber for the moment. Probiotics in yogurt can add some good bacteria back to your gut if you can handle the dairy products. Cheese helps bind you up too. Just don't go overboard and wind up constipated, you know?
And hydrate hydrate hydrate. You and your daughter are losing fluids daily. The electrolyte stuff you buy in the store is not great, and plain water may not be enough. DO NOT do Gatorade or Power Ade or Vitamin Water or any of that stuff! Too many artificial dyes which aren't good for you anyway but also can be irritants, which you definitely don't need now. Some of them are under investigation anyway for making health claims. You can buy something on line that I can recommend but it will take a few days to get to you. Depends how sick you are and whether you want something for regular use. I have a family of athletes and we use it all the time.
Travellers' diarrhea is an intestinal infection caused by bacteria, parasites or viruses transmitted through contaminated food or water. Antibiotics may treat it if it's bacterial however it's not going to help at all if it's a parasite or viral. The brat diet is a good start along with plenty of fluids. Viral will run it's course in a week or so. If it doesn't seem to be getting better you may need to have a stool sample cultured to rule out parasite.
We traveled to Mexico with my oldest daughter when she was 2. She ended up with a parasite infection which cleared quickly once treated. Different countries have different issues for us.
Definitely sounds like you picked up a bug. It sounds like the antibiotics he gave you are working. If it comes back, or if your daughter doesn't improve go to the doctor here. My friend's daughter had this problem after they went to Cabo last year. She ended up needing Cipro to get rid of it.
When my son was about 1 I went to Mexico to visit my husband's family. I was there for 2 weeks. The first week was fine. No issues. I was careful to only drink bottled water, use bottled water for bottles, and brush with bottled water.
The next week we went to Puebla and went to a "Fiesta de Mole." Basically we went to a bunch of houses and ate mole (there is an accent on the "e"...I didn't eat moles!) and rice.
I got so very very very sick.
A lot of the food in Mexico (specifically rice, beans, and meat) are cooked with lard.
I don't know about you, but I do not use lard when I cook.
My body did not handle that very well, and was sitting on the toilet for DAYS. Ugh. It was awful. And I was still with my husband's family!!
Any time I get sick now they ask me if it's as bad as Puebla. It's been 10 years!
L.
I had the same experience in Punta Cana, but unfortunately never found out what was wrong. Similar situation of the resort being beautiful, but so many other things going wrong including airline lost my luggage, they overbooked the fairy so first night stayed at a different resort. ... then tried to charge me $10 for calling the airline to give them the different hotel info. By the time I got my luggage on day 3 I was soooooo excited and within a couple of hours I was on my deathbed with what I liked to call mad jungle disease.
Glad to hear your daughter only got a touch of it!
I didn't do anything didn't from my friends (bottled water, but still had the ice in other drinks) so I think we were just lucky enough to be immune system compromised at the time.
We spent two weeks in Mexico and were very careful, I also took probiotics daily. What does your doctor say? if it is a parasite it may not go away on its own! Are you taking cipro?
