My guts are full of these little monsters.
So I’ve been feeling a little fluxy in the stomach since returning from Kenya. I finally got the gumption to go see a doctor about it yesterday. They gave me dicyclomine for my stomach-ache and took blood and other stuff. The lab just called me and said that I tested positive for giardia, the little parasites that cause the aptly-named giardiasis.
Here’s some symptoms:
Gastrointestinal
A small number of infected individuals experience an abrupt onset of abdominal cramps, explosive, watery diarrhea, vomiting, foul flatus, and fever which may last for 3–4 days before proceeding into a more sub-acute phase. The majority of infected persons develop gradual symptoms that become recurrent or resistant.
In both the acute and insidious onsets of symptoms, stools become greasy and malodorous but do not contain blood or pus because giardiasis does not involve dysenteric symptoms. Watery diarrhea may cycle with soft stools and constipation. Upper GI symptoms including nausea, early satiety, bloating, substernal burning, egg-smelling halitosis, and acid indigestion may be exacerbated by eating and are generally present in the absence of soft stools.
Constitutional
The most common constitutional symptoms are anorexia, malaise, and fatigue. Weight loss affects more than 50% of patients. Adults with long lasting malabsorption syndrome and children with failure to thrive may experience chronic illness.
Additional syndromes may include lactose intolerance and allergic manifestations such as erythema multiforme, bronchospasm, biliary tract disease, and urticaria.
PhysicalAbdominal examination may expose nonspecific tenderness even there is no sign of peritoneal irritation. Rectal examination should expose heme-negative stools and in severe cases, there may be evidence of dehydration.
I’ll start on an antibiotic regimen today and I should be cleared up in no time. At least it wasn’t something really bad. To be honest, I’m not really surprised. I ate a lot of food in Kenya, and not all of it was prepared under perfect conditions. Still, it’s comforting to know that it’s not life-threatening that that I’ll soon be rid of it.
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