Hi all,

I'll be travelling to Mainland China in two weeks. In the past, whenever i went to China, I'd always get about 2 weeks of massive diarrhea. After my last time there, I got the feeling the diarrhea had to do with some kind of bacteria in the food and that my body was trying to get the toxins out. This was why, for example, immodium didn't work - it just slowed down the process and gave me a fever. With that said, does anybody know of any vaccines or medications one can get to prevent this kind of bacterial infection of the digestive tract? The only thing i can think of right now is to take lots of probiotics.

Please don't take this as medical advice as i'm not a doctor but here's what i do in china.

For the first two day....try to eat things that are HOT and drink bottled water and/soda from can. I feel I'm probably still ingesting the bacteria or viruses that are going to give me tourista (travellers diarrhea), but at a slower rate.  Hopefully giving my body a chance to acclimate and build up tolerance.

I also carry a bottle of Cipro or a Zpak for when the above does not work.

then it's pocari sweat (japanese gatorade), toast, and bananas (for the potassium)

good luck

All depends on the individual.

Some people, have cast iron stomachs and never have a problem eating whatever they want, but any significant change in diet can trigger diarrhoea.

I eat lots of fruit and hot tea as a normal part of my diet wherever I am and rarely have any diarrhoea problems here.

If your suffering a fever however, then the diarrhoea could be a symptom of a more serious problem, unrelated to your diet.

[ Last edited by  atomic3d at 6-12-2012 12:00 ]

My advice is dont go for only 2 weeks.
Try 2 months, you will adapt.




What kind of lousy and cheap food do you eat?
If you are also having problem from resto / hotel food in China,  this means your stomach is very weak.
Wait till you go to India or Africa, your anus hole will be swollen with bruises eating the local food.


BTW, your Doc has never been to China, that;s for sure.

[ Last edited by  hunter at 6-12-2012 10:43 ]

Hoho...   2 months .. then he will dehydrate..

Before I had to go China every week.  
I used to only drink softdrink and beer and only eat rice.
And go back after visit my GF.

Blueberry is a good fruit that stablize.

   have you asked your doctor about this ?  

Hey buddy, I feel your pain.. I used to have the same problems too.. farting all day and going to the washroom very often.  I actually didn't mind it because other places I'd travel to would do the exact opposite and make me constipated.  

Imodium didn't work either.. but I found after several trips it made me stronger against their food.  I travel for work and the last 2 trips I made my stomach has felt much better.  So although I don't have vaccine in mind, just take comfort that perhaps you may get used to it like what I did.

.... didn't think i'd write about diarrhea and constipation on a 141 site... heh.  

good luck.

When I was really young and went to China I had the runs because I was drinking well water.  It tasted like starchy water.  This was in the late 70's eary 80's.  Since they started getting running water, I have never had a problem in China.  My friend who is White had problems too but I think it was because we were eating so many vegetables.  Most Americans barely touch veggies, I mean real veggies, leafy greens not peas and carrots.  Once he stopped eating the veggies and ate only rice and meat he was fine.  

As for drinks, there is only one way you can be sure the drinks are good, get a bottle of Coke, drink Coca Cola ONLY!  I guarantee you that it will be coca cola.  First you can taste the cola, it's very distinct, a little different than American coke being that it has less sugar but it has the same authentic taste.  Secondly, no one in their right mind would ever counterfeit coca cola in China.  They'll counterfeit eggs, water, and condoms but not Coca Cola.  Why?  Because it's too big a company in China.  Communists lined their pockets with coca cola money.  Get caught? I would not be the least surprised if you get executed on the spot.  I never really thought about it until my uncle who is the mayor of my hometown in China told me.  It makes sense.

I though pepsi is bigger.

if your stomach is weak just like mine, stay away from street food, and just drink well known branded drinks, don't trust the bottle water.

buy some charcoal that usually stops the watery diarrhea

If you also wanna be super paranoid, be careful of when you brush your teeth (use bottle water) and showers (any getting into your mouth?).  Even stuff like wiping the coke can before you put your lips to it.

I think you should go to your doctor for some advice on what types of food you can eat there;
perhaps he might be able to give you some medication for the condition

Worst case of tourista i've ever had.

Spicy food in Korea.....3 days of the shits.

Spicy going in..like molten lava coming out.  

By day 3 i couldn't sleep on my back... had to lay face down.  It felt like I just got fisted in the asshole by Mike Tyson.

too much information?

One time I got a bad case of Mao's (as opposed to Montezuma's?!?) Revenge and pinpointed it back to my lousy McD meal.  I thought it was relatively safe but apparently the "ice in their soft drinks did me in.  Also, I heard that eating tofu when you get right off the plane will help your stomach adjust faster to the local cuisine.

Yup, ice is a dangerous one,
we've been so deeply conditioned into accepting it in fast-food joints, we forget that it's probably been made on-site in whatever (un)hygienic conditions prevail locally!  

Basic travellers' wisdom:-

Prevention is the best cure, and you have to avoid drinking:-
  bottled water with a broken cap
  tap water
  touching anything in any bathroom, unless you have the opportunity to wash your hands after (or carry wet-wipes)
  ice

Also you have to avoid eating:-
  salads
  uncooked food of any kind
  any fruit that you eat whole
  you CAN eat fruit that has a rind on it, but remember you mustn't use your teeth to open the rind, AND avoid touching the inside of the fruit with your hands after you've been handling the peel - tricky, but possible
  cold food of any kind

Intriguingly, I meet a lot of people who eat cooked street food, and seem to get away with it.  So you don't have to avoid street food entirely, just make sure it's been thoroughly heated through for a long time.  

What to do when your precautions fail, as they will?  
What I do is simply let it dry out.  Firstly I don't eat anything.  Just drink clean water, tea, black coffee, etc.  A short fast does no harm and actually does a lot of good to your body.  Within about a day of nothing going in, nothing is coming out either.  Even if the cramps continue, they're a lot easier to deal with if you're not panicking about a brown stain appearing on your pants at a moment's notice anytime anywhere, and life continues.  

One exception I make to the eat and drink rule is in India I drink Lassi ... again it seems that the yoghurt in it provides some protection, and it makes a tasty drink during a bout of delly-belhi ... but don't go blaming me if you try it and get sick, I'm just sharing my first-hand experience!!  

Note about Imodium is that it is NOT a cure and was never designed to be one: it simply bungs you up.  Pretty much the only thing it's useful for is if you're forced to take a long flight (or train or bus) ride while you're in full flood.  Then it'll help.  But the side-effect is you have a much bigger load of bugs accumulating in your gut until the medication wears off, and your body will be trying to do what it naturally does by getting rid of it as fast as it can.  
My own experience is the best thing is just to get the bugs out of your belly and avoid feeding them anything new.  

As with all friendly advice: ignore it and go ask a doctor.  A severe case of infection may need antibiotics, and extreme cases require hospitalisation.