Medical
I’ve been using DEET for years!
With the situation in Africa we are having some not so normal vaccinations due to the water shortage and evacuation from the drought areas. We are having Yellow Fever (£50) Meningitis (£7.40), Cholera (£7.40) and Rabies (£110) on top of the normal HepAB, Typhoid, Tetanus, Polio, etc. etc. We considered Japanese Encephalitis but we’re not going to the Far East for over a year so will get it later as the Jab only lasts a year. The Malaria tablets are going to be Doxycycline (100mg) for the volume treatment and a month of Maralone just in case. To be honest there’s nothing more you can do. Doxy is now licensed for 2 years so we can take it straight through from southern Egypt. If we get some symptoms we can take Maralone as an Emergency dose. We’re going to get 300 tablets each for Doxy (~£30 x 2) and 28 Maralone (~£100). We’ll need to get more later on if the trip continues to South America. We also need to check the shelf life of all the drugs we take. Turns out Doxy is OK on shelf life and Maralone even longer. We got more Doxy for South America and haven’t used it. Also got some Artequick which is a Malaria cure from Africa. Allegedly its 100% effective.
We got 700 Doxy and three boxes of Artequick.’If you decide to take Doxy PLEASE don’t take it at night. Take it in the morning with food or milk. I usually ignore such advice but having developed an ulcer quite quickly from taking them at night and lying down afterwards I realise the instructions are correct. Both Julie and I developed this symptom. In the morning with Cereal or Yoghurt is best for me. They hurt!! (Added 14/06/12)
We have 700 more Doxy….we’ve not taken any of it….donating it to some Mission probably. (Added 1/4/13)
Ever Growing Medical Kit. Our first aid kit started out as a little pouch about the size of 3 packets of fags. Its then grew to something the size of a shoebox….it’s now getting to the size of a holdall. I’ll post a list of what we are taking at some point. We’ve added Coartem to the kit which is a cure to malaria. We will get another box in Kenya as this box expires soon. It’s around $10USD so it’s a worthwhile addition. (Added 22/12/11)
Replaced with Artequick. We’ve added Artequick which is also a cure for both type of Malaria. It was very cheap and works quicker than Coartem as its only 4 tablets. Steve the overland truck driver recommended it over all the other types. It’s available in most chemists in Africa and was only a few US dollars. (Added March 2012)
J’s a pill popping hypochondriac… (For a very good reason)
J needs to take Thyroid every day whilst she’s away and the ffing Doctor will only give her a 6 month supply meaning she will get ill. So we need to find a way to get more. This might mean a trip to numerous chemists in Egypt to get another 6 boxes. I do hope the chemists in Egypt still sell anything to you with no explanation! 14/09/2011
J ran out of Pills and they are a fortune in SA so we need somewhere to send em to? Problemo….Mother to the rescue….posted them.16/06/12
Injections for all the normal stuff and some of the not normal stuff