In Reply to: bali belly tablets-what r they called posted by buddy on Saturday, 9. April 2005 at 07:20 Bali Time:
The true 'Bali Belly' bug is an organism called giardia duodenalis,(formerly called duodenalis lamblia) a one-celled, microscopic parasite that can live in the intestines of animals and people. It is found in every region throughout the world and has become recognized as one of the most common causes of waterborne (and occasionally foodborne) illness.
The typical incubation period is usually 3 to 25 days or longer; the median is 7 to 10 days.Giardia is infectious for the duration of excretion of the organism, which may be months. Giardiasis is frequently asymptomatic, but may present as acute or chronic diarrhoea, steatorrhoea, bloating,abdominal cramps, fatigue and malnutrition.
What you suffer from, that has you getting to know your toilet intimately in Bali, is not neccesarily giardia duodenalis, but one of the other handful of bugs that can lay a traveller low. I won't go into detail as I have found a webpage that explains a lot. http://www.aafp.org/afp/990700ap/119.html
I was trawling the web to work out what to take with us next time as I had heard that Imodium was not neccessarily the right stuff to take. (I have decided to ask the doctor for Cipro or Metronidazole to take with us, just in case).
One thing I have read was that after a dose of Bali Belly (when the runs have stopped and your energy is back) you can be left with an intolerance to dairy products for a good couple of weeks afterwards. I had noticed that myself the first time we went. It has not been a problem since, though, as I discovered I was lactose intolerant so don't consume much dairy at all now - but other members of the family have commented on the 'not feeling quite right and not fancying certain foods' for a good while after they have had the dreaded BB.