On day 4 of our trip, while in Istanbul, Turkey…

It became very clear that I had developed a variation of  Turkish Travelers Tummy.
 
I began self treatment with Imodium, by day 6 I was maxing out the Imodium dosage and  there was no sign that the Imodium was working, in fact I was getting worse.
I'm now eating just pitas or simits.

On day 9, We have left Turkey and are on our way to Greece.   I then send an email to my doctor. She confirms that I have no other symptoms and John is fine. She instructs me to begin Cipro for 3 days. I continue to get worse by the day and it seems that everytime I even take a sip of bottled water I’m instantly ill.
I email my doctor after taking it for 3 days and she instructs me to continue taking Cipro for another 3 days.

We are now at day 15 of a 22 day trip and leaving Greece for Bulgaria.

We're concerned about flying as this is at the same time that we were in the peak
of the Swine Flu Outbreak and we're afraid if I appear sick I will be quarantined in Greece or Bulgaria.

On day 17, while I’m staring at the back of the bottled water I'm drinking. I notice in size 1 font in English placed 6 languages down in between Greek and Russian that it says …Magnesium added for your health. I look up Magnesium using our netbook, Magnesium is a laxative! The bottled water is for a fact making me sicker!

I know I’m dehydrated and hungry as I’m not keeping any water or food inside me.

I have tried plain potatoes, rice, pita bread and bananas..nothing is helping.

Quite frankly, I’m getting scared and I’m really really getting worn out having to use squat pots EVERYWHERE except our hotel or a high end restaurant.
My barometer has been reset..to what my true needs are!
Safe water and a porcelin toilet, that's all I want.

We arrive in Bulgaria and I have now begun drinking flat coca~cola. Suddenly I begin craving potato chips and miraculously I keep both inside me and feel so much better.

Turns out my body is quite happy with my  "prescription" of salt and sugar! I have used all of our “just in case” supply of Cipro including John’s dosage. I’m hoping he remains healthy.
I know I can take up to 10 days worth of Cipro and I begin wondering if  I can get my hands on 4 more days worth of Cipro. We had hired a private driver and guide to take us to Plovdiv, after explaining my problem, he takes us to a pharmacy.

I show the pharmacist my prescription bottle from the USA, she then proceeds to ask our guide quite a few questions which he translates Bulgarian to English. She insists I should see a doctor, but she is willing to sell me Cipro for the equivalent of 2 USD

She then states in broken English as she hands me the box ….No black market I think.
Everything is in the Cyrillic alphabet and I can’t  positively identify the manufacture.

I email my doctor that night and she instructs me  NOT to take this medicine and then suggests I contact the US Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria for help. We had already tried to utilize the Iamat.org website without success. I wasn’t able to get hold of anyone at the US Embassy in Bulgaria. However, we were heading home in 2 days.  I continued drinking coca~cola and eating potato chips. My body loves this new diet and I now have a bit of energy.

As soon as I arrived home, I visited my doctor and began the BRAT diet.

Along with drinking large quantities of water that had no magnesium  and another round of antibiotics. It took another 3 weeks to be completely well.

I truly experienced the warmth of other women from several countries and cultures during this experience

 

When I was in Istanbul on a tram by the train station, I realized I needed a bathroom immediately, I looked at John and said ~ off..now!  I ran from the tram stop across traffic to

the McDonalds and up 3 flights of stairs…as I’m standing in line a Turkish woman

looks at me and pulls me to the front of the line to use the next open stall.

It must have been the look on my face that crossed all language barriers.

When I came out of the stall, a Turkish Grandmother started patting my face with wet paper towels.

 

In Bulgaria at the Rila Monastary, I was using a bathroom stall and after I left it, I realized in a matter of seconds, I needed to re enter. I went to the back of the line of a Japanese Tour Group, 2  women at the front of the line started yelling in Japanese at me…I didn’t understand until they motioned for me to come forward and go in next.

2 acts of kindness that transcended language barriers and religions, they identified with my situation and extended themselves in the same way they would hope to be treated!!!!

While I will alway remember the sites we saw on this adventure, these women touched my heart!
 

So, what caused my food poisioning? Was it a parasite or bacteria? It remains a unknown.

My doctor thinks it was the delicious turkish yogurt on the breakfast buffett or possibly

the tomato, cucumber and feta salad. These food items were the only ones that John didn't eat and quite frankly I devoured during the 1st 3 days of our trip.

                       Life Lessons....some we knew and some we learned along the way.

*Bring enough Cipro for everyone traveling to take a maximum dosage, that's 10 pills each

*Always have a lot of toilet paper with you. Snag a roll from your hotel or cruise ship to put in  your day pack

*Imodium doesn't exist outside of the USA, pack accordingly

*Always read water bottles, if you can't ...ask the desk clerk or guide to translate sooner than later

*Have your travel shots updated, so your doctor can eliminate possible scenarios

*Have contact info for your doctor in case you do have a problem.

*Pack a small magnifying glass, water bottle font is almost impossible to read.

* We now use Google Translator to print out a sheet of paper in the language of each country we are visiting. Which states I must have water with low Magnesium. It worked perfectly on 2010 and 2011 Adventures from corner markets to high end restaurants!