[f_r_E_a_K]

Basically, traveler's diarrhea occurs to people who travel from (to put things crudely, sorry) countries that are "better-off" in terms of food quality and preparation (e.g. the US, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) to other countries that may not prepare its food as well as the countries mentioned above. Countries under this category may include parts of Africa, most of Asia, Eastern Europe, and Central/South America.

I'm going to China tomorrow for 3 weeks, and it's not my first time going. I know I will be very susceptible to getting the ye old traveler's diarrhea, so from your guys experience, which preventive measures have actually worked for you?

One that I had just learned from browsing the web was to ALWAYS PUT BOTTLED WATER in your mouth. That means whenever you take a drink (in China particularly, one must be very careful when purchasing water from people selling them on the streets. Check the seal to see if the water was properly & genuinely SEALED before opening! Many times in China, water purchased from seemingly innocent street vendors have just been refilled w/contaminated tap water ) or brush your teeth, use bottled water so you can be assured that you're using the best quality for your mouth! If no bottled water is available, be sure to boil the contaminated tap water for 5-10 minutes before consuming. Keeping your mouth shut while taking a shower doesn't hurt either.

Speaking of street vendors ...
- Be cautious of peeled fruit; it may have been soaked in CONTAMINATED tap water before serving! BEWARE OF FRUIT YOU DO NOT PEEL YOURSELF (aka berries & grapes).
- Stay away from beverages that you have not opened yourself; fruit juices and ice cubes may contain contaminated tap water
- Eat piping hot food; lukewarm food is suspicious and may strike unwanted diarrhea

Does anyone else have any other useful tips? Sharing is caring, and in this case saved minutes NOT boweled over the "toilet" (in China, it's just a hole in the floor , the squat position is not the greatest position you'd want to be while your insides are coming out of you)!

[iloveren]

go to the doctor and get some medicine. thats what my mom did when we went to vietnam. while i was there, EVERYONE told me to not get drinks with ice. but i did anyway... luckily i did not get sick XD

[Rainie]

Don't eat from the street vendors...they are really dirty. They're usually outside in the open, and a lot of bugs just gets on the food. It's pretty disgusting.

Don't buy glass bottle drinks...stick with plastic bottles.

Bring some diarrhea and dehydration medication. You should be able to get them prescribed from your doctor.

I also got a couple of vaccinations. Double check with your doctor. I believe the most important ones are Hep A and B.

[Christinaisweird]

dang never knew that.

what about big cities in those countries ?
like the capital ? is still safe there ?

[The Legend]

Go the the doctor and get a shot before you go. That's what i did before i went to mexico.

[lovejyk]

Yeah, just be careful of the water. My mom one time went so far to wash the dishes with boiled water...... sometimes even bottled if she was lazy

[katster]

this summer i traveled to asia and i didn't get the "traveler's diarrhea.' i haven't been to asia in thirteen years.
i don't know if this is just a typical asian myth but my mom told me the first thing i do when i land is to drink soy milk. i drank and nothing bad happened. plus, i didn't even go to the doctor for vaccinations before i left usa (i know it's stupid but i really hate the doctors).
good luck, hope this works for you as it did me.

[hat3_betrayaL]

Omg i need this bad. I'm always having diarrhea even though i've not eaten any of their food or drinks. It seems like different air works on me too-.- just kidding.

[sodaniechea]

Lol I got traveler's diarrhea when I went to cambodia and duuude it wasn't cool. Everything I ate made me go to the bathroom even the bottled water there O_o; I got my shots and took the medicine but it just didn't cut it for me. I guess you can just brace yourself lol

[dianalikesbutts]

hmmmm i say don't eat ice cream from any of those street shops.
when i went to vietnam i ate ice cream and had diarrhea for 5 days.
yea so dont trust dairy products over there in china

[miso_ramen]

hmm. when i ate in vietnam i never had any diarrhea or irregular bathroom patterns

[prismatic_star]

If you do get diarrhea, use this method. I've been using this way since I was young and it works. Take a 7 up or sprite in a glass, put a pinch of salt and it should be bubbling up to the surface and then drink the fizz immediately. Within an hour, your diarrhea should stop.

[jaykidding]

I didn't have any problems at all when I went to China last year. (It was my second time) But I was super stubborn and didn't go to the bathroom when I had stomach aches because I didn't like the toilet. Which made it even worse. Oh sorry, this isn't helping you at all. xD

But I do advise you to bring your own band aids and not use China's. I fell down on an escalator (don't ask me how), used their band aids, and my wound got all swollen and wouldn't even heal until I got back to America and used the normal ones.

Oh, and, just don't eat the fruits, haha.

[mashimaro_is_luff]

eat tofu? like hot, fresh tofu , the kind of u eat with ginger candied sauce (i just make up the name but it's a brown sauce with ginger in it), not the kind that came in blocks.
but u eat it without the sweet sauce.. cuz i think the tofu have some useful bacteria in it that will help ur stomach fight "other" bacteria from unclean food.. (
the ppl came from better-off countries often get sick when travel to other countries because their food was too clean so their stomach was weaker compare to people from countries that arent

[cluel3ss]

get a shot, i saw a poster in the dr. office =)

[1S0ULL]

I was worried about that when I went to HK last year but I was completely fine for the whole month (:
I actually went to the States a couple days ago with my friends and we ate fast food cause it was cheaper and faster and our stomachs felt weird the whole trip -__-" . & it's not like we don't eat fast food here in Toronto . . .

[5imply_5wt]

umm wow.. i don't have a hole in my house in china.. lol if your going to the country side.. then probably but not in the cities and especially not in good hotels

where did you hear all of these stuff?? it's very interesting =="

anyways what i suggest is don't eat off street vendors at all.. not because it's not safe or anything.. but if you never lived in china before.. you won't have the "immunity" to defend the bacteria and stuff.. also make sure you have your hep A and B shot.. just in case remember to HAVE FUN!

[imALiCEE]

buy those purell or any hand sanitizers that you can trust
and dont sit on the toilets!
thats all i can sayy

[InfiniteTime]

I never experienced such thing before.... hums

[karitho]

When I went back 3 years ago, i got "traveler's diarrhea" and it wasn't fun -___- I climbed like 10 steps up the great wall ( AFTER HANDING IN MY TICKET) and then had to go. So I had to go back to the washroom which was OUTSIDE the entrance and explain to the workers that I already paid ... ugh not fun T_T

Peptol Bismol doesn't work as great as it claims, I had some and ... didn't help too much :X

In terms of precautions ... boiling your water is basically a must. Though it's summer and it's hot, just put the boiled water in the fridge :>