Geronamo,

Never mind. I read on and figured it out.

For those who don't know ...

P. Falciparum is the mean one. It can kill in a matter of a few days. If it doesn't kill you, you may suffer long term effects. It is the the only one of the group that will kill you if left untreated. (Not CAN kill you but WILL kill you). My ID doc said " ... it is 100% fatal if left untreated ... "

Not that the others are a ride in the park, it is just that P. Falciparum is a serious deal.

Funny story (well, not really funny ... but ... ) When I was in the hospital here in the US with malaria. The doctor came in and said that he was going to hit this with every drug known to mankind ... all at the same time. (The last patient he had with malaria almost died.)

He handed me 6 pills ... 6 Larium that is and said "Take them all at once."

I think I need to write appology letters to all the nurses in the ICU. I was not a nice person after taking 6x the normal dose of Larium. I do not tolerate one Larium, much less 6 of them.

quote:

People need to know that it is possible for Larium to ruin your hunt. I have seen it happen, I have had it severly effect my enjoyment of the hunt. It impares my ability to make rational decisions at times, most notablby on the day I take it.

Take Malarone.

Wendell:
My doctor told me that there are some who can't tolerate Larium and we tried it for a few weeks before we decided to use it to see if we had any ill effects. I should add that it helps to have a doctor that will make you try it some months before you leave. He said that those prone to anxiety attacks, some persons with certain enzyme configurations (inherited), and those having certain types of mental illness were most likely to experience side effects. I guess I am one of the lucky ones who doesn't have any of the above. I did have one wierd dream. Those of my aquaintences who have taken LSD in the past told me that what I described was an hallucinogenic dream. Whatever it was, it was neat and I enjoyed it. This doesn't mean I am looking for some LSD to experiment with.
You are correct in warning people that Larium has the potential to ruin a hunting trip. It certainly does. That is why one should try it long before going if one wishes to use it. If it gives one the side effects described, there are alternatives, but it is not wise to wait until two weeks before the trip to start taking it. My wierd dream came on the night of taking the third weekly dose, while I was in Africa. If it had been a much worse side effect it could very well have ruined my first African trip.

On my first trip to Africa 15 years ago I took Fansadar but about that time it came out that it was very hard on your liver and was no longer recommended. I took Larium on a subsequent trip and found that it affected reality for me. I was suspicious, argumentative and I found my self switching to a jungle protection mood. I was uncomfortable walking in the bush and kept looking for bobby traps (snakes) and wanting to sit back in the bush watching my back trail for the enemy. It was really weird. I took Deltaprim, the local Zim malaria muti two yers ago and came down with a rousing case of Malaria about a month after I got back. Wasn't too bad for me as I was in and out of la la land for two days and couldn't have cared less. It was really hard on my wife as she had a hard time confincing the local medicos that I had malaria. I took Doxy last year with no side affects except that we were in a bad tetsi fly area and the bites really swelled up and itched like crazy. I used deep Woods Off and they left me alone. My PH was impressed and I think he apreciated me leaving him my left over DWO more them the tip.

465H&H

As you might expect, the locals don't take anything for malaria as you just can't live there taking something like Malrone daily for your entire life. As a result, periodically getting malaria is something most of them, including the PH's, just deal with. My most recent PH In TZ said he has had it 4-5 times and my game scout last year got it while we were there. The chances of getting it while back in the bush are lower, especially during the dry season, but as my game scout showed, you can get it then, too.
Malarone is choice for most people these days, just be sure and take something, as the symptoms are not as easily recognizeable in countries like the US where doctors don't see it as much.