Travel clinic

I have to go to the travel clinic.

Only thing is, my insurance sucks.

My program says I will probably need a vaccination against yellow fever, typhoid, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B. Hopefully, I already have the hep shots because they take months. I think I do. Maybe Mom will know.

Then I am supposed to pick up prescription anti-diarrheal drugs.

Then there's the anti-malarials. These are the worst. You have to start them before you leave, take them religiously the whole time you are there and for four weeks after you get back. The problem is these drugs are POTENT! They are no laughing matter. They can make you very sick, cause raging yeast infections (I know, ick), and even cause psychosis. The psychosis possibility is pretty bad. They say if you've ever had anxiety or depression they need to watch you closely for psychosis.

Then, even if you do take the anti-malarials, survive the very likely yeast infections and possible psychosis, it's not 100% safe. They say if you get a fever IN THE NEXT YEAR, that you need to go the emergency room and tell them you are at risk for malaria.

Great...and I don't tolerate meds well, anyway. And my insurance might not cover them, and they are expensive.

Hope I'm not scaring any of my relatives :) Don't worry, please, I am worried enough for all of us!

If anyone out there has taken anti-malarial drugs, please let me know how that went for you.

I guess I should feel "lucky" because a lot of children die from malaria, and because they are not from rich USA like me, they don't have the choice to take anti-malarials drugs.