Mystery illness

ben.andrews wrote:

Mystery illness

I’m a male, 51-year-old, I love surfing and usually go somewhere in Indonesia once or twice a year on a surfing trip and have done most of my adult life.

Every time I’ve been over for the past five years, I get a strange sickness on the second or third day of my trip.

Symptoms

Starts with fatigue and feeling like I have a mild fever and achy joints

Then I get bloating and mild diarrhea, and my body feels hot and cold to the point where my skin feels very mild burning.

I usually have headaches, feel a bit spaced out and end up sleeping a lot more than normal.

I don’t vomit or blackout.

Cure

If I stop surfing and stay in the aircon, the symptoms usually subside after two to three days, but I’m left feeling existed.
The feeling of exhaustion I feel afterwards differs from my fatigue while I’m sick.

Why

I live on the Gold Coast and am quite fit. I can surf for much longer periods of time than I do in Indonesia, even after I have no sleep.

I've just come back from Bali, and this illness hit me again, like clockwork on the third day of my trip. The air temperature wasn’t hot at all, the water was cool for that part of the world, and my surf sessions were quite short.

I find the symptoms come on after driving my scooter around in the daytime, but I don’t remember being particularly hot doing that either.

This doesn’t seem life-threatening, but it is horrible to get and has put me off going to the tropics. On the last surfing boat trip, they had to drop me off on an island at a nearby hospital.

Cooling my body down with a cold shower doesn't seem to help at all.

This happens whether I'm on a boat or land-based

Ben.andrews. Hi. That’s no good fella.

Sounds bacterial to me.

Can I recommend you make contact with Robert Claridge Naturopathics in Geelong, Victoria, he’s also a surfer, he’s a mate and have travelled with him on boat trips previously. He knows his stuff big time.

He gives us organic ( animal/plant derivatives ) meds before we get to the tropics.
Nobody ever gets symptoms like you describe or actual ailments. Indo has species of bacteria we don’t have here, so we lack antigens to deal with early onset problems.
Hope you get it sorted. AW

ben.andrews wrote:

Will do mate, thanks

Rob is in high demand. I suggest you speak to office staff, get an email and send it to him with what you wrote about yourself.

He’s a business, so expect some kind of fee I’d imagine . Good luck.AW

Could be diet related. Possibly Auto immune response or digestion bacteria die off.

I know it's a simple one, but it's not just dehydration, from stress/ travel/ air con/ alcohol/ coffee/ heat/ surfing/ limited drinking water, and being out of your usual hydration routine...?

Your symptoms sound like they are gut related. Do you ever suffer milder bloating and fatigue possibly brain fog type symptoms when back at here at home.

Strange question, but have you ever had Dengue or Ross River fever?

Reason I asked Ben is that anecdotally, depending upon how acute your original bout of Dengue was, it can lead to PDS (Post Dengue Syndrome) which can last for years and has the symptoms you describe.

There could be tons of things contributing to your condition but it might pay to mention to your physician to at least explore further or rule it out.

Good luck mate- doesn't sound like much fun.

Ben - i used to suffer very similar type symptoms- pretty much like get sick with the runs very fatigued and lethargic on 2nd or 3rd day like clockwork. Always thought i was getting Bali belly. But that pattern of 2nd/3rd day started to be abit weird. Also others not getting sick if eating same meals.
Anyway turns out now i have been diagnosed with Celiac disease. React to gluten - which is wheat, rye barley.
Here is the thing Bintang has a lot more gluten in it then beer i was drinking back here at home. So my theory is that the body was reacting to increased gluten loading from rippin into Bintangs first two days on arrival.
i been back a few times since and not having Bintangs and following gluten free diet as best possible have't had the same issues.

Go and see your doctor and discuss is your best option.
You can get a blood test to see if you are reacting to gluten. Would be good to rule it out.
Just make sure you are consuming gluten before test- eating plenty of bread, weet bix, drink a few beers.
cheers

From Realsurf Forum
Beanpole » Tue Jul 30, 2024 6:40 pm

A mate used to change his diet to a more Indo style for a week or two before travelling to avoid this.

Interesting, obviously go see a doctor etc.

But you could also try a few different things.

1. Try to adapt your diet before you go or when you arrive, so you aren't going straight from a typical Aussie breakfast & lunch to a heavier Indo style more meal type breakfast & lunch.

2. Take it real easy once you arrive, dont go surfing for the first day or two day, stay out of the sun, dont drink alcohol, just relax and get lots of rest and sleep to get over the travel.

3. Dont push your body too hard with surfing and being in the heat, pace yourself and drink lots of water.

4. Be real conscious about washing your hands and definitely dont chew your nails, you might get away with it in Aust. but in Indo the different bacteria will give you the runs, sometimes just things like drinking too much fruit juice or eating rich currys etc or oily foods will too.

Good luck Ben, a relative has been trying to get rid of heliobacter, it's an absolute cow and some symptoms are shared with what you wrote.

And this is why I don't do the tropics, cool water and snow for me as of all this & further infection risk.

Here's your Weekend Gluten Test
:-]]
https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_15307/bintang-pilsener?msockid=...

Might be an adverse reaction to meds etc that you are administered before you depart.

Administered. . .??
What Meds are you thinking Mr Cheese...
Doxycyclin as an Anti Malarial or ...?

Do you have an Update on this Ben ?