Originally Posted by
WorldLux
Yeah, but do you carry around anti-diarrhoea medication with you while at home as well? Otherwise, this advice is somewhat hypocritical. Unless you eat primarily food that poses such risks, the chance that you'll get diarrhoea in Europe are pretty slim. And if it happens, Europe has pharmacies too...
Personal preference, I suppose. The one time my husband got a terrible case of an upset stomach in Europe, we discovered that trying to figure out what the equivalent of OTC antidiarrheals in a foreign country, when you are not anywhere near fluent in their language, and English is not commonly spoken, and you are sick as a dog, is not the easiest thing in the world. On top of that, OTCs are often sort of semi-OTC in Europe (sold behind the pharmacist's counter), there are fewer of them, and you have to be able to describe your symptoms to the pharmacist in order to purchase.
IOW, if you are puking your guts out while simultaneously having diarrhea, that may not be the time to go out to the the local drugstore in a foreign country to find out what the local equivalent of Pepto-Bismol is. YMMV, of course.
