In Shanghai 20 mos ago....I still had/have my tonsils and knew something was wrong when they blew up like balloons and I had acute sore throat.

To this day, still don't know what caused it. Maybe I picked up something on the street from all the spitting the locals do. Ugh. Was diagnosed as strep, but it must have been the mother of all strep.

Fortunately, was staying in the apartment complex at the Portman Ritz Carlton where they have a Western style medical centre. Unfortunately, the antibiotics that normally work on me did zilch, as did their second choice. This included injections as well as horse-size pills.

Got back to the US and went to my regular doctor, 2 more antibiotic choices later and it got licked.

Lost 30lbs over 3 weeks. I had a bit to give up :) so I wasn't concerned so much about that, but the whole thing knocked me for a loop for probably six weeks after that. My energy was gone, could barely walk 20 feet without getting winded.

My tale is quite minor compared to what others have had, so it only stands out for me because until then I'd had (knock on wood) an incredibly healthy life.

Sounds like mono[nucleosis], the kissing disease (which is a disease not made better by antibiotics by the way, just time). It can be difficult to diagnosis early on, but easier in retrospect as this case.

Or perhaps gonococcal pharyngitis (instead of strep pharyngitis... just kidding... a little).

Despite medication, I'm prone to tiny Kidney Stones, averaging 1 every 3 years or so for the last 15 years. I always carry 75mg Diclofenac Sodium tablets- just about the best anti inflamatory for me for that problem. Only problem, you can only take 2 a day.

In Estonia I fell and had an external compound fracture of the left arm - boy is it scary when you see your bone come out of your skin.

I had emergency surgery in Estonia, but they put the bones back wrong, and I had to have more corrective surgery in the UK. It will never be quite right again.

When I do read through what some others have been through, I do wonder... what skill do doctors actually have diagnosing something they're only going to see once or twice in their lifetime!

While you can tip them off that you've been to X country, it does worry me that if I do get sick somewhere and later come back to my home country while it's still incubating/not showing, that I may never be diagnosed correctly. At least with my ChickenPox example above, it's a well known sickness that is easy to diagnose. Compare to something like lyme disease, which I doubt my doctor has ever seen and mirrors quite closely a bad flu, I do wonder how they would go with detection.

Hmmm. Another thing to worry about when travelling!

I'm surprised that a few posters have got Hep A. There's a widely available and effective vaccine and anyone traveling anywhere should get it.

Worst I ever got was a stomach upset that I picked up in Argentina. Two days later (Xmas eve) I was in the clinic in Santiago on a drip. It then took nearly a year for my system to get completely back to normal. Nasty bug whatever it was.

A friend of mine got attacked and stung by approximately 200 bees while on assignment in Tanzania a few years ago. A frightening experience no doubt.

I caught whiplash on an airplane once. Bad turbulence.

absolutely correct, but you can help yourself--the internet is your friend, although obviously one can go overboard. if you have weird symptoms, google them. at worst it's entertaining, at best it can be helpful.

in my case, i was googling 'red spot fever' and wondered if hubby and i might have lyme, but because there is NO lyme in hawaii, and it's incredibly rare in the grand canyon, we ruled it out...until i got more spots and headed to the doc. i was floored that he knew what to look for and what to prescribe, despite having not seen it before. (side note--the nurse spelled my diagnosis 'lime.' :rolleyes: )

i remember asking him how he knew what to look for, and he said 'karen, infectious diseases are my hobby!' he said he liked diagnosing things he could actually fix. he did have either a blackberry or something similar which he referred to as his 'doc in the box' and he consulted it during my visit. having a competent doctor may involve an element of luck, but you can assist by doing some homework on your own.

(not that that would have worked in my husband's case, the folks he dealt with were real idiots. he was poaching my antibiotics for about three days until we got them to agree that with the same exact symptoms, it was likely he had the same disease and needed the same treatment!)

i had mono earlier this year, unfortunately not while traveling (or is that fortunately). i couldn't even swallow my own saliva and had to go to the doctor for huge steriod shots every day. it was horrible. i've never experienced so much pain. i couldn't breath, couldn't swallow, thought i was going to drown at one point. it was horrible.if it wasn't for my wonderful nurse mother, i would have spent well over a week in the hospital, which i definately could not afford.

Actually, worst travel related illness I ever experienced was caused by a trip a relative took.

In 1986, my mother took a trip to Peru to "follow in the footsteps of Shirley Maclaine." (You'll have to be a certain age to get that reference.) She visited Lima, the Nazca Plains, Macchu Picchu, etc. Had a great time, even overnighting at Macchu Picchu before they had accomodations there.

She got home right before Thanksgiving, a holiday in my family where the extended family traditionally gathers at my parents home. Usually ~25-30 people. Unfortunately, she brought back with her an unexpected souvenir, and infected almost everyone with some sort of really nasty gastrointestinal ailment. We all spent (in our own homes, thankfully) the next several days doing the "Peruvian Polka" in our respective bathrooms. Every 20 minutes, like clockwork. Even thinking about visiting the throne brought tears of pain to my eyes.

Thanksgiving at her house has never been the same.

I caught pneumonia while living in England on my way to Belgium. I was on the train to Dover, and wasn't feeling well and decided to sleep off whatever I had. I checked in to a hotel, paid for one night, and went to my room. Two days later the hotel manager broke into the room because I hadn't paid for more nights. I had a fever of 104.5, and they called an ambulance. I spent the next ten days in an English hospital.

During the same time overseas, I went to Russia. The old Aeroflot planes weren't pressurized well, and when I returned to the UK, my ears were completely plugged. It took two weeks before I could hear again.

I also ate some street strawberries in Shanghai. :eek:

Miss Redbeard sat on a jellyfish in Hawaii.

Just came back from Malaysia last month with a nice stomach virus. Had eaten out with a colleague the night before and I KNEW I should avoided the street vendor food, but I did not want to offend my host.

Stayed one night in Hong Kong on the way back and I awoke at 3 in the morning sick as a dog. Long plane ride home.... It took two doses of antibiotics, including Cipro, to kick it.

Interesting how many of us watch House... :)

"Montezuma's Revenge" after eating a hot dog outside a night club in Acapulco. Or maybe it was just the tequilla I had had that same night.:D

I picked up some bacterial infection in Mexico City and was sick for 5 or 6weeks.............lost about 20 pounds and was praying to die.

Mr B1513 got malaria in Asia.