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by mortsgah on Fri Nov 15, 2019 11:49 pm
mortsgah
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Joined: 14 Aug 2005
Location: Washington
I want to thank all of you who have replied and offered your thoughts and experiences on this topic. As with many things 'medical' this topic is one that can't be painted with a one size fits all answer. Indeed from this somewhat limited sample size of replies, I have seen many who have had no significant reaction to the drug, a few with very unpleasant reactions and have the takeaway that in the end it will be based mostly on the data colored with my own personal tolerance for risk with a dash of randomness thrown in. I have gotten a prescription written for Malarone. I haven't gone to the pharmacy just yet to have it filled so not sure if my insurance will cover it or not. A call to them on Monday will provide that info. I still have some months before the trip and will take that time to continue to mull my options. It could down to a coin toss. :0)

Thanks again for your candid experience sharing and opinions.
erik
http://www.erikhagstrom.com
 

by Primus on Sat Nov 16, 2019 12:27 pm
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Good luck Erik. It is likely things have changed with insurance plans, mine (Empire) did not cover Malarone so we get ours from India.

I disagree about 'travel clinics' being all the same, as I said, one needs to go to a University hospital and not a private entity running a shop.

Physicians are often prone to the malady of the 'latest and greatest'. I've been one for 40 yrs and still fall victim to this. It is important to find somebody you can trust and then put your faith in him, especially if you cannot make up your mind yourself. Hard to do in the beginning but sometimes you have no choice. No amount of time spent with Uncle Google will help. I still get patients coming to me with reams of data from CDC, NIH and elsewhere but without a clue as to what it all means.

If I could fix my car by reading the manual, why would I need a mechanic? Unfortunately any time I've tried that, I've made matters worse. The best thing that can happen is finding a reliable guy who is not going to rip you off. Same with physicians. It is the individual who matters the most.

Pradeep
 

by mortsgah on Sat Nov 16, 2019 1:49 pm
mortsgah
Forum Contributor
Posts: 80
Joined: 14 Aug 2005
Location: Washington
Primus wrote:Good luck Erik. It is likely things have changed with insurance plans, mine (Empire) did not cover Malarone so we get ours from India.

I disagree about 'travel clinics' being all the same, as I said, one needs to go to a University hospital and not a private entity running a shop.

Physicians are often prone to the malady of the 'latest and greatest'. I've been one for 40 yrs and still fall victim to this. It is important to find somebody you can trust and then put your faith in him, especially if you cannot make up your mind yourself. Hard to do in the beginning but sometimes you have no choice. No amount of time spent with Uncle Google will help. I still get patients coming to me with reams of data from CDC, NIH and elsewhere but without a clue as to what it all means.

If I could fix my car by reading the manual, why would I need a mechanic? Unfortunately any time I've tried that, I've made matters worse. The best thing that can happen is finding a reliable guy who is not going to rip you off. Same with physicians. It is the individual who matters the most.

Pradeep
Appreciate your comments. As a retired Engineer/Biologist who spent my career in the start-up world of medical devices and pharmaceuticals, I am well acquainted with the vast levels of competence that exist in the medical profession. This doesn't just include physicians, but all clinicians and government entities. No different than any other profession.

The internet has been both a boon and an affliction for us all. While it can present Gb of data, the interpretation by the authors can, at times, be suspect. Let the reader beware, eh? This post was my way of gathering more data from a somewhat reliable population (been there-done that) to place in the mix of the scientific and medical sources.

One thing I suffer from as a nerd, is sometimes over analyzing. I realize that, and eventually I come to my senses, stop and just trust my gut to sort it all out. So far that has worked for me all these years later. One day it might not. But in the mean time, I will travel, met and mingle with interesting people, make images, enjoy what is left of the natural world knowing eventually my histogram will be all to the left and it won't matter any more! ;-)
erik
http://www.erikhagstrom.com
 

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