Ahh the joys of having a stomach bug 10ish days after backpacking

Good luck Ian; hope that you're better soon. I read that salads are good vectors for salmonella. And fruit. So now I wash my fruit and leafy greens but it seems sort of pathetic: will a good rinse in cold water do any good? My Steripen has never failed me in all these years–or the Katyden before that.

"…and with surly disposition." That sounds normal for you Ian… :) Billy

Could be something you ate at home… in in a restaurant since you got back… you'll likely never know… billy

Thanks Jeffrey. I think my treated drinking water from backpacking is the very least likely culprit. I'm reasonably informed and educated on the topic (as most of us are), but I thought it was funny how my mind automatically went there as soon as I got sick, in spite of the fact that reason and science would suggest something else. I have to suspect that 99% of the self reports of giardiasis are something completely different and unrelated to water contamination. Or I'm completely wrong :) In all likelihood, it's a result of eating improperly cleaned fruit. Despite what my morbid obesity would suggest, I eat a large volume of fruit every week, and I'm constantly being scolded by my lovely bride to slow down and save some for the rest of the family. Case in point, the absolute worst thing I could possibly eat right now is fresh fruit, and I just finished a pear and am eating fresh cut pineapple as I type this. I'm a glutton for punishment. So with the large volume of fresh fruit I eat every week, I suspect it was just a matter of time before I got hit with something like this.

"That sounds normal for you Ian… :)" Heh heh! Truth! "you'll likely never know…" More truth.

Hey Ian: judging from your avatar, I bet that your friends get nervous when you call them 'old chum'…

Ha! I've been a long time fan and sucker for The Onion's satire. Stole this image from them.

Maybe 1980, we ate breakfast and then went backpacking in Jasper. Violently sick the next 24 hours. After that got better. Maybe we shouldn't have eaten those green eggs.

Sorry you are sick. Hopefully no bloody "D". At 10 days out from a backpack, it nearly rules out being related to that backpack. If caused by the backpacking trip, possibly cryptosporidiosis, rare from backpacking. Cyclosporiasis can have a long incubation period but would probably not be on a backpack. It is more likely acquired after the trip?

Bloody "D" = bloody dysentery? If so, no. It's my understanding that if the infected person actually becomes symptomatic, it could take 3-25 days from exposure for it to hit, but typically under 14. I don't have giardia, but armed with that knowledge, and throw in some hypochondria for flavor, and my mind goes there. Yesterday was brutal. I feel pretty good this morning but we'll see. Hope to be on the trail in a couple days but not if this doesn't clear up.

Best of luck to you man. I'm no stranger to stomach problems, about 25 yrs. of it, but never from water/food born stuff or at least that I know of. Stay away from the bagged salads stuff, and cucumbers as of late. A batch from south of the border were contaminated.

I’m always hiking with groups. Majority of us use steripens; and we share them. Maybe once/year someone gets sick 2 weeks after getting home. Then we all email each other “Are you sick?” “No. Are you sick.?”… I get sick about once every 2 years. But no two hiking buddies have been sick at the same time. So I just chalk it down as something else made me sick. Hopefully you’re well now. -Barry

in 1980 I spent a summer in a tent near Wildwood, CA working as a laborer building the 9 mile section of the PCT for Bell Bros. Trailbuilders. (Building the trail from scratch, not repairing.) Never did I have any problem drinking UNtreated water from Snow Creek, which ran by our campsite, Then I fly back home to Erie, PA in August and the very first day got the worst food poisoning of my life. Simultaneous PROJECTILE crapping and vomiting. (Sitting on the throne with a 5 gal. bucket in front of me. Had I not been in superb physical condition I would have needed hospitalization and IV fluids. Through gritted teeth I ordered my wife clean out the refrigerator with a strong Colorox solution and toss any suspected food as well as wipe down all containers with the solution. Never had that problem again. To say that I was upset at my wife for sloppy housekeeping was an understatement. MORAL: Clean out your 'fridge with disinfectant – regularly.

Was the rest of your family sick as well? If not, it was likely the food you ate on the trip before, during, or after your flight that made you ill. Not scary germs lurking in the refrigerator at home. I have to say that if my guy "ordered" me (with gritted teeth, no less) to do anything, he might be risking getting projectile v & d from the next thing I cooked for him! ;-)

See, using the Steripen was your mistake. You should've been drinking the water untreated so that you'd become immune to what you were exposed to on fresh fruits and in restaurants back in civilization. ;-) Is your Steripen light as bright as it seems in online videos? When I first got my Adventurer Opti, the light seemed a bit dim. I sent it to the manufacturer, and they sent me a new one with a note stating the one I sent had a defective bulb. I've read of at least one other person on this forum having this same issue.

"Never did I have any problem drinking UNtreated water from Snow Creek, which ran by our campsite…Then I fly back home to Erie, PA in August and the very first day got the worst food poisoning of my life" Campylobacter is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the United States. Sources: Raw and undercooked poultry, unpasteurized milk, contaminated water. Incubation Period 2-5 days Symptoms: Diarrhea, cramps, fever, and vomiting; diarrhea may be bloody. "These studies show that backcountry surface water can be an important source of C. jejuni and that infection with Campylobacter, as well as G. lamblia, should be considered as a cause of diarrhea in those who have recently returned from wilderness areas." http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=696711,

DK, The food poisoning happened the following day after arrival home. Too late to have been from airlines food due to the time lapsed and the fact that the onset was so fast and violent. I ate only food from my 'fridge. It absolutely was that food that gave me the problem. Now I am the one that does a bi-monthly 'fridge cleaning and constant old food disposal. Learned my lesson. In fact health departments warn that most "flu-like symptoms" are the resold of mild food poisoning, usually from poor home food storage. The "gritted teeth" were from my pain but "ordered"? Yes I did and no apologies. I was horribly sick.

Sorry, Eric, I did not mean to dismiss your suffering – it's just that your initial description made it sound as though you were sick the same day you arrived home. And I do understand the gritted teeth through pain, just saying how I personally would react to anything resembling an order from my significant other. Sorry that it came out sounding otherwise – I need to police my posts better. My worst episode of food poisoning came about 24 hours after a fancy dinner cooked (and consumed) jointly with a friend. We both got sick within about an hour of each other (in fact, she called to tell me how sick she was, while I still felt fine – an hour later, I was tossing my cookies and other things too disgusting to report). Her landlord came down and had some of everything but the goat cheese on the salad (which we'd bought from Whole Foods that might), and not gotten ill, so it was definitely the cheese that did it. Which was actually a relief, since we'd been worrying it might be the package of "wild" mushrooms we'd also cooked with.

DK, No problems. Typed responses can't convey human interaction very well. On the topic of horrific food poisoning, Whole Foods, that quintessentially YUPPIE store, has recently had big problems with Mexican sourced cucumbers giving people salmonella, with a few deaths reported. I guess it's a crapshoot no matter where you buy your food. Personally I think the salmonella on the cucs may have come from poor sanitary sewage control in Mexico. Probagly sewage leaked into the fields or the irrigation water supply. As a former Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines I've seen my share of open, illegal sewers. Not a pretty sight. Being paranoid about food and drink sanitation in third world countries is what keeps you healthy.

The best worst Whole Foods story I've heard was my carpool buddy's experience. They fed their pet parrot a few raw almonds, and found it dead in the cage the next morning. Autopsy showed cyanide poisoning. (Anyone remember Love in the Time of Cholera?) They reported it to WF who investigated and ended up recalling all of the almonds from that producer (I think it was in Spain). Turns out that growers often grow a couple of bitter almond trees in an orchard to pollinate the edible ones, and some harvester picked off the wrong trees.

giardiasis caused a very bizarre diarrhea. While liquid, it didn't mix with water so the water was still clear. I believe I read that is due to fat not being digested. Very distinct, at least in civilization. A cat hole, not so much.

Most of my many trips are remembered solely by how sick I got and/or how many times I puked or sharted; or having to run out of the tent with an explosive Turtlehead. Food poisoning is just part of backpacking. One time in Mt Rogers 1984 I passed a side creek and drank fully . . . looked up and saw cows in the distance sitting in the water. Six hours later, camping atop some nameless bald, puked my guts out all night. Next day had a 12 mile hike and was so very thirsty etc. One time had the Giardia Squirts whereby my hipbelt caused severe pain due to colon cramps and necessary stool-dumpage off the trail. Not good. Recently in Cold Spring Gap on the BMT and had the all-night Blizzard Squirts whereby every Fart attempt went south into Actual Stoolage. Very crappy literally. Most of my mishaps have ended due mainly to bringing hand gel in a small bottle and cleaning my hands regularly. No sweat.

"Food poisoning is just part of backpacking" Geez, with all due respect, Im glad Im not traveling in your circles. I would not accept food poisoning or any other as matter of fact of traveling in the front, back or any other country. I mean I know the risks but as a normal event, no thanks. Having lived with the equivalent of IBS for decades from nerve damage from hereditary illness I actually get quite regular backpacking. Not sure exactly why but my guess is the more simplistic diet, lots of good exercise and balanced hydration. Kinda sucks coming home sometimes to foods that I enjoy but will inevitably set me off. Hand gel, soap whatever, sounds like you don't want to leave home without it. jimmyb

> Food poisoning is just part of backpacking. What utter rubbish!!!!! I don't know what you have been doing wrong, but I don't think either Sue or I have ever suffered anything like what you describe. But we do wash our hands regularly and after every toilet trip. Yes, proper hygiene is just as important when out walking as at home. Cheers