He thinks you may be either allergic to Doxy or exposure to the sun is making you allergic to something else because of Doxy. He suggested taking Maleran instead. I’ll contact someone and see if it would be okay to switch. I suggest staying out of malarial places from now on, to minimise risk. In other words, no Lombok!

RM just called in with his father to discuss the veg patch.

Yay ok boglar, check it out with the pharmacy and see what he saya. The doc here seemed to this that doxy was less than useless and should be chucked away forthwith!!!!

I’m all for giving it up as i don’t remember getting bitten really after cochin in india!!!! Espercially if it stops these pesky lumps. On the other hand, we only have 10-15 days left of them to take, so might be an idear to finish the tocic course and then get better!!!! Swellings all on legs and but at the mo. One tiny one on my cheeck has gone. am taking Neoclarityn given by Yi-Jing, so that seems to be stopping it getting bad.
Let me know what you think. Geoff can charge his mini disk and i can’t charg the phone, so it must be the charger or the phone. I will swap with jul.

Jul: that sounds fine to me. I will send you a list of things to do and things not to do and where to stay, eat ect as without a guide you will be grabbed by the first con artist and relieved of your last dollars!!!!

1st thing is, the taxi from the airport should cost 60 baht.( one pound is about 67 baht) top are cheaper off kohsan rd and much more later!!!

Cheers T

Malta hey… nice. What are these fabled sledge tracks?

jul: Spooks is a MI5/6 program. second series. I vaguely remember the 1st so I guess you must have watched it too.

Biscu, this doxy stuff sounds a bit hellish. Methinks I’ll stear clear of malaria-infested hellhole if I go trvelling…

Had my first exam yesterday. Only 1.5hrs, went ok.

Oh and I saw Matrix 2 the other day. I thought it was good, but everybody except for chis hated it. Throuble is, they went in to the film expecting to hate it and generally with a nitpicking attitude. Thus preventing them from suspending disbelief, which solid will tell you, if the key to enjoying any film. Personally, I thought it was fairly good, but should have been more of a standalone film. And I didn’t like the preachy bit in the cavern. and the rest of the preachy stuff. also, who switched the matrix back on? Didn’t neo turn it off at the end of the last one?

jul, why is your eye twitching?

hail!
well thames is a bit of a pest hole, by god! we were going to go for a jolly walk in the nearby mountain but we descoved that the bus from the hostel, which we had asumed was free turned out to be $25! a pox on this place. so we messed about for a day and are leaving for touranga tomorrow. we were very close to getting the van in whitianga, but the gods were against us so we didn’t. no luck on finding a cheap car for sale in thames so far.
tan+geoff: as to me and newzealand what say you, to this weeze. i get my flight to bankok on the 1st or somthing wnder around for a few days then get my flight to singapore to meet you on the sixth. this is an idea.
dod+mama i will give you a number to ring tomorrow when i get to touranga tomorrow. i don’t think we will go to the silver birch place as it looks about 3 km out of town. i will just have to remember how classy it was. that is indeed what the van looked like unfortunatly we decided not to get it. we rolled the dice and lo, it decided. also after taking it on a test drive it smelled a bit burnt! we will look into the wwoofing angle, don’t worry. you may find buying a car fun dod, we on the other hand find it a miote stresfull. constantly having to make decisions and stuff, its coursing my left eye, which hasn’t been the same since auckland when i stayed in the satanic backpacker known as “ACB”, to twitch like crazy. very annoying. aspecialy when annika looks at me questioningly and and says. “julio, why is your eye twitching?” ofcourse it wasn’t, but it starts as soon as she says this. aaaahg! she finds this funny. i think sleep is the answer.

liv yes indeed it was johanes of the “helm”. what in god’s name is “spooks”?

julio

You could text Jul, if you could get your phone charged. I’m sure it’s not the batteries. The wires in the charger may have come unstuck. You could test for continuity if you had a continuity tester! He’s in Thames at the moment, mulling over his options, I believe.

I’ve checked Doxy online. I checked it when you were in hospital, but obviously didn’t go deep enough. The more I look, the more it sounds like you’re allergic to it. The problem is, as it says here:

“To prevent malaria, the antibiotic doxycycline is taken 1 to 2 days prior to travel to an area where malaria is present, daily while in the area, and daily for 4 weeks after departure from the area.”

Well, you’ve more or less left the area now, but you’re supposed to keep taking it for four weeks! Not much good if what follows is what you had (have):

“Doxycycline Side Effects and Warnings
Do not take doxycycline if you are going to be exposed to strong sunlight, such as on the beach. Doxycycline increases the sensitivity of the skin to the sun’s rays. If you must take doxycycline, because no other treatment is available, be sure to protect yourself from the sun.The following travelers should NOT take doxycycline; persons allergic to doxycycline or other tetracyclines.

Doxycycline increases sensitivity to sunlight. Notify your doctor if you develop breathing difficulties, skin rash, hives or sore throat while taking this medication.

If you experience any of the following serious side effects, stop taking doxycycline and seek emergency medical attention:
∑ an allergic reaction (swelling of your lips, face, or tongue, difficulty breathing);
a life-threatening allergic reaction (symptoms are trouble breathing; closing of the throat; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; hives)

In the unlikely event you have an allergic reaction to this drug, seek immediate medical attention. Symptoms of an allergic reaction include rash, itching, swelling, dizziness or trouble breathing.”

More of the same, ad nauseum.

So, what to do, assuming that you are allergic to Doxy, but that you were bitten by some malarial pest up North, and should keep taking something for four weeks? Or, maybe, you can say with some certainty that you were not bitten during the last four weeks?

I’ll pop into the pharmacy and ask the bloke.

Hail all, just to let you know we went to kanchantaburi to the death railway. Most depressing, but nice to see that the thais have kept all the graves well, with flowers and everything.WE went on the train over the bridge and along the track till the end. Amazing what was actually achieved. I sent granny a p-card. If anyone wants to write then write to post restente in auckland and i will pick it up when i get there. It would be most pleasent to get mail from good old blighty!! Well, seeing as jul hasn’t been around, i will just reinfroce g’s message that we are heading into malasia around the 22-25th ish, and then moving quickly down to singapore to get the flight to bali. Anyone know what his plans are????? Good oh!

Oh liv, much as i enjoy slightl;y’s mails, it pains me to have to read then THREE times!!!! A deletion should be don i think.

Love to all,
Tanya

PS A few spot keep coming back on my legs and as soon as one goes another comes. We re-read the doxi blurb, abd lo and lo and behold, it said that one of the side effects if rashes and swelling!!!!! Why didn’t i see this before??????? I must have read this a thousend times to check!!! And what was that doc doing, not telling me it could have been the pill. I even took them in to show him!!!! I will try not taking them for a couple of day, and if they go it will have been them ,and Mama would have been right!!!!! I have taken enough to protect me from vietnam, cambodia and abit of thailand. These werte the most worrying places anyway. And if the doc is to be eblieved, then they are useless anyway!!! COR BLIMEY!!!!!!!!!!

t