Medical Services

[Member #1036]

When I arrived last Tuesday I had a bad skin allergy break out. I asked Ana who picked me up on recommending a doctor. She told me to go to the Hospital Aleman and they have specialist for everything. You walk into to the door on the left and get in line and talk to a cashier on who you want to see and tell them you want english speaking. I paid 52 pesos and they give you a number of room and your ticket number. You see the boards lighted up on hallway.

My number came up in about 1-2 hour and went to see my sexy skin doctor. She says she has been a dermotologist for 15 years. She was fantastic. I am leaving today and I have never felt better in 3 mos after seeing specialist the states. She gave me medicines that cleared up my itching.

I highly recommend this place. She tells me that this is the premier private hospital in BA.

Just a side note. We became friends and we've been out everynight the last 4 nights.

[Snap Man]

Anyone know a good place to get Propecia cheap in BA?

[Mpexy]

Good post from Bob below, just clarifying for those that may not know what Zantac (branded name) or ranitidine (generic) is for:

-primary benefit by taking ranitidine is the reduction of stomach acid produced.

-prescribed for treatment and prevention of abdominal ulcers, acid reflux disease (GERD) heartburn, or other generic condition in which the patient has acid coming up into the esophagus.

150mg is a common US dosage, as is 75mg, and to a lesser extent 300mg. Always see a physician prior to taking this medication to ensure a) you should be taking it, and be) what recommended dosage you should take as the recommended dosage varies by person and symptomatic conditions in the patient.

[AllIWantIsLove]

Although I always pack some generic Zantac (ranitidine) sometimes I forget to take a pill before leaving my hotel room or to take one with me to a restaurant. Thus I have learned that pharmacists here in BsAs and in other cities in Argentina are familiar with the brand name Zantac and will sell you ranititine - it's called ranitidina here. And you can buy just a few pills. The other night in Puerto Madero I bought just 10 on a blister card. But for some reason the pills are 150mg (they told me, I do not see that anywhere on the package) while the default pill in the US is 75mg. But then when I look at the portion sizes here it's probably a good thing that the pills are double the dosage!

Bob

[Mpexy]

While staying in BA, you may unfortunately come down with some common ailments - here's a quick cheat sheet with spanish lingo for what to get / ask for when visiting a pharmacy.

Note - both for personal prescriptions as well as just curiosity how the medical / pharmacy relationship works here in BA, I've had a number of chats with a couple pharmacists in the Recoleta area. Neither spoke much english oddly enough given the touristy area of Recoleta, but they seem pretty well qualified. As long as you can get across in spanglish or minimal spanish what your symptoms are I think they'd be able to prescribe the correct medication, although neither I spoke to understood "cold" or "flu". If you speak to them using medical terminology then it's a slam dunk - both pharmacists I spoke to understood all of the english medical terms for symptoms as well as drug compounds.

THE COMMON COLD or FLU:

I'd recommend Clarifriol - while rummaging through what stocks of medication they had, this seemed the most common across various pharmacies and had the best mix of drug compounds to dosage that shouldn't knock you off your feet and be too drowsy. Each dose is two pills, which you'll easily see in separated compartments, once every 12 hours. The main active ingredients are 500mg of paracetamol (an analgesic, more commonly referred to as acetaminophen in the US) 60mg of pseudoefedrina (a decongestant) and 2.5mg of loratadina (an antihistamine, loratadine in the US)

Best comparison is to a Sudafed Cold / Flu tablet - all in one medication for runny nose / eyes, congestion, coughs, aches and pains.

If you can't get the Clarifriol, ask for a medication that has an:

Antihistaminico, descongestivo, analgesico, and antipiretico properties.

TD (TRAVELER'S DYSENTERY, DIARRHEA:

Common symptoms include most or all of the following: vomiting, nausea, frequent diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, flatulence, gaseous sensation in chest.

Treatment: ask for any type of quinolone antibiotic, such as Cipro (ciprofloxacin or ciprofloxacino in spanish) or Levaquin (levoflaxacin or levoflaxcino in spanish) Personally, I prefer ciprofloxacin. Normal dosage course is 500mg tablets, twice daily every 12 hours. A normal 10-tablet (500mg) pack will cost you about 75 pesos at a local pharmacy. Take it for the full 5 days even if you feel better after the initial dose.

[Mpexy]

It probably got lost in my long winded post below, which is why I initially deleted it and just put the shorter one of go talk to a reputable physician, preferably an infectious disease specialist if you want to get all the gory details.

But in short, to answer your question AllIWSL - to get informed as part of making an informed decision, I advocated below and will repeat now that the the absolute best way is to simply talk to a physician who either deals with primarily or has a lot of side work in STD related cases (typical GP, Internist, Infectious Disease specialist, etc)

Yes, various studies do exist, as well as statistical data collected by the CDC and various medical bodies like the AMA. But that is such a huge can of worms to read, disect, and interpret, it's really not doing any of it justice on a forum like this. At least, not without turning this thread into part MCB and part pathology of XXX seminar for each major STD.

[AllIWantIsLove]

The operative word in "informed decision" is INFORMED. How does one get informed? I've read, for example, and this was a while ago, that there had been only one documented case of AIDS transmission from unprotected oral sex. The article I saw did not say if the unprotected oral sex was BBBJ or DATY. Nor did it say if the transmission was male to female or female to male. Maybe AIDS transmission statistics are too political. So how about non-AIDS STDs? What's the risk to the male partner of catching any one of the non-AIDS STDs from a single BBBJ? Where do you find such statistics? Do they exist?

Statistics aside, this thread sure demonstrates the need for a Merck Manual for Mongers!

Bob

[Mpexy]

In my initial long post the first statement was one basically saying that under no circumstances did I want to discourage any attempt at extra hygiene, whether effective or not. Worst case is it can't hurt, and best case is it reduces the transmission concetration to a level your immune system manages to fight it off.

So nothing to do with whether following the iodine and listerine regime given is bad or not. Again, it's certainly not going to hurt (although you'd get just as good a scrub using an iodine in solution commonly used in douching rather than the raw iodine - baking soda, vinegar, and iodin) followed with an antibacterial soap scrub and rinse.

No - what my main point of issue was with the statement and perception seemingly perpetuated from JadedMDs post that.

"it should be effective vs most forms of venereal disease"

And that iodine.

"is effective vs almost all STD except maybe crabs. In surgery we use iodine to sterilize things and it can work just effectively to clean yourself after an indiscretion."

That a person claiming to be an MD is the one saying this is even more of a issue with me. Again, I don't want to get preachy, so discuss this if you choose with a known physician that you trust. But my basic issue with this, and it is rather significant, is that yes, while post-sexual activity cleanup can't hurt, and yes given the right antibacterial scrubs and / or solutions you can reduce the ADDITIONAL level of exposure from contaminants left on your privates and skin surface, the sheer basic fact is that you've already been exposed. It's either in your blood chemistry or it's not. Period.

Nothing you do and no cleansing agent known to man is going to reverse the exposure you have already undergone in the average bout of intercourse or non-protected oral stimulation (you to her and / or vice versa) While not exactly a winner either, you'd be much better off taking at least the somewhat beneficial action post-sexual contact to take a preventative regime or dosage schedule of a standard STD antibiotic (which does nothing for the viral causes but at least there's some potential for efficacy compared to the scrub and rinse being effective for most STDs idea)

There has either already been transmission during the intercourse or oral contact or not. Any scrub and rinse afterwards is simply damage control, not warding off or as hinted by the original post usually effective against you getting an STD.

I must also admit to some skepticism re: JadedMDs himself due to the mind boggling reference to using iodine in surgery to sterilize equipment. Add that to his cleanup efficacy statement and it leads me to believe he's either not an MD or one trained in some stone age medieval medical institution.

The reason I don't want to get preachy is simply this - we're all adults. As long as you are getting adequate basis to make an informed decision, it's your decision. What I object to is the nature or slant that the so called medical advice was offered that might otherwise delude people into making what seems like a good informed choice when in reality they are just listening to bunk.

Plenty of doctors smoke and like to get bbbj - it's just a personal risk exposure or comfort level. If you go unprotected, fine. It's your choice and based on that you should get the best medical advice to try and mitigate as much of that risk exposure as possible.

If I have to suggest an alternate solution, it's simply this - either stay with all protected sex followed by scrub and rinse with an antibacterial soap or solution just for pure hygiene sake, or have various forms of unprotected sex that you personally understand and can accept the risk factor for and a) prep for it as much as possible by getting vacinations for things that you CAN get vaccinated for - hepatitis A and be, be) put yourself on before (preferably) or immediately after potential exposure to an STD antibiotic or if really going all guns, a mixed cocktail (talk to your personal physician, I'm not going as far to recommend a specific cocktail in this forum or pm) and c) scrub and rinse with a douche followed by antibacterial soap solution to minimize further trace exposure and d) beg, bribe from expert sources, and / or self-educate yourself, on rudimentary physical examination techniques and recognition of various STDs, yeast infections, etc. - a totally clean looking chica will still infect you, but by god at the least eliminate the ones you can easily spot. It would surprise you how many men have unprotected contact with women who were already symptomatic and not asymptomatic.

Take bbbj - anyone who enjoys this, and I certainly do, not doing a quick, simple check for sores, lesions, or actual tissue abrasion / cuts in various parts of the chica's mouth (upper / lower lips, gumline, anterior and posterior cheek surfaces, etc. Is just not in my opinion practicing safe sex. In this case, it sounds odd since bbbj is not safe sex by any standard, but at the least, once you've accepted you're going down that road - ignoring steps like this or reading too much into slanted posts like the wash and rinse that STD away below is just foolhardy. But again, I'm starting to preach.

You have zero issues, go ahead, do what you want. You have some doubts and / or questions - make a quick investment in yourself and sit down with a known, qualified physician to explain whatever issues you'd like to explore. Any physician, once he gets done delivering the mandatory chastisement of you even planning on unprotected sex will then go into professional mode and discuss what your mitigating options should be.

[Hunt99]

I originally posted a much longer reply, but after reading it over, no matter how well intentioned it seemed to come across all preachy, and I hate sounding like that.

So I've edited it to this - I have a significant difference of opinion versus the remedy proposed in the Jaded MD post.

What I would suggest to anyone with even a hint of a question on their minds would be to sit down in front of an MD that you trust, and become correctly informed.

How could washing one's privates with iodine and gargling with listerine possibly be bad? There could be better things to do, but neither of those things is going to hurt you. Do you have a better suggestion, Mpexy? Please do post it.

[El Perro]

I've got a little dick with warts, chronic allergic rhinitis, barnacles, arthritis, a history of acetenic keratoses, thrice surgically repaired knee (ACL reconstruction from my days as a scud launching, no defense point guard) toe jam, an over the top hairy asshole and a bad attitude. Any help out there?

El Perro Roto

[Mpexy]

I originally posted a much longer reply, but after reading it over, no matter how well intentioned it seemed to come across all preachy, and I hate sounding like that.

So I've edited it to this - I have a significant difference of opinion versus the remedy proposed in the Jaded MD post.

What I would suggest to anyone with even a hint of a question on their minds would be to sit down in front of an MD that you trust, and become correctly informed.

[Hobby Fan]

Its post 425 on the page referenced, 4-23-05. I am not a physician but have had experts give me highly similar advice. Jaded M D's text:

Hello Guys,

I wanted to discuss post-sex clean up because I know it does come up from time to time. You've fucked, been sucked etc by some hottie / sw /***** etc but you now regret it because you didn't use protection and now you feel worried about catching something. As a doctor I thought I would tell you guys about the post sex clean up that I do in the rare instances I don't have the chance to use protection. It won't work vs crabs or lice but it should be effective vs most forms of venereal disease. The best advise is always prevention (condoms, dental dams etc) but for some reason it doesn't work out this is a good clean up.

1. Cleaning your privates.

I suggest using iodine. You can get iodine at walmart and most drug stores. It is purple stuff that stains like crazy but it is effective vs almost all STD except maybe crabs. In surgery we use iodine to sterilize things and it can work just effectively to clean yourself after an indiscretion. It is purple stuff - generously place it on a washcloth / paper napkin, slightly diluted in water and rub it all over your privates - testicles, shaft, roll back the skin (if you are not circumcised) and put it in and around your glans (if you are not circumscised) The only problem with iodine is it stains so you will probably have to do this in a shower, and have to wash up your privates agian afterward just as thoroughly using soap until the iodine stain is gone. Rubbing alcohol (don't use drinking alcohol it won't work) is just as effective as iodine but I don't recommend it because it hurts. I read on this site about a guy who washed up after sex but still got an STD. I would suggest that if he had used iodine that would not have been a problem. I guess in a pinch you could use listerine or peroxide or even rubbing-alcohol based aftershave to clean yourself but I am not certain they would be as effective.

2. Rinsing your mouth.

There probably is no good way to get around an std exposure if you have oral sex. However, I recommend rinsing your mouth with listerine. It will hurt a lot - Don't say I didn't warn you but it is probably the best protection. Use the equivalent of twice the normal amount of listerine (usually two large bottlecaps full) and rinse your mouth for 2 minutes. For those of you who don't normally use mouthwash, you need to really shake the fluid around inside your mouth to make sure it reachs anywhere bacteria may be hiding. Generic walmart / cvs / walgreens antiseptic mouthwash works just as well as the brand name stuff. Don't use scope or weaker mouthwash as it will not be as effective.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - be careful out there guys and happy mongering. By the way - Jackson you rock!

Later,

Jadedmd

[FreddySmith52]

Hey Jaded MD.

Can you post your recommendations for "post sex cleanup" here in this forum?

Unable to find worldsexguide.info website.

Hi FreddySmith52,

The international sex guide website is at http://www.internationalsexguide.info[/url]

Thanks,

Jackson

[Mpexy]

I don't normally dispense medical opinions on boards or in person, and this post is to be considered nothing but a simple layman's warning, but given the potential for someone to read this old post with the dosage given, one short statement.

Do NOT take a single or daily dosage of 2000 mg (two thousand milligrams) of azithromycin prior to consulting your physician. The usual treatment regimen is a single initial day dosage of 500mg with 250mg daily for 4-5 days following. There ARE a few treatment courses that do call for either a single 1g (1000mg) or 2g (2000mg) dosage followed by subsequent lower dosage regimen, but without being an infectious disease specialist the only two that I'm aware of are for treatment of haem d (chancroid) or genital ulcer disease, and progressive urethritis or cervicitis. The side effects are also progressive in the 1%+ category for the 1g and 2g single dosage treatments - typically GI stress (vomit, diarrhea) or abdominal pain related, but potentially also includes serious angiodema.

Azithromycin (or any macrolide subclass of antibiotics) will NOT "clear up most bacterial based infections". To date, there is no real single wonder drug antibiotic that counters as a single treatment course "most bacterial based infections".

Azithromycin acts as a blocking agent to bind with certain bacteria microorganisms and interfere with their ability to synthesize protein, specifically most useful in clinical trials against phagocytes and fibroblasts.

Azithromycin is mainly useful against GP aerobes of staph and strep, and GN aerobes of haem. D (e. G. Chancroid) haem I, morax, and gonorrhea.

In terms of STDs which is the topic here, what you're really talking about is treating against or preventing contraction of staph or strep due to kissing or oral contact, genital gonorrhea, penile chlamydia, and a few mycoplasma based illnesses.

If anyone does choose to follow a non-physician ordered treatment of 2000mg dosage (which again I'd say is just plain stupid) just for the sake of preventative awareness, be self aware of side effect conditions especially that feels like, seems like, or tingles like a skin rash or hives (uritcaria) If so, I wouldn't bother waiting, immediately rush yourself to a hosptical or call for an ambulance - worst case is you're wrong, but best case is you just saved yourself from an angiodema reaction and eventual respiratory distress from the over dosage of azithromycin or zithromax.

[Hunt99]

A single dose of 2000mg of azithromycin (available by mailorder) should clear up most bacterial-based infections. You are likely to get a tummy ache.

Any other doctors care to comment on this remedy?

Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?