www.CostaRicaTicas.com

For the past several years, each time that I go to San Jose, I get a queasy feeling in my stomach after the first day. I've talked to several other guys who say the same thing. It's not enough that you feel really sick, but just a little queasy in the stomach. Initially I thought it was due to the cooks using the same iron knife to cut up the chicken and the salad, too much alcohol or a side effect of Viagra or Cialis.

However, on my recent trip, I mentioned this to a dentista who practices in Costa Rica. She said that it was due to the potable water in San Jose being contaminated and that potable water in upper Escazu was unfit to drink. I was shocked since I typically get a glass of water and ice with each beer or glass of wine since it slows down getting drunk and keeps one from getting dehydrated by the alcohol. On my last day, I tried to drink only bottled water and my stomach felt much better

Questions:
1. Have any of you experienced the same queasy feeling?
2. From those of you who live in Costa Rica, can you add any comments to this?

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Slut Puppy in Training

Is low self esteem a prerequisite for being a good Ho or is it a result? ;-)

No problems where I live...in the mountains. Actually some of the best water I've ever had. I only drink water from the tap.

I agree with CB...at my place in the mountains west of San Ramon, we are on a small water coop and it is fantastic water. I drink it all the time and never had an issue. There are some things I've found here that tend to make me ill. One example is the Doritos Nacho Cheese chips. The import version I can eat all day long but the locally manufactured ones give me stomach problems. Coca-Cola is also different here using an ingredient that is illegal in the U.S.

Hate your not feeling well Lenny and hope things improve! They do sell my all time favorite stomach remedy...Pepto Bismo almost everywhere.

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The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

I switched from CR tap water to bottled water and it did seem to make a difference.

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" Omit no happy hour that may give furtherance to our expedition."

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If you let the devil ride, he's gonna want to drive

Concur with Lennydo, last couple trips felt like I was "fighting off something" loose craps or flat out diarrhea. Got home yesterday and took a normal crap today now that I'm home. Its something.

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as my father says "better to be lucky than good"

Cmon Lenny! Everyone knows that Muffin Munching is the reason! Getting a mouthful of stinky poosie bacteria can wreak havoc with the most iron-cast digestive systems!

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Why settle for just one woman when you can enjoy them all?

i can say that i have almost certainly figured out that for me it comes from the imperial beer
i drink bavaria or rum/tequila whatever and have no problem
so it seems to me its a water/ice thing that maybe our visiting systems don't deal with so well
you guys that live there might have developed a tolerance or acceptance to something the rest of us don't experience
that said i never drink tap water ever anywhere
and if it starts i usually plug it w an immodium
i don't necessarily feel queasy but do get that immediate need to evacuate

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im way deep into nothing special
riding the crest of a wave breaking just west of hollywood

My CR crew & myself seem to have the same problems. I never drink the tap water, 100% bottled water. I do however seem to drink a dozen or so Imperials the first night in & the not just quite diarrhea starts. One of the other guys rarely drinks beer so his booze of choice is rum but he still gets the queasy stomach bowel syndrome. Almost impossible to not ingest some of the local water....brushing teeth, salads, ice in drinks, etc., etc.

NO!! NO!! PR you are wrong!! It is the NOT Muffin Munching for weeks/months at a time that is the problem!! Doing so(Muffin Munching) is the source of the good bacteria that protect you and keep you form getting sick when in contact with the bad bacteria!!!! As with everything else, people in the States are so OVERPROTECTED that they no longer have the GOOD BACTERIA in their bodies and are much more subject to negative affects from the bad bacteria,

I too never have these problems and I drink and have used the water here everyday for years. Notice it is always the guys visiting here who have the problem, not those of us who live here (we have the "good" bacteria in our systems!!!

Seriously, there are bad bacteria everywhere and everyone comes in contact with them daily. People in the states have been so protect from them that most, if not all, of the good bacteria in their bodies have been destroyed and they are much more subject to getting sick!!!!

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

Never had a problem with the water in CR - San Jose,either.

Although I have heard of guys getting what you described even traveling to a different city in the USA due to the composition of the water supply - so who knows.

It may be even phycosomatic (SP) but I will not tell you that while bent over a toilet puking your guts out that its all in your head - just what you need - some asshole telling you its in your head - deserves to be puked on and even called one big stupid idiotic jerk!!!!!!!!

Sorry it happened to you, but continue with the bottled water - it can't hurt.

Unlike places like Mexico, you almost never hear about people having problems with the water in CR.

In a week I might have 4 Pilsens (I don't care for Imperial) or Bavaria's in total - so I'm not much of a drinker, so I can't advise you there.

BB57 & PR, If muffin munchin solved the problem, I would have no problem at all. I agree BB57, that once you develop an immunity to the bacteria then it's not a problem. However, I can say it's the same for people who live in Costa Rica and come to Florida. The two locales have different bacteria and until people from Costa Rica develop the necessary immunity they tend to have a queasy stomach as well. What I'm trying to do with the OP was to see if we can collectively identify the cause so that we can identify the best way to avoid the problem in the future without having to take over the counter medications.

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Slut Puppy in Training

Is low self esteem a prerequisite for being a good Ho or is it a result? ;-)

Here is an article posted by QCostaRica in their Sept 27, 2014 online edition. Looks like maybe the bacteria in the water is the issue.


Bacteria in Contaminated Water Responsible For Increase in Diarrhea

COSTA RICA NEWS — Health officials say they have seen an increase in cases of diarrhea this year, a tendency caused by the presence of bacteria in contaminated water.

The bacteria called Shigella is responsible for the peak, some 7.000 more cases this year over last. The transmission of bacteria is anus-hand-mouth, and can be acquired through contaminated food or water.

The Ministerio de Salud (Ministry of Health) warns that storing liquid in plastic containers during water service interruptions could lead to cases of diarrhea.

Proper hand washing, especially after using the bathroom or changing diapers, is a hygiene measure to avoid falling victim to this bacterium that causes diarrhea, which if not treated in time could be deadly.

Shigella is a genus of Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, nonspore-forming, nonmotile, rod-shaped bacteria closely related to Salmonella. The genus is named after Kiyoshi Shiga, who first discovered it in 1897.

The causative agent of human shigellosis, Shigella causes disease in primates, but not in other mammals. It is only naturally found in humans and apes. During infection, it typically causes dysentery. Shigella is one of the leading bacterial causes of diarrhea worldwide. Insufficient data exist, but conservative estimates suggest Shigella causes about 90 million cases of severe dysentery, with at least 100,000 of these resulting in death, each year, mostly among Ch*ldren in the developing world.

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Slut Puppy in Training

Is low self esteem a prerequisite for being a good Ho or is it a result? ;-)

Well I stand corrected then, Lennydo. It wasn't Muffin munching ...it was ....ummmm.... another type of munching...

My advise: Make sure they scrub up well before you "partake" next time

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Why settle for just one woman when you can enjoy them all?

As I said PR, I thought it was the chopped salad, not tossing the salad that was making me sick.

It's now looking like it's the water, whether it's in the ice, a glass or used to wash the salad.

This is an unexpected result coming from a country like CR with a green image. Oh well, I guess there is hypocrisy in countries other than just the US.

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Slut Puppy in Training

Is low self esteem a prerequisite for being a good Ho or is it a result? ;-)