Just been given a reference guide to malaria tablets and was wondering which ones were the best/most effective to take and are the many side effects listed common? Any experiences/info would be appreciated. (Obviously I am aware that it depends on the length of your stay as to which tablets you should take as a general rule. I am considering travelling round S East Asia for probably over the 3 month period, therefore have heard that you HAVE to take the Mefloquine, however the side effects sound really nasty and rather frightening!) I have also heard that quite a few types of anti malaria tablets have become ineffective due to increasing resistance in certain areas? Did people find mosquitoes/flies etc a problem in SE Asia? Thanks in advance for any help/info
Reply to this Hello Jenny and welcome to the Forum!
From what I have heard, Mefloquine is the one to best avoid. I've received a first hand report of a Mefloquine taking person on safari in East Africa whose hallucinations made them think they were being charged by an elephant. Supposedly, the panic this person displayed caused quite a scene. For me, anything to do with hallucinations is best avoided, especially on travel, so this drug is never on my list.
I take Doxycycline and its major side-effect for me was to give me an intermittent heat intolerance. I would sometimes feel as if I was burning when exposed to even the mildest of sunny days!
A work colleague of mine is in the process of finishing Chloroquine and the only hassle she experienced was mild nausea on two occasions.
I think for my next visit to a malarial area, I may head for the Chloroquine, the main reason is that the weekly dose is easier to manage than the daily dose of Doxycycline.
Reply to this Hi Jenny,
I've never heard anything about HAVING to take mefloquine for a trip of that length...I did 4 months in S.E Asia last year and was given the choice of which anti-malarial I wanted. I chose Doxycyline mostly because of the cheaper price! However it made my skin really sensitive to the sun and one day when I missed out parts when putting on sun cream I ended up pretty burnt! It also gave me heartburn and nausea, the heartburn stopped when I ate before taking it but the nausea didn't so I ended up deciding to stop taking it. Definitely going with Malerone this year, slightly more expensive but apparently there are 0 side effects (according to the travel nurse at my GP's)
Nyla x
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