some say that the recent influx of rural workforce, building materials (yes, always blame the architects), poorly managed water storage and disposal on job sites has led to malaria hotspots in some of the developing areas of the city like malad, and goregaon... read more here.
the opinions on malaria prophylaxis vary. personally, ive heard yes, take it, the side effects are nothing compared to actually getting malaria... and also, dont take it, its pure poison in your body. after also hearing that i could just stop, if things got bad, i decided to try.
because there are several drug resistant strains of malaria these days, and this is not just a two week vacation, my doctor prescribed lariam.
the potential side effects range from vivid dreams, to suicidal ideation. which is quite an impressive range.
for me, it was good for a while. the weekly pill is nice, you dont have to remember everyday, and i never got nauseous like i did with the typhoid vaccine. some funny things popped into my head, and sometimes i felt a little anxious, on edge, or down, but i dismissed it as just a reaction to the extreme change in environment, or just the heat.
then there was a night when dust bunnies came to life. and i was worried that the waiter at the taj had put roofies in my tea. and the panic attack the following day. and i started noticing that after taking the pill on monday, my sanity would totally deteriorate by thursday or friday. but the whole time, it would come in waves, short fits of anxiety, intense paranoia, physical hallucinations, shortness or complete lack of breath. lasting on average, 30 minutes. only after would i realize that it was not normal, it was drug induced mania. and there were no bugs crawling all over me, and my clothes were not choking me. and the dust bunnies were spots on my glasses, not fluffy invaders rushing my bed.
weeks were getting progressively worse, and last week there was a record high of three panic attacks, plus bugs that i couldnt see. or bugs that i could see, but were not really there. ordinary characters began to take on a supernatural evil, making me totally, irrationally paranoid. and that needed to stop.
so the next plan is to work on building up my immune system, investigate alternatives, and make sure that mosquito net is rigged up. thankfully there is some time before skeeter season, and i still have lots of eau de DEET left.
so when life turns into a waking nightmare, follow these words of wisdom:
dont quit life, quit lariam*
* the words of someone obviously more sane than i.
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