Same here. Really vivid dreams.
We were told that if we didn’t take the mefloquine pills and caught malaria we would be NJP’d. Our 1stSgt even told us a phony-ass story about some kid from another unit on the MEU who had already caught malaria and was in trouble for not taking his pills.
Would this be in my medical records because I cant remember if I took it daily or weekly?
I was on Lariam (Mefloquine) in 1992 and still got malaria. Yes, it happens. And after I got it, I did drop the big Fansidar bomb. All clear since.
Did you take the pills they give you back at home station? As I said before the meds dont stop you from getting it just keep it contained.
Any issues now with regulation your body temp?
I came down with malaria while still taking the Lariam. No issues at all after the Fansidar.
dang that lousy
Did you get one bout or was yours recurring?
As I said, I had no ongoing problems after the Fansidar.
Starting to get traction.
Bad dreams, but no other negative effects that I noticed.
My company had to take these while on a MEU as well, in 07, before going into the HOA. I remember hearing a similar fairytale from either our 1st SGT or Co Gunny(I can’t remember which honestly.). We took the pills the entire time we were on the ground, and then for a few weeks after going back on ship.
To be honest, (and I know this topic has been done to death) I worry more about some of the vaccines, as well as the PB pills, more than I do methoquine. My shakiness from that finally went away, but a good friend of mine who I went to college with, who was in the Marine Corps in that same time frame that I was AD, has had hand tremors so bad for the last 20 years that he can hardly get his driver’s license out of his wallet. That started in 93, peaked in about 98, dropped back off a little, and has stayed stable ever since. He can directly trace it to starting within a week of starting PB.
I took it in Somalia in 93, for 3 months, with no side effects. Currently on doxycycline.
Whats PB stand for?
I dont like the fact that taking this drug could be used in his defence.
Pyridostigmine Bromide. Nerve agent exposure pre-treatment pills. It is a reversible cholinesterase inhibitor, so it increases the effectiveness of the NAAK if you have to use it. It really only adds survivability if the agent you’re exposed to is Soman, though, and so it doesn’t see much use anymore.
I didn’t take it. Our doc said its the exact same shit they’ll give you if u get malaria anyways.
The Navy Times is running with the story:
Medical tests showed no traumatic brain injury, nor did doctors believe he had post-traumatic stress disorder. They began suggesting he had a personality disorder or was a malingerer, faking his problems to get out of the military.
Finally, an ear, nose and throat doctor at National Naval Medical Center Bethesda, Md., offered another diagnosis: “multifocal brain stem injury” — brain damage — likely caused by mefloquine.
“He has a lesion. On his brain,” said Nicki, a registered nurse.
Really? This kind of stuff scares me. I don’t want it to be found that he is not fully to blame for what he has done. I have already experienced discrimination in trying to get a job cause of pre conceived beliefs. No vet needs another thing against them. Regardless of the reason, he still did it and should be punished accordingly.
This isn’t about SSgt Bales. The subject of the article is a Sailor that was given it in Rota for a trip to Africa.