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Leaving and Larium

掲載者John Crockett on 20 October 2008 11:44:03 PM

In a few days, my partner Betty and I will arrive in Lusaka, Zambia at the start of a new life as VSO volunteers. Once we have arrived in Lusaka we will have a few weeks in country training before moving east to Lundazi, our home for the next two years.

 

In the last few weeks, I have noticed a strange tightness in my chest and a lump in my throat. My dreams have become quite vivid and often feature the deaths of my closest friends and family. I am easily irritable and have trouble sleeping. Betty has been suffering the same.

 

Initially, we put this down to our new acquaintance with Larium, the anti-malaria drug that we started taking two weeks ago and will have a weekly lunch date with for the next two years. Mentioning Larium to anyone brings up stories of hallucinations, depression, other inexplicable diseases and general nastiness. Knowing nods would follow when we described our symptoms, despite the fact that most of those listening had never left Europe.

 

Our doctors have advised us that it is safe to take and so I am skeptical about such stories. If anything, it could be a placebo effect, as the discussion of our inevitable impending suicide is quite depressing in itself.

 

However, about 25 percent of those who take Larium do report side effects such as nausea, depression, vivid dreams and insomnia. An excellent discussion of Larium on the Peace Corps Web site acknowledges that often these side effects continue once the patient has stopped taking the drug. This could suggest that it is something other than Larium that is to blame.

 

We are putting ourselves under huge emotional stress and we have to accept that this will take its toll. In the last two weeks we have said goodbye at prearranged parties to more than 80 friends and family, some of whom may not be alive when we return.

 

We have received our one-way tickets and boiled down our flat to the two frighteningly small suitcases which  will now contain our lives. We know very little about what will be waiting for us when we step out of the plane.

 

We are moving away from everything and everyone we know. Our old lives are dying at the same time that our new lives are being born and there is both sadness and excitement in this.

 

So, we now have a date with Larium - and all that comes with it. As with Zambia, we've decided to take the pill and swallow.

 

If you have experience or advice on taking Larium or other anti-malaria drugs, please leave a note.

タグ: Devex, Africa, Zambia, Lundazi, malaria, Larium, VSO, Voluntary Service Overseas, volunteers, travel, health, stress, side effects, departure

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John Crockett

John Crockett left the United Kingdom in October, 2008, with his partner Betty Alié to join a Voluntary Services Overseas program in Zambia. John will serve as fundraising and project management advisor to the Lundazi District Council for two years, while Betty will work as monitoring and evaluation officer with Thandizani, a local NGO focusing on HIV/ AIDS. John has worked in fundraising and communications for several U.K. nonprofits. Both hold master’s degrees in development economics from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, where they met.

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    • Michel-05-1_thumb

      Larium

      Michel S. on Mar 27, 2009 13:03 said:

      My doctor also recommended the once a week pill. I gave most of them to some local friends when I left. This is what I was told: Larium does not cure malaria, it only reduces the symptoms. The problem with Larium or any other substance of this kind is that once you have acquired malaria, it does camouflage the symptoms and makes them much easier to live with malaria therefore reducing motivation to get to a proper hospital or doctor for treatment. In Congo, the consensus of more experience consultants and a local competent doctor is that you do not take any anti-malaria pills. If you get malaria, you go to a competent doctor as fast as you can to be treated. It is easier to treat if you are not on the pills. Malaria comes from infected mosquitoes presumably those who have bitten and absorb the blood of a malaria infected human or animal for all I know. In Congo and In Haiti, I slept in air conditioned facilities, work in bug free environments and stayed away from stagnant water around sun rie and sun set. I did not travel in risky areas. So I was not annoyed by malaria. Therefore stopped the pills a few week after my arrival and made a great gift to my driver who had a malaria episode during my stay. All this being said, your physical conditions are unclear to me but somehow are probably not the same as above. Living in the wilderness without proper medical facilities within reach is an other story. It remains that the most important thing is to avoid contact with the little buggers as Larium does not cure malaria and it is a recurring illness which can turn out to be a pain for a long time. So, a special net for sleeping, avoiding areas where the mosquitoes flourish such as stagnant water, stay inside a protected area at least 30-45 minutes either way from sun set and sun rise. These are the moments of the day they are more active apparently. Also a repellent cream on all exposed parts of the body when outside a protected area. Hope this helps. By the way, "I have noticed a strange tightness in my chest and a lump in my throat" probably came from anxiety as opposed to Larium. Considering what move you have done, I would have been quite anxious for a while. And you are right, it is a form of suicide for the living. I wonder if your partner was living the same anxiety. She really must love you a lot to go with you on this trek. May the malaria Gods be with you. :-))

About My Life as a Volunteer

Devex Editor

United States

From vaccinations to visas, from culture shock to collaboration - U.K. citizen John Crockett describes his work as project manager and resource mobilization advisor with the Lundazi District Council in Zambia, organized by Voluntary Services Overseas. The views expressed in this weblog do not necessarily represent the views of VSO, Lundazi District Council or Thandizani.

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