Montezuma's revenge

When In PV, one does not have to worry about water, ice , eating veggies, brushing teeth, etc. If one travels outside PV, just ask whether ice is made with purified water and if the veggies are washed in purified water. We have gone to PV for 10 years and have never had a problem. The past 2 years we have stayed in Bucerias and have used bottled water(which was furnished by the management of the apartment).

I understand your concerns and these are all good questions, Purto Vallarta has a very good water supply however the delivery system is old and can be suspect heres what we do .Drink only the bottled water at your hotel they will provide , if they dont go buy it and tip the maid for extra . Do not take medications or brush your teeth with tap water , use the bottled even if you have to go and pay .Most hotels have a purifiactaion system for water so ice in your drinks at the hotel is not a problem .If you go downtown watch what you eat most places are fine but we usually stcik to bottled beer or soft drinks in bottles.Throw out your tooth brushes at the end of your holiday and watch what your kids eat .We have never gotten sick in 4 visits and the vast majority of people who do is because of over indulgence in alchahol.Hope this helps .

Are meds available with no prescription for this condition if we should suffer from it? Is Mismaloya considered to be part of PV?

there is a medecine called TREDA available at farmacias that was recommended to me by an ex-patriate american woman that i met in PV, and since i really needed a quick fix i bought some and used it and it alleviated my symptoms real good, but it beats me what the ingredients are. perhaps someone out there could enlighten us, because under normal circumstances it is never a good idea to ingest unknown drugs, but hey, i was desparate!

Could someone please explain the purpose of throwing away your toothbrush?

And as Kat suggested, we take acidophilus a week before we go down and each day before we go out, have no problems.

Have been going tp PV since 1988, and have never been ill or anything. Drink bottled water but other than that, nothing different than in the states. Take no meds whatsoever. I am more concerned about getting sick from someone in the airplane than from anything in Vallarta.

Teduardo,would assume discarding the toothbrush because you thought it was contaminated by the tap water. Same advice after having a cold.

Glad to hear that your trip was great and everyone healthy.
One more item that I would like to add...
Couple of years ago my son came down with a nasty virus, high fever and almost became pneumonia, while in Mazatlan. We took him to a doctor that was recommended by the hotel. He examined and treated him, giving him medication, and spent more time with him then our own doctor in the states. The doctor was very very nice and took great care to make sure he would be okay, even giving him another exam before we went home. Total cost was $25 USD - including the strong antibotics. If you do become sick while in Mexico, do not hesitate to see a local doctor. Often they have seen your symptoms many times before (us tourists - what can I say) and can treat you very effectively.
Margie

Last time I had diarrhea it was spread all over town- boy was I embarassed. It all worked out in the end. Thankfully that is all behind me. :)