Re: Diarrhea Diaries

I read this while reading. 

You're supposed to drink 2L everyday, diarrhea or not.

I've never had diarrhea last more than 4 days. The worst I had was in YangShuo. I had swallowed LiJiang water with all the garbage in it and then ate bad meat. At least for food was excellent the night before my diarrhea started.

My stomach started to cramp during a afternoon hike. By the time I was pound tent-pegs into the ground, my stomach was cramping every few minutes. No diarrhea.

When dinner was served, I had no appetite. Wearing shorts in the freezing cold, I went to bed early and cried to sleep. Still no diarrhea.

It wasn't long before I awoke. My guts felt normal and I wanted to eat. But dinner was done and even the marshmallows were gone, digesting in the stomachs of people sound asleep.

I sat up for a while, listening to the sound of cicadas and river flowing. Everyone was sound asleep and snoring. My guts started to twist again and despite the hunger, water gurgled inside me, followed by cramps.

I decided to go and try. The hole in the ground wasn't the best toilet, but it was good enough for now. The air being so cold, it didn't really stink at all. The latrine was dug pretty deep and actually already quite filled. I had to take care not to slip in getting up.

Diarrhea was actually enjoyable after the cramping. I had to go to toilets everywhere - from hole-in-the-grounds to your standard Mainland Chinese dirty squat-toilet. It was tough squatting properly with cramps - I found it easiest to pad the sides of the squat-toilet with toilet paper and sit down on it. 

Later, I found out that the others got antibiotics. As I realized, antibiotics are simply unnecessary and sometimes ineffective. All you need is lots of water and a good appetite, and then the body will eject what it does not need.

After 3 days, my appetite returned and all problems had ceased. The experience injected me with greater respect for my body and made me indifferent to bodily malfunctions - if anything, I have come to enjoy illnesses. The twisting of the guts, the gurgling of digestive matter, the satisfaction of offloading waste and the thump of shit freefalling into the water below. The feeling was all strangely healing and exquisite, part of the human experience in the infinitesimally short moments we are alive. 

Looking back, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.