Stomach Cramps from street food or ice tea

Take her to the hospital.  It could be some type of parasite.  If so, it can only get worse.

Please do not wait...go to the hospital...

Ice is typically excellent...food is superb...Pharmacy questionable.

Good luck to you.
Taxi people or hotels will guide you ...

The other time when I had a pain in the stomach and the doctor prescribe for me the antibiotic pills (2 kinds). Besides pain i had the fever and headache too. Maybe your friend is just a slight case compare to mind. The stomach pain and not walking could be due to the food or drinks. That is why when I came 2 weeks ago i ask about the drinking water. I had numerous problem like that in my life that is why precaution is better. Watch out also the ice which may not be clean, as for me I boil all the water I drink. go to a clinic also can as it is not very emergency, my experience is not able to walk and feeling weak is the wind build up in the stomach. Take care.

There is no tertiary wastewater treatment in Vietnam.   Tapwater, or ice made from it, is unsafe.  Alcohol doesn't make it safe, neither does freezing (idiots fill ice cube trays at the tap), boiling isn't perfect.

Thanks for the tips. I took her to Victoria on Dien Bien Phu. First the doc thought its the appendix but after CBC a "light" food poisoning was diagnosed. Light because she had only abdominal cramps and she could have been worse spending days in the loo.

I can recommend Victoria Healthcare Hospital on 79 Dien Bien Phu:

- I called at 10.15 and immediately got an appointment at 10.30
- Registration etc took about 5 minutes, and 10 min later we saw the doctor (Dr. Tuong)
- all in all it took about 45 min from check up to CBC, blood tests and result
- costs: 1.085 mio : 462 k vnd for check up, cbc 231 k vnd and Abdominal Us 390 k vnd
- meds: 141.750 vnd

True it's not cheap but 41 Euro (50 USD) is ok. She has a health care insurance luckily:)

P.S The costs for Expats were much higher: triple the price of a Vietnamese Doctor (1.5 million and above for an English speaking doc). I recommend to take a local with you to see a Vietnamese Doc

That is good. I stay closeby , so will take note on Victoria ospital.

I had minor surgery (lipoma removal) for 2.5 mil.  That sounds expensive

ChrisFox wrote:

I had minor surgery (lipoma removal) for 2.5 mil.  That sounds expensive

Did you get it in HCMC or Can Tho Chris?
The international hospitals here are totally overpriced since they know that we don't have a choice but go there. I'm lucky since I speak Vietnamese but honestly I wouldnt go to a Vietnamese Hospital. Been there over New Years and I left it very shocked.

Guys don't come here without any insurance. And be prepared to pay at least 100 USD for consultation and meds. Dont wanna think about the costs for surgery and hospitalization

Might be spoiled since in Germany we don't pay a single cent seeing the doc. Use to have a quarterly fee of 10 Euros when visiting a doc but it was waved last year hihi.

The only good thing about home: autobahn, great health and retiring system but other than this I dont miss is:)

I wouldn't have a splinter taken out in the public hospitals.  I went to a private one. 

I had my gall bladder out there a year and a half ago, my first abdominal surgery .. I had orthopedic surgery four years before and the one here wasn't far behind the brand new ortho hospital in the USA.  Everything clean.

That is good to hear your friend is fine and your recommendation of hospital is in my list. Is also good to know the facility here is good. Malaysia did also improve on the medical equipment and even the public hospitals have state of the art equipment. On the other hand, the person handling it is another story. Before I came little over two weeks ago I made sure that I am well covered. I had a travel insurance and a medical insurance. Between the two it cover me the inpatient and outpatient services and also covered things that drastically we do not want to happen now or ever.

Sounds like you guys over there in Nam could use some of the hints I've provided for our members here in Brazil. Food problems are universal and all of the tips in the linked topic posting should apply equally over there too. Eat, drink and be merry - but do it safely, without any regrets!

Topic: Food and Drink in Brazil - Avoiding Problems
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=155142

Enjoy!

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

Funny thing is that its common here. I had it a while ago and all they said was " Oh you eat out too much?" and started to laugh about it wtf???. Its nothing big to get a food poisoning in Viet Nam ...

stomach relief: 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon honey, followed by a glass of water will create an acid/base balance and some relief worthwhile.

I got a two-way attack from yesterday    Possibly from "Bánh tét"!
After a long time struggle blocked one-way (oral)!
This is the first time I got attacked by two-way!
Be careful with "Tet celebration"!!

Cornflour or ordinary flour and milk mixed to a smooth paste and taken will slow things down.
Immodium tablets will also stop things.