Just wondering if your boyfriend found out what was wrong? I also traveled to South America and got sick with the same symptoms. Now, also 2 years later, I have been getting stomach cramps that are increasingly painful. I have had lots of tests but so far no answers.

I keep telling the doctors that I was in South America when I first got sick. They seem to think a parasite is very unlikely but I'm still not convinced. I was doing some reading yesterday and came across a disease called schistosomiasis or bilharzia. Many rivers in South America are home to the snails which carry the parasite. So if your boyfriend went swimming in fresh water, he might have got infected. Perhaps my swim in a Bolivian Lagoon wasn't such a good idea! I'll be telling my doctor about it at my next appointment. Hope hyour boyfriend gets an answer soon and starts feeling better.

I hav had exactly the same thing, lactose intolerance, painful stomach. I also get a really bloated/swollen stomach. I have no idea what it is or even if it's a combination of things, but my doctor is being useless and thinks I'm making it all up and depressed! I'm not depressed but might ecome so if this horrible thing doesnt stop ruling my life!! Please please keep me informed if anyone has any luck.

Hope you guys begin to feel better soon...

oh an i also lived in South America for a year a couple of years ago..

Another One! a relative of mine went to Bogota Columbia,SA., near buena ventura where he thinks he contracted the parasite He was in high school as a foreign exchange student at the time. Upon returning to the States he became violently ill. He was in the hospital for two weeks and when a specialist was being flown out from SA South America, he got well so the specialist never did come out, unfortunately. He is now 53 and suffers and it seems to get worse. He gets constipated, bloated, cramps, pressure on the heart and in so much pain on the floor he can't move. After his last erruption he tried enimas and prune juice which seemes to loosen the hardened stools stuck in his body which he describes as rock like. This is very dangerous and we almost had to take him to the emergency room but thought to try the emima first he did not have a BM for almost 5 days. He says this is going to kill him in the end and he knows it. It seems to start with his diet he is trying a lowfat and cholesteral salt free diet needs more fiber and fruit and veggies it seems to help, and he cant eat cheese or he gets plugged. The preassure he felt on the heart is enough to cause a heart attack and he truly thought he was dying. If anyone would like to chat more on the subject or if you have any information about cures please write me. Those darn SA Parasites are real. My uncle got malaria when he was in the war and the same thing happened to him, in the end he was unable to go to the bathroom and had a heart attack and died, PS-forgive my bad spelling errors,and doctors dont know everything!