So Fish-man... did you ever get it positively identified? If not, then it could have been any number of other bugs.
In my case, I had intermittent symptoms for ~two weeks before I went to the doctor. Got a positive id, then the medication. After the first pill, I never had a symptom again. Maybe mine was a light case -- I don't know for sure if there can be light or bad cases.
if it was another bug, and your experience is "normal," then there's an even bigger problem out there. No, I didn't find out what it was for sure - never had reason for the biopsy, since on the Monday when the lab opened, things were starting to show progress. I'd probably be out a few hundred dollars more if I had bothered to get that bipopsy.
My case was textbook giardia according to the nurse, and it wasn't a one pill recovery thing - in fact, things kept getting worse initially following the first two or three pills. It was at least a 5 day recovery. The whole experience was like a "body flush." Symptoms? You don't want the details, but let's just say you're not going to get a lot of sleep for a while, and you don't want to drink, even though you know you're getting dehydrated. It's the most insane thing I ever experienced and I am glad it was me and not one of my kids who got it.
what may have worsened my case was that I did have intermittent symptoms and used immodium to counteract them. I recall first having issues 2+ weeks before exiting the mountains. Learned later that immodium only helps these buggers to multiply by slowing the body's response to get rid of them. Once they are then established at a larger count, things get extreme.
Bascially, use immodium with extreme caution - it may be a brief relief, but if there is a chance you are dealing with giardia, you may just be compounding the problem by giving these critters time to multiply exponentially.
