Why I'm Taking My Malaria Pill

I live in a tropical area where malaria is an epidemic. For most Westerners who don't take any sort of malaria prophylactic, the question is when, not if, will malaria strike you. My husband and I both started taking the weekly mefloquine pill before we arrived here in August 2008. For the first couple doses, Mike had the psychedelic dreams and I had anxiety and insomnia (but we were preparing for a move to Africa; I get anxiety and insomnia every time we move anyway) but after a couple weeks the side effects cleared up, we've taken our pills every Sunday, and neither of us have contracted malaria.

When I became pregnant here, one of the first questions my American doctor asked me was how I felt about continuing with the mefloquine. He and I discussed it and my husband and I discussed it. Mefloquine is the only malaria prophylactic that is approved safe for pregnant women. However, my doctor said that with mefloquine there's a slight chance of miscarriage in the first trimester. The effects of contracting malaria while pregnant can be more severe than normal for the mother and can result in miscarriage at any point during the pregnancy. Living where I do, where malaria is so easily contracted and even with all the precautions I take to avoid getting bites, I decided the risk from the mefloquine was less than the risk of malaria. My doctor, Mike, and other health practitioners I spoke to who know this region agreed. Plus, I was already seven weeks pregnant by the time I found out and had been taking the pill all along with no problems.

I'm generally against taking drugs unless absolutely necessary and just about everything else about this pregnancy has been more organic. I haven't even taken a Tylenol. But sticking with the mefloquine has been the right thing to do for me and my family.