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'Bachelor' alum Melissa Rycroft falls ill after Dominican Republic vacation

The reality TV star is on the mend after posting about severe stomach cramping she experienced following a trip to Punta Cana.
/ Source: TODAY

Former "Bachelor" star Melissa Rycroft said she's feeling better after catching a bad bug following a family vacation to the Dominican Republic.

"Update for everyone asking," the former "Dancing With the Stars" contestant wrote on Instagram Tuesday. "More blood work done today. Blood pressure was 90/60 so they're monitoring it. But!! New meds are making me feel so much better!!!"

Rycroft added that she was feeling better and hoped to learn what had made her ill "by Thursday at the latest!!"

"But this is good progress!" she wrote.

The actress sparked concern among fans earlier this week after posting that she was on medication for "severe cramping" and restricted to a liquid diet while battling an unspecified illness.

"Fingers crossed this goes away in 3 days - doc says next step is a Parasite test if it doesn’t...." she wrote.

The posts followed a family trip the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader took with her husband, Tye Strickland, and their three children to Nickelodeon Resort in Punta Cana, on the eastern tip of the Caribbean country.

"Made memories for a lifetime...!!" she wrote in the caption of one photo.

A representative for Rycroft told TODAY she fell ill for a short time on the trip. Doctors have not given her a diagnosis yet.

"She got an upset stomach on the second day of vacation, but it passed," the rep said. "Once they came home, she got severe cramping. It has lasted for over a week, and she's currently getting tested for possible parasites and any other infections. She's assuming it's something foodborne, but no one else in her family is ill."

The Dominican Republic has been the subject of travel concerns recently amid a series of tourist deaths and illnesses. At least seven Americans have died this year, in some cases under mysterious circumstances.

Overall, though, the death toll isn't unusual. The U.S. State Department told NBC News they have not seen an uptick in American citizen deaths abroad this year.

In the case of the Dominican Republic, in the decade through 2018, 194 Americans died or were killed there, or slightly more than 19 a year, according to State Department numbers.