Post by Ed
This evening while preparing to pack my bags, my wife asked me what the symptoms were for altitude sickness, or more scientifically "Acute mountain sickness".
One of the items I had yet to check off was setting up my Journal, so I figured I kill 2 birds with one stone. I intended to put in my Journal a checklist of items I needed to check myself for daily to monitor such things as fluid intake, food intake, (and yes output as well), and to document my sleep as well. All of these items can assist in diagnosing altitude sickness.
So what do you look for?
First sign is a headache. Usually a throbbing head banger that gets more intense in the evenings and first thing when you wake up. Loss of appetite and feeling sick to your stomach (vomiting is common) are next. Feeling dizzy can be a by product of this or can occur on its own without other symptoms. Another sign is feeling weak and lazy. This is where the help of your travel mates comes into play. Everyone needs to monitor each other, this becomes more important the higher in altitude you go. And finally waking up during the night and not sleeping well is another indication that you may have an issue with the altitude. These symptoms can appear in any order.
So now how do you treat it?
Well consume plenty of water, no alcohol, do not go higher until your symptons go away. This could be a few hours or a few days. For the headache yo can take Tylenol, Advil, Motrin or Aleve, whatever works for you.
Most trekkers/climbers will have their doctor prescibe Diamox (acetazolamide)which speeds up how fast your body gets used to the altitude.
Can you prevent it?
You can reduce the likelihood somewhat by taking your time when you go to the higher altitudes, taking medicine (Diamox) in advance, not flying directly into high altitude areas, and eating certain foods.* Avoid large meals and alcohol, rest and drink plenty of liquids. Abide by the climbers mantra of "Climb High and Sleep Low".
*Eating lots of carbohydrates such as cereals, breads, pasta, and grains. The local diet is mainly comprised of potatoes, lentils, and rice. One example is Daal Bhat
