Is there any particular drug or regimen that you prefer, in order to deal with altitude sickness when elk hunting at high elevations?

Depends how bad it is.If uncontrollable coughing starts.The treatment is get down lower quickly. Even severe headaches should do the same. If not too bad,drink a lot of water. Camp low to get enough oxygen refurbisment at night

Descend.

It is very difficult to overcome if you remain at altitude - and dangerous. Altitude sickness is a general term for several more specific things but all of them are best resolved by getting to lower ground.

Water definitly helps.

Your body should begin to adjust fairly quickly. Within 4 to 48 hours you should be able to climb up again.

Diamox does work and has helped me on much higher mountains. If you are very prone to altitude effects I would not hesitate to use it.

Drink lots of water, take some advil or apirin, avoid caffiene and booze, and if it last's much over a half day or the headache gets worse get down in altitude asap and see a dr.

A lot of people don't seem to be able to grasp that you can die from it and relatively quick.

Wilderness athlete has a product...I'm sure it's on their website. Hy altitude is what its called if memory serves right. Its an oxygen enhancer??? Ive taken it, but i have no idea if it helped. I've never felt sick, other than some mild headaches, but one of my hunting buddies gets dizzy. He can hunt through it, and he feels better after about a day. Like I said, I've never had it, but I would imagine that your body would definitely let you know when it was time to descend.

I like to arrive at my hunting camp about two weeks early and do alot of scouting. Even showing up a few days in advance of the season seems to help. As long as I camp at at least 6000 ft. E

Getting up to elevations a few days ahead is probably the best way to not have any problems to begin with.
Coming from the low elevation you're at in Penn, to even the lower elk country at 5-7K feet will present a bit of a shock to your circulatory system.The higher you go the harder time your lungs are going to have finding enough oxygen.
Might want to visit with your regular dr about maybe something he could give you to take just in case, and while you're at it might ask for some antibiotics to bring along.

I get sick as can be with bad mygrain style headaches from altitude sickness the first or second or sometimes both days, of each hunt, it helps to take several aspirin and ibuprofen and drink hot tea,(not beer or coffee)and not do much thats stressful for the first 24-36 hours ,talk to your physician about other prescription medications (nifedipine, frusemide and acetazolamide) that can combat the onset and symptoms of altitude sickness, and have those with you.
that 24-36 hours acclimation time requires you get to where youll hunt a few days prior to opening day,obviously,and spend a couple days at a medium altitude like 5K-6K before going higher,If your in a hotel/motel, hot showers help as they tend to reduce blood pressure slightly, which is a minor help, youll generally feel ok after 36-48 hours if you don,t push hard and try to sleep several thousand feet lower than you hunt, it helps

https://www.altituderx.com/

http://www.bing.com/health/article/...tude+sickness&qpvt=altitude+sickness

Acclimate...

Dober

acclimate is best. If you have the time. And you should probably make time regardless. We carry diamox just in case.

But we also run an aspirin regimen a few weeks out. 1 full a day, then 2 a day, and the week we leave its 4 a day. Keep that up. Drink twice as much WATER as you think you need and it has always worked ok for us.

That being said as I age, it takes more time to get used to and more time to recover

I have only had it once and it wasn't from hunting.

I was only about 11 and our family went to Switzerland. We went to this tourist place where they take you to the top of a mountain (The Jungfrau I think which is almost 12,000 ft)in an elevator. I remember getting a horrible headache. At the time I didn't realize it was altitude sickness, but I'm pretty sure that's what it was.

Luckily for my the "descend" medicine was easy in the elevator.

Best be careful with that much aspirin.Aspirin is a very good blood thinner.Having that much in your system can lead to heavy bleeding if there is an accident

A good read:

http://www.travmed.com/health_guide/ch15.htm

Cowboy up!

I use the old sheep hunter's remedy- Rolaids.. Works like a charm.

Dober is right.

I'm fortunate I have a physiology that's about as altitude-proof as it gets... but many don't.

Take your time going high. Several days from low to high.

I plan to hunt elk in Colorado this fall at higher elevations. I don't know how my body will respond when hiking with a pack...I was just looking for some advice to mitigate it, if it occurs. I appreciate all the advice. I never noticed it before on shorter jaunts but this one will be more of a test.
One in the party I will hunt with gets sick for the first two days each year and another never gets sick.

I lived the first 20 plus years of my life at 4,000 feet and despite that, I got it once from a long hike with back pack at 8,000 or so. At the time, I was young and running 50 plus miles a week, including a long "easy" run each week of 12-15 miles at a about a 7.5 pace, so was in great physical condition and thought I was bullet proof.

With too much caffeine, strenous hike and not enough water, I thought I was about to die. After a couple of aspirin, lots of water and laying in the tent for about 4 hours, I felt great and ready to go again.

I used to have issues with altitude sickness for the first day or so when in the high country, but now I found something that works for me. I have already started taking Ginkgo Bilobo and have not had any problems for the last ten years. I usually start in July and take it until I get back from my last trip.

For any of you that has never experienced a bad bout, it is truly disabilitating (not sure if thats a word, but you get my point). Once I had severe sickness at 10K ft on the first day of an Elk hunt in Utah. We drove all night and at first light I headed down over the hill chasing elk. I was about a mile from the truck when it struck. I couldn't take a step or two before I started heaving again. I was completely dehydrated, my head felt like it was splitting in two. I ended up having my partner come down and meet me in the woods to help me get back to the road. My throat hurt for two days. Sure acclimate is the best way but how many times have you gone straight from work to a hunt? If thats the only way you can do it are you going to sit around opening day while everyone else is out in the woods? So do something about it if you suffer, if it doesn't bother you of course acclimate is the answer.

Try the Ginkgo Biloba, it has worked for me and since I started using it I have not had any problems whatever.

I took Aspirin, Rolaids and Drank a bunch of Gatorades starting 48 hours out. I went from 500ft to 9000' in 12 hrs and had no problems, Hiked 3 hours with a 75lb pack to end the day. I also kill 2 Big Hershey Datk chocolate bars as soon as I land in Denver. Something about the sugar:)

Still lethargic for a day or two but no sickness or headaches.

I use a product called " Altitude Adjustment" marketed by Sun Country Sales and Dist'g LLC 1800-722-8420. also drink lots of fluids and use asprin. Has it helped me? Well I haven't suffered and have been affected before. Like mentioned before Ginkgo Biloba is an ingrediant . Acclimation is an important factor, realize everyone doesn't have the luxury of spending a week or two at elevation before their hunt. Good luck.

This last ballet season the dancers shared hydrogen proxide therapy with me. They use food grade hydrogen proxide 35% and mix it with water.I have found it does help .One can google it, for what its worth.

I asked my Doctor about it. He gave me a prescription for it. Cant remember the name but you take one 2 days before, 1 the next day, and the third the next. He also told me there discovering that Viagra works wonders with alltitude sickness! Havent tried that yet. I get it at 10000 ft. 48 hrs later Im back to myself. Bottom line, get there 2 days before the opener.

I have just talked to my DR about this. Best thing he said is acclimate yourself. I live at 1100 and plan on a hunt where we will be camping at 8600 and hunting all the way up to 11000. It will take us 2 days driving to get to our destination and then part of another day to pack in. Then hunt the next day. DR said because we are doing that everyone should be ok. He said if symptoms appear get down at least 25% in altitude of where you have been staying. So for me just going down 2000 feet will help lots. Also said take it easy the first couple days. He stressed that point and said its probally the biggest thing one can do to avoid altitude sickness. DR said you may always get a headache but its when it gets really bad and you are light headed and these symptoms come on in 2-3 hours get down as quick as possible

Once again, stay hydrated.

Too bad you couldn't spend more time at 8600ft. I live at that altitude, and I need a few trips to 11,000ft before I feel normal again. I never get sick, but I definitively feel it.

Ah, yes. This pill will also help you pitch your tent as well. Voila!!! Dual purpose right?

My cousin's oldest, 16yo girl, came up to visit and go high to camp and fish last month. She's very fit and plays competitive softball and it struck her pretty bad. She wasn't drinking as much water as I would've liked her to and she started throwing up around 1am and I had to get her off the mountain at day break. Got back to the house @ 6k and she was weak for the next 24 hours.

It can strike anyone, you never how your body is going to act until you get up there but you can do some things as mentioned above. Without a doubt you should double up your water intake when you leave your house and when you get up there try to stay away from caffeine because it's a diuretic. Also around a week before your trip start taking 1 aspirin per day, no more. It will help by thinning the blood some and should stave off headaches. But I wouldn't take anymore than that so you're not too thinned out.

Above all you should already be doing some exercising to increase lung capacity, this cannot be stressed enough!

"They are discovering that Viagra works wonders with altitude sickness! "

yeah! I heard it keeps you from rolling down hill in your sleeping bag if you pitch camp on an incline.....




something called the KICK STAND EFFECT!

I wasent kidding! Might want to take wife or GF.[ or both]

Thanks Mag. That fricken made me laugh out loud!

At my age the kickstand would just bend, and i'd be over the cliff.

This is what I have read many times. In fact, start drinking more water 4-5 days before you get into the mountains. Just because you didn't have problems last year, doesn't guarantee you won't have difficulties this year.
If you get sick up there, the only remedy is to get down off the mountain pronto.
As an aside, "water" means anything liquid. While that doesn't mean polish off a 12 pack a day before you go, it means coffee, juices, pop and the like count. That was something the medical journals finally admitted to a couple of years ago. Must have sold their stock in the bottled water market.

I wouldn't include coffee on that list. It dehydrates us, and then requires more water to make up for it.

I like to drink Gatorade. It seems to be more effective than plain water.

Coffee,and pop are two things it's best to avoid.

I went from 1200' to nearly 13,000' to climb Arizona's highest peak this summer. We overnighted in Flagstaff (7000') and that seemed to be enough. Got a mild headache at one point that a bottle of water solved.

Got it once in So Colorado at about 12,500'. We were busting snowdrifts a lot and it really worked me over. I had a pounding headache and a LONG walk to lower elevation. Didn't feel better until about 9500'. I think we walked 21 miles that day and ended up never even wetting a line!

If you got from low country to 10,000' in one day, you are going to get sick if you exert yourself. Best to take 2 days.

Kickstand effect! Haha...

It's always a worry for me, living at 700', but like mentioned above, I work very hard on my lungs with tons of metabolic conditioning beforehand, drink water, and haven't had any problems.

Even climbed Mt. Massive via off-trail scramble this summer; no issues at 14,400+'.

We worried about altitude when we climbed Mt. Elbert, 2nd highest point in the lower 48.

Luckily we had no issues, but we did see a few folks that weren't faring as well. My wife works an office job, but when she decides she's gonna climb a hill, by golly, we're going!

She kinda gets a kick out of going around younger pantywaists.

That's my back yard.

Lucky devil. Live in Leadville?

Love your state, we just got back from Silverton.

No, i'm in Buena Vista. Just down the road, but I play in all the mountains in the area.

Most people don't have serious problems but like me get headaches, pounding heart and insomnia. If you are really sick: DESCEND. But 99% of us can cope with a variety of techniques:

Drink water or sports drinks till you wiz like a race horse. Avoid caffeine and alcohol.

Rolaids (or similar antacids). Part of the problem is that your blood becomes acidodic. 2-3 rolaids every 4-6 hours helps

I used to take the drug Acetazolamide (diamox). But it makes you pee more and makes sodas taste NASTY, and my wife had tingling sensation on her arms and legs! Did help a lot/hated the side effects.

I usually take advil for sore muscles anyway and they help if you get headaches.

2 over the counter products that work for me (I no longer have to take Diamox) are:

1) Wilderness athlete's ALTITUDE ADVANTAGE.

2) Altitude adjustment by http://www.altitude-adjustment.com/products.html

I ususally use Altitude adjustment. Has never failed me.

--Drink water--Start several days or a week BEFORE you arrive at altitude. Most folks--especially those who work at more sedentary professions--don't drink enough water/liquids to begin with.

--Don't drink alcohol.

--Start taking 2-3 aspirin each day several days before you arrive at altitude.

--As mentioned, bring Rolaids. At the first sign of feeling just a tiny bit queasy, take some.

--Try to avoid heavy exertion for the first day or two at altitude.

--Folks with high blood pressure are more likely to get altitude sickness, so keep that in mind for you and your partners.

--Drink water.......


Casey

Roger that, Dad took em for years for cardiac so I'm well versed in side effects and 2 of us are Emergency Medical Responders so well versed in the issues.

That being said I"m glad you posted, not all folks understand what other issues can come with thinned blood. Pressure is your friend always. The blood clotting packs... have been shown to create strokes in the following days enough so that I won't use one unless there is no other option.

I can't take aspirin. They make my stomach bleed.

Happened to my dad after 20 some years of taking them.

I'd have to look up the viagra vs the diamox. No clue how each work, other than I"d never heard of using viagra.

Of course years ago when I researched I"d never heard of tums/rolaids either...

Is that spelled with a K or a D?

Never had a problem with altitudes as I spend most of my time in hunting territory and only live 4,000 feet or so below the highest area.

Acclimation is the answer,not foreign(to your body that your not used to taking) substances to your body that it isn't used to.They can do more damage than the altitude.

Jayco

My hunting buddy got it so bad a few years back he had to head home. He lives in Denver and we were never over 8500-9000 feet.

I take aspirin daily and drink a LOT of water. So much so that people give me grief about the amount I carry (2 liters).

Medicine done correctly cannot do more damage than the altitude.

Acclimation is by far the best. But some are not so lucky to either live at altitude or have lots of time off...
I live at 200 feet ASL. We hunt CO around 10,000 give or take. We drive straight through and start hunting around the 30 hour mark or so.

its really the only option we have due to limited free time. Using a few meds along the way makes life easier.

With that I've no problems.

Would love to live there or be like E... take off a few months to chase elk. That would be fun.

Two years ago we left 900' elevation at 3am, got to camp at 9,000' about 13 hours later. Set up camp, tent, tended the mules, and I was hurting something fierce. Just sat in the truck with head in my hands, drinking water, trying to get comfortable to make the pain in my head go away. Dad finally convinced me to go with him to town, about 6,000'. Drove the 20 miles to town, grabbed a sandwich, drove around town for an hour or so and I was fine. Went back to camp, slept, then messed around the next day before season started at elevation, no further issues including most of the hunting going on right at 10,000'.

Same routine last year, but no issues.

This year when we head out, if I even faintly start to get a headache, I'm going lower.

It's the best thing you can do for yourself is to get lower as fast as you can. Those are words right out of 2 very good Doctors just a week ago. The one especially knows his stuff.

Acording to the Survivalist expert at the Air Force Academy, you want to take Tums,not Rolaids. Something about the differnt ingredients. It is to counteract acidic PH levels in your blood. Nothing to do with altitude sickness

Here is a long story of my only experience with altitude sickness.

I had a buddy experience it really bad and I didn't appreciate the risk. In 2003 I made my second try at Granite peak here in Montana. The peak is 12,8 with the froze to death plateau about 11,7. My buddy grew up in Detroit and Seattle but we went to grad school in MT. We met at the lake below at about 6500 feet and headed out early the next morning.It is about 20 miles round trip. When we hit the top of the switchbacks he started feeling out of breath and was really slow. Part way across the plateau he was getting ill so I took his pack and headed for the rock windbreak in the plateau. We were both carrying 40 pound packs so I was not moving fast across the plateau but I soon left him behind.
After hiking the 6-8 miles ahead I went back to look for him- I found him dangerously close to the edge-(think 1000 foot drop off) he was wandering, disoriented he kept saying leave him and he would sleep with his tarp- his movements were drunken and his speech was pretty incoherent.
I got him to the shelter and he had some hot soup/stew and he seemed to get better but was still out of it.
The next day we attempted the summit and he had forgotten something at camp after we had started across the face of Tempest mountain. Pretty easy trail so I went back for the camera or it might have been an ice ax, I don't remember.
When I got back I couldn't find him. He had wandered over the edge off the side and was scrambling rock climbing below the trail.
Once I found him we ended up coming back out. He doesn't remember much of the trip. The hot food and hydration seemed to really help. Either he didn't complain or more likely I didn't really listen or understand how bad off he was. I just figured he was a pussy.

We did successfully summit the next year but I took along a third person that carried some weight and helped.

Cool. I chase elk just across the highway. The best thing my hunting partner I did for altitude issues after our first trip hunting there was to arrive at least a couple of days early and "gently" scout the areas we hunt allowing our bodies to aclimate. We drink zero alcohol, poor down water, eat light but healthy meals and just go easy. The first trip was a killer.

never had the problem but carried Dexamethason 4mg just in case.

Krakmt.That sound like hypethermia,not altitude sickness

July 4th 2003- 65 to 70 degrees. The guy at that time did the whole volley ball tournament scene and was very healthy. With the headaches and his growing up down low I figured it was altitude sickness but could have been scurvy or some other malady for all I know.

I'm no doctor, but it almost sounds like hypoxia to me. I've had some hypoxia training, and a common symptom is to feel like you've just pounded several beers. Ive had some buddies go into an altitude training chamber and they said they got pretty goofy when hypoxic. Time to go lower when that happens I imagine.

Not had it myself - yet anyway - but several people I have been with at high elevation have had various mainfestations. Mostly at about 12-13,000 is when I notice a sudden lack of performance, at least for the first day or so, so I know altitude sure makes a difference, but have not been sick.

Like everyone else says drink lots of water. Hydration is really important, and at elevation you pump out a lot more water than normal due to the lower atmospheric pressure. If you start to vomit, you are losing way too much fluid, compounding the problem. Alcohol can make it worse because alcohol helps dehydrate you.

Really important is if you come from low elevation, take a couple days to gain your final elevation. It will go better and you will have a better time. Flying from 90 feet above sea level to Denver at a mile high then immediately going up to 10,000 feet is asking for problems regardless of who you are and what kind of shape you are in. Your body can't catch up that fast to the change in pressure and lack of oxygen. Physics and physiology.

Headaches are common and are an early warning. Dizziness or lightheadedness is from lack of oxygen. It is when nausea kicks in that it is time to get worried. If there is coughing, get the person the heck out of there and down to lower elevation RIGHT NOW without delay. Altitude caused pulmonary edema will drown a person in their own fluids. It is very very serious. If it gets to that point, they need medical attention.

One of the things seldom mentioned is the experience that KRAKMT had with his friend. You can easily get a person acting hypothermic (and hypoxic) where they get goofy, or crabby, or downright belligerent. Their brain is not functioning right, and they can become a danger to you as well as themselves. They shouold absolutely not be left alone, as KRAKMT found. You may need to force someone to go down to save their life. They will usually argue against their being altitude sick because many people mistake it as weakness, or for being percieved as being out of shape. (Nah, I just picked up the flu on the way down, Ill be OK. Reeeetch! It'll go away..." It didn't until he had spent the next night at much lower elevation. Next morning, was bouncing around and starving for breakfast.) You can be in great shape or poor shape and get altitude sickness one trip and not on another trip under the same conditions. Some super athletes get it on one accasion and not another. Research has not nailed down what really causes it to happen to one person and not another, nor why it happens to a person sometimes, but not every time.

When you get someone acting loopy or combative at altitude, suspect the worse and abort your trip. Any drastic change in behavior or apparent condition when you are above 8-9000 feet
with someone from low elevation should be approached with caution. Even people from higher elevation can get altitude sickness.

My wife and I are both 76 years old and our cabin in Arizona's White Mountains, where we spend May through October every year, is at about 9,000 feet elevation.

When we move up in the spring, we spend the first week doing as little as possible. Even so, we both suffer headaches and fatigue until we have become accustomed to the elevation.

Our biggest problem isn't the elevation, though. It's the shock of coming off the mountain in the fall and returning to our home in Tucson and seeing all the traffic, billboards, buildings and hordes of people.

Bill Quimby

Man, glad I work at 8000+ feet. I still think the air gets thin especially with an elk on your back packing up hill.

Gonna be in CO in the Maroon Bells W.A. in three weeks for the early season high country mule deer hunt. We will be camped at 11,000 feet so will have to watch it.I think we are at about 400 feet above sea level here and we drive straight thru to arrive day before to up the mountain.
We were there during the 9/11/01 Twin Towers stike (which we did not hear about till three days later). Had a few mild symptoms on the 4th day, but nothing serious.
Being 11 years older and not quite as good shape, I got some pills from the Doc today.
Plan on working hard on the 5K for next three weeks and staying well hydrated and heavy doses of Vit C while there.

This was an iteresting thread.
Thanks
Tim