Altitude sickness
Just wondering if anyone else gets altitude sickness.Seams every time we travel to elevations above 8000 ft.I will be ok untill about 2 am I will awake with problems breathing.If we move quickly down...
Forum Discussion
Anybody else? Statistically, about 25% of visitors to altitudes about 5000-7000 feet will show symptoms of the most common altitude sickness, Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) within 2-12 hours of their first night sleeping at that altitude, more quickly the higher the altitude. So you are in good company.
For most people, if they do not move to a yet higher altitude, the problem will often sort itself out in 24 to 72 hours if the person stays hydrated (dehydration complicates the oxygen absorption problem) which includes the part about no alcohol, which dehydrates one quickly.
AMS has little to do with age or fitness, except that 50+ age group tends to be less susceptible than infants and children. AMS is a blood chemistry adjustment thing, separable from more general breathing and cardiovascular health problems. Those problems are made worse by the lower O2 partial pressures, but that's a separate issue from AMS.
Some people get mild AMS on long (6-14 hour) overnight flights, for which cabin pressures are kept at 7000 to 10000 feet, but the air is really dry. Most sufferers don't think about why they feel like they do, attribute their illnesses to jet lag, dehydration, something they caught on the plane.
Supplemental oxygen can help, whether the problem is AMS, or a general fitness problem. Yours sounds like AMS, because it occurs in your sleep. Otherwise what your doctor says, sleep at lower altitudes.
I've been to about 14,000 in the Himalayas, sleeping at 8,000 to 10,000, but I traveled into the mountains by slow bus from Kunming, with a couple of nights there and again at intermediate altitudes. Maybe a few nights at 4000 to 6000 feet might help your blood chemistry get ready for the next couple thousand feet.
For most people, if they do not move to a yet higher altitude, the problem will often sort itself out in 24 to 72 hours if the person stays hydrated (dehydration complicates the oxygen absorption problem) which includes the part about no alcohol, which dehydrates one quickly.
AMS has little to do with age or fitness, except that 50+ age group tends to be less susceptible than infants and children. AMS is a blood chemistry adjustment thing, separable from more general breathing and cardiovascular health problems. Those problems are made worse by the lower O2 partial pressures, but that's a separate issue from AMS.
Some people get mild AMS on long (6-14 hour) overnight flights, for which cabin pressures are kept at 7000 to 10000 feet, but the air is really dry. Most sufferers don't think about why they feel like they do, attribute their illnesses to jet lag, dehydration, something they caught on the plane.
Supplemental oxygen can help, whether the problem is AMS, or a general fitness problem. Yours sounds like AMS, because it occurs in your sleep. Otherwise what your doctor says, sleep at lower altitudes.
I've been to about 14,000 in the Himalayas, sleeping at 8,000 to 10,000, but I traveled into the mountains by slow bus from Kunming, with a couple of nights there and again at intermediate altitudes. Maybe a few nights at 4000 to 6000 feet might help your blood chemistry get ready for the next couple thousand feet.
