Altitude Sickness
 

I'm doing an escorted tour of China in June which includes flying to Lhasa, Tibet for three days. A sulfa-type drug is advised for altitude sickness. I'm allergic to sulfa, so does anyone have any other suggestions? Any info would be appreciated.

There was an article in the New England Journal of Medicine sometime around 1980-88 describing the use of dexamethasone 4 mg four times a day. That is a steroid and can cause some problems of its own. I used it in 1988 in Peru and found myself bothered by insomnia but I had minimal trouble with the altitude. I returned in 1998 and took nothing and felt exhausted. It might be worth a try to at least have it with you but you might try to get a mild hypnotic to take along too in the event that you can't sleep. Most importantly you should try to rest upon arrival, avoid alcohol, avoid tobacco and eat light. They say that some people will have altitude sickness one visit and not the next so there are lots of variables.

There is a Chinese herbal remedy. It has the Chinese character "gao" in the name, which means "high." Sorry, don't know anything more about it.

Geri - There is a drug called Diamox, made for helping one adjust to higher altitudes. I am not sure if it is a sulfa drug or not, but you may want to look into it. I used it when I climbed Kilamanjaro with no side effects, and it sure helped with the altitude. (over 19,000', with three days over 16,000')

My sister went to Peru last year and didn't want to take the Diamox (she was concerned with side effects). She found on www.drweil.com a natural alternative. Dr. Weil recommends taking Co Enzyne Q10 (CoQ10). You may want to check it out, my sister said a couple of people in her group had trouble but she managed to stay well. She explained the rational and how it works...it made sense to me. I recently checked with doctor since I am going to China and we were considering Tibet. He said Diamox is only a problem when someone has glaucoma, other wise it just makes your tastebuds taste all carbonated sodas as if they were flat. Good luck and have fun!