Hi all,

Just got home from Snowmass, Vancouver, BC, Jasper, Alberta. A great trip but.......... DH and I arrived in Snowmass on a Wednesday and Sunday I was in Aspen Valley ER with extreme mountain sickness.

O2 sat 77,lol, sent back to the condo on 4 meds and 02. I am in fairly good shape and did think I would be a bit short of breath on hikes, but not that.

Anyone else have this happen?

Karin

Anyone else have this happen?

Sorry to hear of your problems!

I learned the hard way that if I go from near sea-level to 9,000 - 10,000 ft and overnight then I have extreme headaches and fatigue (a milder form of what you suffered) but if I break it up with one night at around 5,000 - 6,000 ft then I can take the high country fine the 2nd night. So for most of us it's a matter of acclimatizing a bit.

For the trip you describe I'd guess spending even one night in Denver before heading to Snowmass would have helped acclimatize, but everyone is different in how they handle altitude.

That's within normal expectations if you don't acclimate properly. 12 hours in Denver would have made a difference. I'm assuming you went right up into the mtns. I don't know about taking 4 meds, I just take aspirin and sleep it off.

We lived in Denver for 4 years, where I was a medical librarian. Every winter at least a few cases of acute mountain sickness were presented at Grand Rounds, usually someone from Texas who skipped Denver and went right up to the mountains to ski. I myself got altitude sickness several times, even living at 5300 feet, though my husband never did, showing how some people are more susceptible. Exertion and dehydration can bring it on or make it worse. Sorry you had that happen.

Hi Karin---DH developed this for the first time ~age 40 after a number of high altitude trips w/o problems. Sorry to say, but once you have it, it can get worse w/each subsequent exposure. He now has to take a med that you start 2 days before you travel. Luckily he does not go on high altitude trips very often, but it is a bummer. He tried the 5,000 ft intermediate overnight and it did not help. He does not end up in the ER as you did, but has a blinding headache that lasts for 24 hours. At one conference in Copper Mountain (>10, 000 ft), an MD who was there said that often people have to descend to avoid the chance of pulmonary edema.

Sorry for your difficulty but I am surprised that you did not have to go to a lower altitude w/your symptoms. Of course, they certainly would be the experts there when it comes to treating the condition!

Not all that uncommon.
I lived in Denver for 10 years
with frequent trips to the mountains to ski or hike. Never a problem.

During my first trip back to Denver, after moving to San Francisco, we drove to Dillon without a Denver overnight. Suffered with fatigue and a killer headache for about 24 hours. Then all was well. Happens to me now sometimes when we go up to Tahoe.

In my experience, it has always happened within the first day of
being up there.

Sorry this happened to you !

R5

I tried to top this thread on altitude sickness, but it won't come back up:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34865407

Deb

Drink plenty of water!!

I get extreme insomnia when in high altitudes - just horrilbe!

Yes, this happened to my husband last month for the first time. We were at an idyllic cabin at 9000 feet, he had an excrutiating headace and fatigue. We descended to 5000 feet for half a day and then went back up. He felt better but never did feel 100% on that trip.

<That's within normal expectations if you don't acclimate properly.>


No it's not.


What the OP had sounds like the beginnings of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) - an EXTREME manifestation of altitude sickness.

HAPE is NOT "within normal expectations if you don't acclimate properly". To say that it is, is a gross exaggeration.

Even to suggest that the lesser manifestations of altitude sickness are within normal expectations if you don't acclimate, is an exaggeration - not a gross exaggeration.......but still an exaggeration.

My hubby often gets sick in high altitude.....it's a bummer. One couple told us that they had a place in Crested Butte, CO, and had been traveling there for over 30 years....and sometimes they got sick, and other times they didn't!

My husband continues to go on the the ski trips, but he usually feels less than 100%....He now gets meds from the doctor a couple of days before we leave for the mtns.....it helps, but again, he just kinda deals with the nauseau (sp?) and headaches.

His lowest point was the day he went to the mtn medical clinic to get O2, and they made him travel back to the hotel on the ski shuttle with his oxygen tank in tow ......he soooo enjoyed pulling his little tank onto the shuttle that was teeming with teenage snowboarders. He did a lot of research about altitude sickness when he returned and it seemed that he found that no matter your fitness level, it can hit anyone at anytime. Hopefully yours was a one-time thing!

Thanks everyone,

I tried to deal with it, the entire time thinking I would feel better the next day. I don't drink alcohol, drank more water (with lemon, sugar and a bit of salt) in 4 days before the ER visit than I do in a month and stayed off caffiene.

I was at a medical conference with DH, when taking notes I couldn't spell "the or with", fell asleep in the first 5 minutes of the lecture, failed the neuro exam by an expert on mountain sickness and sent to the ER.

The ER dr did tell me it didn't matter that I was in good condition or young (lol) that some people just got it. Er dr did say go down plus what she rxed. I have been to Denver without problems.

I was in pulmonary edema. I had an IV started, 5 sticks, I promise I was not dehydrated as I had voided 3 times during the IV start.

An O2 sat of 77 is bad, at home I am 98 to 100. Plus I had my yearly eye exam 3 weeks prior to our trip and I my vision is not what it was in June.

Home is 200 feet elevation.

Thanks again, Karin

Yes, I go to Denver quite often and have altitude sickness there at some times--nausea, headache, etc. The first time it happened I thought I had the flu.
The sun on your head can also be a problem, and especially not drinking enough water. Aspirin might have helped at the beginning. It isn't really "being in shape". It's the blood supply.
Our son spent the afternoon of his wedding day in the ER with a friend from the "low lands" who drank too much of one thing and not enough of the other!!

An O2 sat of 77 is just not an expected high-altitude result for a normal adult. I think your DH should see a physician and perhaps get a referal to a pulmonologist.
This could have unmasked an underlying pulmonary condition.

Hi again,

I was the one with the O2 sat of 77. DH is a GI dr, he leases office space to a pulmonary dr and asked him about seeing me.

Since I tend to explode easier than most he was not interested in seeing me. Either that I am a total PITA.

I do have an appt to have my ferritin level checked as my hgb and hct are within normal limits.

At home I walk 3.5 miles 4 to 5 times a week and my O2 sat has been 98 to 100.

Thanks, Karin

THe first time I went to CO SPGS, I made sure to hydrate and not overexert, etc. I didn't get altitude sickness, but my spleen enlarged and I almost had to have it removed. Not fun...

The key is to listen to your body and get prompt medical care. All the best .

If your husband is an MD, he will know this, but I just remembered the name of the Rx that my husband has had to start 2 days before any trip to high altitude, ever since he started having altitude sickness on every trip. It is called Diamox. It has a slew of potential side effects, but it controls the condition, altho in your case, I would follow up on the pulmonology consult, w/someone who does not have a preconceived notion of your PITA-ness.

Careful with Diamox. First, it's related to Sulfa, so if you're allergic to Sulfa, don't take it. Second, one of the potential side effects of Diamox is kidney stones.

Right, which is why I told her to consult pulmonologist and also why I referred to the slew of side effects. It is not like she can walk into CVS and buy it.

Thanks for all the help and concern.

I did go to the dr yesterday, he believes that it was my ferrtin level at 12 that caused me to have the problem at that extent.

Since po iron with some vitamin C on the side has not worked in the past. Iron infusion seems to be next.

I did get a B 12 injection yesterday and feel a lot better.

Thanks again, Karin