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Altitude sick help !


lowrider

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Any advice to help recover and hit the mts. again tomorrow ?

Ideally, sleep at lower altitude -- as low as possible. That, and don't drink alcohol. If you start to feel really rocky, you should head to a clinic or get low.

What altitude do you live at and where are you riding?

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I struggled my first 4 days in Frisco.....

What I did:

+1 on drinking lots of water! like don't stop drinking it.

Stack carbs, they require less O2 to metabolize, this may be more preventive...Smaller frequent meals of them

I bought a few of those small O2 aerosol bottles at Walmart. I almost passed out after a top to bottom non stop run I think at Breck, crazy intense sudden headache, tunnel vision etc. a few puffs and I was good to go.

Breathe Rite Nasal strips helped me at night; if you are not sleeping. The naturally lower respiration rate while asleep and the lower O2 at altitude can combine to make sleeping through the night hard.

Too late now, but doing nothing strenuous your first day at altitude can help too. My boots got lost on the flight in so I had no choice on day 1.

As mentioned already...I drank no alcohol for the first week I was there too.

Hope this helps

//Paul

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I have always been susceptible to altitude sickness the first few days above 9,000', headache, malaise, muscle fatigue even following all the above advice, except the viagra. I finally tried using acetozalamide (diamox) to get past that first few days and it worked great. It can have side effects of slight tingling in the fingertips and it acts as a diuretic, so you still need to drink lots of water, and will have to pee more than usual. The side effects were well worth the ability to enjoy riding on the first day at altitude. They recommend starting it a day or two before ascending and can discontinue after acclimatizing. It's by prescription in the U.S., but might be otc in Canada. Chewing coca leaves is supposed to work well too.

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Sildenafil. Yes, really!

Sildenafil (Viagra) dilates blood vessels in the lungs. That was what it was originally researched for, before the effects it is better known for were recognised. Low oxygen concentrations in the air spaces in the lungs cause the blood vessels to narrow. That limits the amount of blood that can flow through the lungs. Viagra is listed by the CDC as a first aid measure for high altitude pulmonary edema. It also improves aerobic performance for about 50% of athletes exercising at altitude.

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Diamox is prescription in Canada too, but if he goes to the local walk in clinic he should be able to get his hands on some. It will definitely help.

As everyone else has said, he'll just have to take it easy until his body catches up. Altitude's a funny thing - some people handle it, some don't, and sometimes it can even vary from time to time. Drink lots, rest lots, and lay off the alcohol and hard to digest food, he'll be ripping in no time.

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Sildenafil. Yes, really!

Sildenafil (Viagra) dilates blood vessels in the lungs. That was what it was originally researched for, before the effects it is better known for were recognised. Low oxygen concentrations in the air spaces in the lungs cause the blood vessels to narrow. That limits the amount of blood that can flow through the lungs. Viagra is listed by the CDC as a first aid measure for high altitude pulmonary edema. It also improves aerobic performance for about 50% of athletes exercising at altitude.

Interesting fact!

Also tell him to stay away from the coffee as it is a dehydrator and will just worsen the situation.

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A few days later and the parents get more info........ The above condition developed after some aggressive skiing and a faceplant after a failed flip. Insisting it wasn't a severe impact he continued to exert himself. Lesson learned ??????????? He did get to lower elevation once he began to feel poorly. Rehydrating and a good nites rest he was able to return to his thrill seeking the next day.:barf: Thanks for all the info i'm sure it will be helpful to others as well.

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He claims more winded than hurt. Inhalation issue for sure. This guy is more like a cat he lands and scrambles to do it again. In this case wasn't able to catch his breath so uncharacteristically decided to quit for the day and rest up. Not sure if it's because he's getting older or smarter. Last year he got beat up by the Bull at the Chutes challenge at Kicking Horse so i think he's learning it's better to walk away and ride another day. Driving back to Canmore from KickingHorse with a banged up knee with a standard transmission may have taught him something too. Different than years ago while on vacation and buying lift tickets for 5 we would pop him full of Tylenol and keep going. (child abuse i guess !)

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maybe it's not too late for there to be a glaxo/bayer/pfizer booth at SES2014, offering sildenafil/tadalafil/vardenafil ;)

No it isn't. I'm already seeing dollar signs, man. And ... for love of god, the craziness at nights during the SES week. -wince-

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Sildenafil. Yes, really!

Sildenafil (Viagra) dilates blood vessels in the lungs. That was what it was originally researched for, before the effects it is better known for were recognised. Low oxygen concentrations in the air spaces in the lungs cause the blood vessels to narrow. That limits the amount of blood that can flow through the lungs. Viagra is listed by the CDC as a first aid measure for high altitude pulmonary edema. It also improves aerobic performance for about 50% of athletes exercising at altitude.

Yes this absolutely true, They market sildenafil under a different name in the US for hypertension (revatio) . We actually grind up viagra tabs at my work to make a suspension for neonatal kids with pulmonary hypertension . Viagra for babies!

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Honestly i have tried diamox and hated the metallic taste in my mouth . Best thing that works for me is pretreat with nsaids ( 2 otc alieve twice a day) and drink lots of water . The headache is the worst and in portland going from sealevel to the top of Mt Hood (11200ft) in 6 hours can easily trigger it .

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