Altitude issues after not having any for years! Is Diamox the answer?

[jcat]

Hi everyone,
I lived in Summit County (9200') for 15 years, and moved to Denver a couple of years ago. In past year and a half, I've been having increasing trouble when i (frequently) go up to the mountains. The real issue is sleep (due to pounding heart, hypoxia, etc) and (I think?) fluid retention....I see that my 02 levels go down to about 91 or so when i'm up there, and they're 99 in Denver. I wake up exhauted and sometimes can't even get out to ski.

I got an 02 concentrator but I don't think it helped much.

I get headachy, too...

But when I slept in Glenwood Springs, for example, to ski Aspen--I slept ok, and heart racing less, breathing less angsty...I think because it's similar elevation to Denver!

So...doc called in some Diamox, and i'm up in Summit right now, and...is this something I could take every time i come up to the mountains? I also am fairly senstive to meds, and I think i read that a half (or quarter?) dose of 65 mg helped some...Has anyone had this experience? I'll be up here for another five days, haven't taken any yet, but thinking about a dose tonight, and trying to stay on it the next few days/nights to see if it works.

Let me know what you think, and thanks for any advice/anecdotal wisdom!

 

[santacruz skier]

My MD advised to take 2 days before going to altitude and 2-3 days after. I live at sea level. Have done this before going to Taos (over 9k ft sleeping) several times. No headache and sleep much better. Side effects for me were frequent urination and tingling fingers.

 

[jcat]

Thanks. I took quarter pill last night, had insomnia and stomach angst...ugh! And weird pinky-toe swelling/pain.

 

[santacruz skier]

Thanks. I took quarter pill last night, had insomnia and stomach angst...ugh! And weird pinky-toe swelling/pain.

Definitely check in with your MD regarding directions for use.

 

[echo_VT]

Anytime I go to high altitudes I go to my doctor and I use diamox, Colorado hills and Jackson Hole. I have not been able to go out otherwise due to the altitude effects

 

[skinnyfootskis]

Hi everyone,
I lived in Summit County (9200') for 15 years, and moved to Denver a couple of years ago. In past year and a half, I've been having increasing trouble when i (frequently) go up to the mountains. The real issue is sleep (due to pounding heart, hypoxia, etc) and (I think?) fluid retention....I see that my 02 levels go down to about 91 or so when i'm up there, and they're 99 in Denver. I wake up exhauted and sometimes can't even get out to ski.

I got an 02 concentrator but I don't think it helped much.

I get headachy, too...

But when I slept in Glenwood Springs, for example, to ski Aspen--I slept ok, and heart racing less, breathing less angsty...I think because it's similar elevation to Denver!

So...doc called in some Diamox, and i'm up in Summit right now, and...is this something I could take every time i come up to the mountains? I also am fairly senstive to meds, and I think i read that a half (or quarter?) dose of 65 mg helped some...Has anyone had this experience? I'll be up here for another five days, haven't taken any yet, but thinking about a dose tonight, and trying to stay on it the next few days/nights to see if it works.

Let me know what you think, and thanks for any advice/anecdotal wisdom!

Find a bottle of Boost o2 and use it.

 

[Little Lightning]

So what has changed since you moved to Denver? Do you stay in the same place when you come to Summit? I have a condo on Buffalo Mountain and live in Lakewood. I work out regularly with a personal trainer. At the beginning of the season I was struggling to breathe. For several weeks, every time I went skiing I could barely breathe when I got on the mountain. Just walking to the lift was setting me off. Given I hadn't skied in 2 years and many days temps were 10 degrees with high winds I wrote my issues off as not being used to the conditions. However, no matter the conditions I continued to have problems. I was also having migraine type headaches (I don't have migraines) and feeling weird after a couple of days in the condo. Walking in the hallway caused me to gasp for air. We've had our condo for 16 years and I had never felt like this before.

Once a week the management company was spraying some kind of aerosol in our hallway. It had a very strong fragrance. The hallway has 2 fire doors but no other ventilation. I was told they had stopped spraying but one afternoon we came back from skiing and the hallway had been sprayed. I have non allergic asthma and had an asthma flair in the middle of the night. I did get the management company to stop spraying and haven't had an issue since. I'm thinking that VOC's from the aerosols were leaching through the condo door and I was reacting to them.

 

[Little Lightning]

Here's some information from Dr. Stacey T Sims. While it's geared toward coming from low altitude and training it heat there might be some clues in the article for you.

Female Performance At Altitude | Dr. Stacy Sims

Dr. Stacy Sims discusses heat acclimation and other strategies for active women to optimize their performance at altitude.

www.drstacysims.com

 

[Chuyi]

Diamox masks the symptoms of severe altitude sickness & by the time other people realize u r sick u r in bad shape. Think of the symptoms as early warning system. Ur body is telling u to go down. Oxygen won't help. The only treatment is to descend to lower altitude (u can do it urself physically or EMS will put u in a pressurize bag with pressure of lower altitude during transport). If you are that sick from Denver to summit County, try spending a few days below 8k. I think Steamboat is at 7k.

 

[scandium]

Diamox masks the symptoms of severe altitude sickness & by the time other people realize u r sick u r in bad shape. Think of the symptoms as early warning system. Ur body is telling u to go down. Oxygen won't help. The only treatment is to descend to lower altitude (u can do it urself physically or EMS will put u in a pressurize bag with pressure of lower altitude during transport). If you are that sick from Denver to summit County, try spending a few days below 8k. I think Steamboat is at 7k.

My understanding is that it doesn't mask symptoms of true altitude sickness but increases physiological response to altitude due to the effects it has, which actually reduces symptoms and means it can be used to treat milder forms of altitude sickness (but not the cerebral or pulmonary oedema, I think you just have to descend ASAP). But the physiology seems to be incompletely understood from what I can see that's open-access.

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.01572.2005?rfr_dat=cr_pub++0pubmed&url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org

 

[Ski Sine Fine]

I remember reading Diamox increases respiration? I don’t know how it works but it absolutely helps with my nighttime period breathing. I take a single tab of 125mg at night. I have shortness of breath while skiing but nothing ever helps with that.

 

[Chuyi]

@jcat the symptoms u described r fairly severe. u should make an appointment with U. Colorado pulmonologists. They treat a lot of cases &they r the experts. No physiology articles, no PhD in physiology, none of us will be there to treat u if you ever get really sick. The safest action will always be descent.

 

[skinnyfootskis]

Here's some information from Dr. Stacey T Sims. While it's geared toward coming from low altitude and training it heat there might be some clues in the article for you.

Female Performance At Altitude | Dr. Stacy Sims

Dr. Stacy Sims discusses heat acclimation and other strategies for active women to optimize their performance at altitude.

www.drstacysims.com

Very interesting article especially about the heat training.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

This article by my all time favorite travel doctor who has written most of the textbooks has some decent info on diamox as a preventative versus post AMS treatment which it is also used for. He mostly references cases of people coming from sea level but the info still applies.

Article by Dr. Schlim

FYI, National Jewish Hospital in Denver is the best pulmonary facility in the US by many accounts. If you continue to have issues that seem to not be solely altitude related they may have answers.

 

[marzNC]

This article by my all time favorite travel doctor who has written most of the textbooks has some decent info on diamox as a preventative versus post AMS treatment which it is also used for. He mostly references cases of people coming from sea level but the info still applies.

Article by Dr. Schlim

Very good article. I noted the comment that "The risk for these conditions generally begins at altitudes above 2750 to 3050 m (9000 to 10 000 feet) but AMS can occur as low as 1525 to 1830 m (5,000 to 6000 feet)."

Denver is a bit over 5000 ft. So is the town of Beech Mountain in the mountains of North Carolina. The base of Stowe and Hunter is 1600 ft, Sunday River starts at 800 ft, and my home hill in northern Virginia starts at 1750 ft. When planning a trip to a new resort in high mountains, I always check the elevation of the lodging options, in addition to the slopes.

I can tell the difference between sleeping at Alta on the same day my flight arrives compared to Taos Ski Valley. Alta is around 8000 ft while TSV is around 9000 ft. The town of Taos is about 7000 ft so that's one reason I tend to stay there for a few nights before moving to slopeside lodging.

 

[sorcamc]

I went to Bruce in Feb. Stayed in Denver the first night and then drove to breck Sunday. Didn’t expect to ski Sunday, but I did- peer pressure. Sunday night, my body went loco! Heart pounding, ox got really low. I spent about 30 mins doing deep breathing and that helped a lot. The next morning I felt ok so went out to ski. After 3 hours I felt so nauseas/headachy. Went back to room and drank a TON of water and electrolytes and took a nap. I bounced back that afternoon, but realized that altitude is serious! Next time I go, I will rent an oxygen machine. I’d just been in Tahoe and didn’t have that problem, but I wonder if it’s because I did two back to back altitude trips and I live at sea level . Listen to ur body!

 

[marzNC]

I will rent an oxygen machine. I’d just been in Tahoe and didn’t have that problem, but I wonder if it’s because I did two back to back altitude trips and I live at sea level .

The base elevation of Palisades Tahoe is 6200 ft. The base of Breckenridge is 9600 ft. Most of the destination resorts in Colorado are over 9000 ft. The higher altitude is of the reasons I only recently started taking ski trips to Colorado.

My ski buddy who is a physician doesn't bother to take acetazolamide unless he's going to be sleeping at over 8000 ft. It's important to know the correct dose and timing for the medication.

It's true that after you have adjusted to high altitude and have more red blood cells geared towards high in the mountains, then if you go to a lower altitude for a few weeks and then return, the adjustment time will be less. I read about a study to tested that hypothesis about a decade ago. Experienced it first hand the season I did two Taos Ski Weeks, with one week at home in central North Carolina (elevation about 500 ft). The town of Taos is around 7000 ft and the base of the resort is about 9000 ft. I usually opt to sleep in town the first few nights before moving to slopeside lodging.