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How to Avoid Altitude Sickness?
Walking through scrubby sage outside the Anasazi Heritage Center in southwest Colorado last summer, my heart started pounding wildly. Some invisible strongman was squeezing my head so tightly I could barely see the kiva in front of me, and I couldn't get enough oxygen in my lungs. I stopped in my tracks — is this a heart attack, for crying out loud?
I needn't have worried. Having arrived in high-altitude country just hours
earlier, I was suffering from Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), commonly known as altitude sickness. Nor was I alone: AMS hits up to 40 percent of visitors to Colorado. "I've seen travel writers in their 20s in good physical condition have AMS," says Denver travel publicist Kathleen Brown. "It's difficult to predict who will get it."
AMS happens "in altitude," generally regarded as 7,000 feet or higher, and the symptoms are clear: Weakness or fatigue, light-headedness, headache, difficulty sleeping, shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting, and sometimes staggering gait and confusion. If you're headed to a high-altitude destination, you can head off most AMS symptoms by getting into a good work/rest cycle before you leave and "staging" your altitude changes, climbing no more than 1,000 feet a day.
If you're flying to Quito, however, you will land abruptly at 9,300 feet;
most travelers coming from sea level can expect labored breathing and other symptoms to begin within minutes. Take it slowly--stroll rather than walk briskly, drink plenty of water and stay away from alcohol, which can slow your breathing and intensify AMS symptoms. More tips for tr jeating AMS:
"Any illness at altitude is altitude illness until proven otherwise,"
advises Dr. Thomas E. Dietz of the on-line High Altitude Medicine Guide. If you have AMS symptoms, do not ascend higher; AMS can develop into life-threatening pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs. Stay put until your body adjusts; you should feel "normal" again after two to three days.
Diamox, or acetazolamide, is FDA-approved for preventing and treating AMS. Don't take it if you're allergic to sulfa drugs.
Ibuprofen helps, especially with "tight" altitude headaches.
Eat high-carbohydrate foods such as rice, pasta and bagels, and avoid high-fat foods.
Dramamine or over-the-counter motion sickness medications can help easealtitude-related nausea.
Tip from a travel writer: Try coca tea or another herbal tea for AMS
symptoms.
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