High Altitude Problems ?

[Pulphook]

We're headed to a bucket list trip to Tibet. Altitude is around 12,000 feet in Lhasa and higher in other parts.
Advice ? Don't want to use meds like diamox.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have not been that high (other than compressorized planes of course) but was in Quito Ecuador back in 2008 and I'd wake up gasping for breath and thinking I was having a heart attack. Treat it like a panic attack and just stop and take long deep breaths till you feel comfortable again. Don't rush things.

   Our company had a project in Chile at high altitudes and the policy was to come down off the mountain to make major decisions. Of course I always wondered how they decided what was a major decision if they were on top.

[Magicman]

Almost every year we travel from Mississippi @~300' to Colorado @10K'+.  Hydration is your friend.  Chug-a-lug fluids as in drink much more than you think you need.  We start drinking water well before we reach the high country which requires more "pit stops" but it's worth it for not having altitude problems.   

[WV Sawmiller]

MM,

   Good points. Also the altitude you are talking about is higher than I was a Quito. It was about 9,000 ft there I think and I was only walking and maybe carrying a suitcase to the cab or such. I was not hiking or hunting or doing anything really strenuous and I'd still find myself short of breath.

[Magicman]

I should have added that there is a reason for the additional hydration need.  Higher elevation means less oxygen so us lowlanders breath heavier. Since we are filling and refilling our lungs with this drier air, more moisture is continually removed from the inner lung surfaces.  As our bodies loose more moisture the blood becomes thicker and doesn't circulate as well nor does the dry lungs capture/absorb oxygen from the air as well.  It is a downward spiral that can actually kill.  I would recommend Googling: altitude sickness

Altitude Sickness Dangers—What to Know About the Condition That Killed a 20-Year-Old Hiker - Health

We always plan to reach Colorado ~Wednesday before starting to hunt Saturday. This gives us a few days to take it easy and gradually acclimate to the higher altitude.

[Ron Scott]

My daughter was in Columbia this summer and was diagnosed with altitude sickness when she got back. After a sick spell, she had to be treated for it.

[Al_Smith]

Plenty of water and pace yourself .It isn't a race .
I used to make a yearly jaunt to Edwards -Wolcott Colorado to deer hunt often in elevations of 8 --10,000 feet . It takes a couple of days to get used to the altitude .I think red and white mountain is around 11,000 feet .It's part of the white river national forest .

[Ron Scott]

Also some Vitamin C tablets helped when skiing at 14,000 feet.

[florida]

The slower you get to altitude the easier it will be. Stepping off a plane that you boarded at sea level into 10,000 altitude is going to have you gasping for air. The older you get the worse it is for you. I got altitude sickness in Breckinridge when I was about 60. I was gasping like a fish out of water and lower altitude was the only cure. When I got back I went to a pulmonologist who gave me a lung test and told me I was very lucky I hadn't died on the mountain.  Give your body time to acclimate. The better condition you're in before you go the better you'll be able to take the lack of air at 12,000. FYI, there's no oxygen at 12k! Lol!

[Pulphook]

Just back from Tibet etc... Almost bought the farm in Lhasa with a serious case of AMS, Blue fingernails and lips, ashen skin, difficult breathing, powerful headache, blood O2 in the 30's.
Local Chinese hospital for blood tests, X-Ray, 3 hour IV . Still slow on my feet after the AMS 2 weeks ago.
Got a clearance from my primary care doc. Only a continuous hacking cough still.
Fortunately I had a translator since no one spoke English. Not an experience I'd want to repeat. Great hospital but about 20 years behind ours.

[samandothers]

Glad you are back, sorry to hear it was difficult.  Sounds like the bucket list item brought you closer to the bucket! Others with you I hoped faired well.

[Pulphook]

Yup, close to the bucket for the first time.I've only had the usual acute emergencies: breaks, prothetics (hips), cuts. Though at altitude many times in the past, this was close....too *DanG close. No predicting who is affected with AMS: age, conditioning, past med history.
Thx, no one else in the group got it. Slow recovery at home; just filling the wood boxes.
A regimen of Diamox wouldn't have helped according to 2 docs. The only solution is to go immediately to a lower altitude or a slower acclimatization which was not possible on this trip. Flight direct from Beijing to Lhasa.