Check your Altitude Sickness –
Hi everyone This Post I made a few years ago. In Travel. I wrote this and wanted to share you Here on #uptrennd.
Enjoy.
I remember being so excited by my visit to Peru. It was a dream come true, one of those travel destinations on my bucket list and I had everything planned out; what I was going to see, what I was going to do, how I was going to get where I wanted to be and where I was going to stay. I wanted some adventure and some breath-taking views. I was twenty two years old and had been out of University for a year. I had scrimped and saved, having worked in some really rotten jobs in order to earn some money. Eventually I had enough cash and I travelled to Peru with a few friends.17599842_s Altitude Sickness - Cautions
Looking back I guess I wasn’t as fit as I could have been. I rarely went to the gym because of the costs involved (and I suppose because I’m a bit lazy too) but I was generally pretty fit. I could run for a bus, climb the stairs and walk for hours in the countryside on my days off. I felt pretty good and I looked OK.
Unfortunately I had only been in Cusco, located in the Andes Mountains, about twelve hours and I started to get sick. I really felt drained and had a headache that wouldn’t go away. At first I dismissed it thinking it was down to the long flight to get to Peru. But then, just walking around town, sightseeing and watching this amazing new world go by, I became breathless. I couldn’t keep up with my friends and they were becoming concerned. I was embarrassed because I felt they were judging me and my fitness.
I went back to the hotel and at that stage I started vomiting. As the headache grew worse, pretty much like a migraine, I had to take to my bed, and it became obvious to everyone that I was suffering from altitude sickness. I was in complete denial, but because of how ill I was feeling we had to change our plans, staying longer in Cusco than we had originally intended, and then although we did make it to Machu Picchu, I was ill the whole time.
My friends were all absolutely fine so I felt really guilty about stopping them doing what we had come to do. Eventually I had to let my friends get on with what they wanted to do and so they travelled on into the mountains while I stayed put, with a couple of dozen bottles of water and ibuprofen for my headache.
16232466_s Altitude Sickness - CautionsIt was a miserable time but I consider it a lesson well learned. I was young and I could have been foolish and carried on into the mountains with my friends and really put my life in danger. Fortunately I felt so grim (I mean imagine the worst hangover you have ever had!) that I just wanted to lie down.Altitude sickness has a number of causes but it is usually caused by climbing to altitude too quickly.
The atmospheric pressure decreases so that breathing can become difficult and you find that you can’t breathe in enough oxygen. The symptoms then include some of the exact same things that I experienced in Cusco; headaches, exhaustion, nausea and dizziness. If the altitude sickness becomes severe then it can cause fluid to build up in the lungs, known as High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) and in the brain known as High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE). Either of these can lead to serious illness or death if left untreated. Other symptoms include lack of appetite and trouble sleeping.
Mild symptoms of altitude sickness (or acute mountain sickness as it is sometimes known) can occur from 8000 ft. (2500m), although more severe cases occur above 12,000 ft. (3,600m). Apparently certain people are more susceptible to altitude sickness than others; in fact it can be inherited genetically, and it has little to do with age, sex or your physical condition. However if you live less than 3000m above sea level, are obese, use alcohol while at altitude or have a respiratory infection such as a cold, flu or sinusitis, then you are more at risk of suffering.
If you wish to avoid altitude sickness the advice is always to ascent slowly and not more than 1000m per day.
If you recognise the symptoms of altitude sickness you should let someone else know that you are sufferingimmediately as people are known to lose their judgement quite quickly. If symptoms are mild you can continue to ascend but you must do it very slowly at a steady rate. If your symptoms worsen you should stay at the same altitude or start to descend and seek medical attention.
If you’re travelling in a group, keep an eye out on everyone else; you never know whether someone is too shy or embarrassed to talk about their symptoms, or they may not want to be seen to be letting the team down. Remember that just because most people seem OK that may not generally be the case. Everyone reacts differently to the effects of altitude on their body.15328912_s Altitude Sickness - Cautions
Before you book a trip that will encompass any sort of altitude, check that you have time to acclimatise. Trekking holidays are generally OK because you sleep in valleys. It is mainly the climbing of isolated peaks such as Mont Blanc or Kilimanjaro that cause problems. Most European skiing holidays are perfectly safe because accommodation in chalets and huts tends to be less than 3000m.
If you are climbing or walking at altitude make sure you drink between 4 and 6 litres of water a day and remember to eat a high number of calories because you will be burning them up extremely fast. Always avoid any sort of stimulants including cigarettes, alcohol and some medications as these can make the symptoms worse. If you are on medication, seek advice from your Doctor before you travel.
Always be prepared. Just because you didn’t suffer with altitude sickness on a previous trip doesn’t mean that you won’t suffer with it in future. Unfortunately for me, the really sad thing is that I know that once you have suffered from altitude sickness you are much more likely to suffer again if you travel to anywhere with an altitude so I have avoided mountain ranges ever since.
Well apart from Mount Sinai in Egypt that is … When I visited there a few years ago I was able to climb to the top and watch the sunrise and it was an amazing and glorious experience. I’ll let you into a secret though, it’s only 7497ft (2,285m) and I did the first half on the back of a camel so that I could watch the shooting stars …
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