colorado and altitude sickness ?

[drenalindude]

me and the wife are going to keystone colorado and she is concerned about altitude sickness we have never been to colorado or anywhere with elevation for that matter for you guys that have been is it a real concern and is their anything you can do to prevent it or atleast lessen the sympons would hate to go and not be able to enjoy the trip,we wont be doing any skiing or hiking just enjoying the sights , any advise or input would be greatly appreciated ,thanks!

[Heath]

For my Elk Hunt at 10,000 Feet I took Wilderness Athlete's Altitude Advantage. It is a a process you start about 10 days before your trip taking and double up the dose while you are at high altitude. I had no issues with altitude sickness during the trip. I am not sure it was the pills that did that, but I will be taking again on my next adventure.

https://wildernessathlete.com/products/altitude-advantage

[bowhuntertx]

Are you guys staying anywhere on the way up or headed straight there? I’d lay off the alcohol and anything strenuous for the first 24-48 hours and drink lots of water. You could also see if she could get your physician to prescribe Acetazolamide if she has a history of altitude sickness. You can start taking it 2 days before you head up.


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[7sdad]

Call your Dr and get some Diamox.

[Howdy]

Altitude sickness is real. It impacts everyone differently. My first few trips to Colorado I felt it quite a bit. To me I just felt more easily exhausted when doing very mild physical activity. At times I felt like I had some brain fog and my decision making was slightly slower. For me, as the days went on the better I felt.


Stay hydrated and rest when needed. Look for a product called Boost Oxygen on Amazon. I used it a bit when I was there along with other similar products which you can find in just about in store in Colorado.

[Traildust]

Get there a day early and chill out. Limit your alcohol and stay super hydrated. Tell your wife to quit being a worry wart!

[jmoore]

To me it's similar to being sea sick in the sense it affects different people. I've never had an issue, nor does one of my boys, but my wife and other son have had issues ion the past to where they were laid up for a couple days.
As mentioned above, drink alot of water and avoid caffeinated and alcohol a couple days early. Have fun.

[3rdCoastHunter]

Double or triple your water intake - water promotes red blood cell generation. Me and the Gf went to Denver in September and up to RMNP. We were tired like the whole time - and was exhausted a few days after we got back -

[jnd1959]

I'll second diamox. I use to take it when I was climbing. But really, if you keep your exertion level low the first couple of days you shouldn't have to worry about it too much. It will take a few days to get used to the altitude. If you are below 8K the effects are less pronounced. When you get to Keystone, which is at about 11.5k, if you have severe effects, such as shortness of breath (more than just elevation) or severe headache, move down to a lower level for a while and then go back up.

Hydrate. Elevation effects people differently and it doesn't have a strong correlation to what shape you are in, although if you are in poor shape the effects can be more pronounced. As I have gotten older it has taken me longer to acclimatize. Have fun.

[CEO]

Biggest issue I had, aside from shortness of breath while hiking, was dry mouth. I would wake up at night and my mouth would be so dry I couldn't even swallow.

[Briar Friar]

If your physically active and fit…yall will be fine. Drink lots and lots of water and increase your salt intake to keep the water moving through your cells.

Once my boots hit elevated ground, after getting gear situated, I go for a vigorous walk to force my body to adjust faster.

The mountain air will literally sap the water from your body with every breath. This sucks at night. To combat this I run a hot water shower to vaporize water into the condo and often leave water standing in the bathtub to evaporate and hydrate the air through the night. If the condo is owned by an individual, often the owner will have a humidifier somewhere in the unit. Use it.

While camping at elevation, to combat what CEO said, I run my camelbak hose into my sleep sack. Sip sip sip. All night. I hate having to break open my cocoon and sit up to drink water.

Watch out for HAFE. That will test your relationship.

https://www.backpacker.com/stories/adventures/farting-at-high-altitude/

Good luck Mr and Mrs Dude.

[rferg84]

I haven't ever gotten sick but I've been winded and felt pretty bad on a hunt.

I used some of that oxygen in a can and it helped tremendously until I acclimated a bit.

[ArcheryNerd]

It's going to sound funny, but a lot of guys I know swear by taking TUMS. If you google it you will find a lot of people take TUMS or Rolaids for altitude sickness, before they start to feel bad...

[drenalindude]

thanks for all of the replies ,we are flying into denver and will spend the better part of the first day their before we drive to keystone maybe that will give us some time to get acclimated, thanks again

[frios]

hiked a 14k about 2 years ago.
Mistake #1 - didn't give body enough time to adjust. Simply got there, spent one night in hotel and then next day hiked 14k. I'm in pretty good physical shape, but wow what a wakeup call. At 14k I was dehydrated and panting like a dog.

Mistake #2 - I didn't buy any oxygen - at the airport there are billboards everywhere showing where you can buy them. BassPro has them. I should have bought some. Basically canned oxygen. I would buy it next time.

Hope this helps.