Altitude Sickness?? (Denver, Leadville: live, cabin, move)

[subsound]

The nice thing is if you have some family you don't like, just run them around...about lunch time all they want to do is sit around till dinner. It's much more effective then being grumpy (and yes, I have used it before).

[ryanek9freak]

Wussies. I hiked the Manitou Incline 2 days after moving out here. I was just fine.

[Interstate 35 South]

Originally Posted by ryanek9freak

Wussies. I hiked the Manitou Incline 2 days after moving out here. I was just fine.

The incline is awesome! In a little over a mile, you climb nearly 2,000 vertical feet (beginning around 6,600 ft elevation) at grades between 40%-67%. I am from Kansas City and hiked it the morning after arriving in Colorado one weekend last November. Sure, I was huffing a little, but who wouldn't be? I would say that my breathing/heart rate wasn't any heavier than it would have been climbing stairs at sea level at a modest pace.

Also last July, I biked from Estes Park to the Alpine Visitor Center in Rocky Mt. Nat'l Park (25 miles from 7,500 ft to 12,000 ft) on the 3rd day of my visit without much adverse effect. At one point (9,000 ft I think), my heart rate seemed pretty high (measured about 150 beats per minute), but after a momentary rest my heart rate returned to a more normal 120 beats per minute and remained there for most of the rest of the climb. My legs were definitely burning by the time I got above treeline, but that was to be expected with climbing 4,500 vertical feet in 25 miles on a Trek road bike. I don't exactly have big hills to train on where I live!

I have to say I've been surprised that I've been able to do those activities (in addition to numerous hikes not mentioned here) without much effect, given my house is closer to 1,000 ft above sea level here in KS. I will say that I drink GALLONS of fluids when I visit out there, so perhaps that helps me dodge any ill effects of the altitude.

While I don't live in Colorado and have never had a problem doing extremely physical activities while visiting, I've found that it's virtually impossible to predict the effect of altitude on others. It seems there is a loose correlation between fitness and altitude's impact. In GENERAL, the more fit you are, the less likely you are to feel the effects. However, like previous posters mentioned, I have witnessed out-of-shape friends visiting with me have no problems with the altitude. In another case a friend who was relatively fit had a nice headache for a day or two. If you're visiting, all you can do is drink lots of fluids, get plenty of rest, and hope for the best!

[jeepgrl015]

I do not live in colorado YET, however, I was there for a week and I think that that was long enough for me to be able to assist you. When we were driving through the mountains for the first time, yes, it was sickening. I was dizzy,light headed and nauseous. I was drinking plenty of fluids and I was NOT on an empty stomach. By the next day in the mountains, I didnt feel it one bit. I think your head and body need to get used to the altitude but I guess it all depends on the person. So, for me, it only took a day to adjust.

Three medications have shown to be useful in the prevention and the treatment of the altitude illness. Acetazolamide (Diamox) can prevent AMS(acute mountain sickness), when taken before ascent, and it can speed the recovery, if taken after the symptoms have developed. Dexamethasone appears to be effective in the prevention and the treatment of AMS and HACE(High Altitude Cerebral Edema). The drug prevents or improves symptoms; however, there is no evidence that it aids acclimatization. Therefore, there is a risk of a sudden onset or worsening of the symptoms, if the traveler stops taking the drug while ascending. HAPE(High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) is always associated with increased pulmonary artery pressure.
Drugs that can selectively lower pulmonary artery pressure happen to be of benefit in preventing and treating HAPE. Nifedipine prevents and ameliorates HAPE in persons, who are particularly susceptible to HAPE.

Good Luck and hope this helps!

[SheridanL]

I would also include chewing gum, one needs to clear your ears (popping them). You can really get a whopper of a headache if you don't.
I also believe in ginger (preferably the pickled sushi-type).
Ginger will settle your stomach, prevent/cure sea sickness, heartburn,etc.
It will help any type of nausea, within minutes!!

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by Harper34

I'm moving to Denver in March from Madison, WI. I've heard a lot about altitude sickness and have done a little bit of research on it. Most of the sites I've been to says you get it at about 8,000 feet, but I've heard different. Has anyone recently moved to Denver and had a problem with this?

We moved from Tampa Florida (sea level) to Denver about 1 1/2 years ago and we tried to be as prepared as possible for the altitude change. My husband and I are in good shape but we still suffered headaches (no matter how much water we drank) for about a week and got winded doing simple things like going up stairs, walking around a neighborhood even if it's up a very small incline, and hiking. It took us almost a year until we noticed that it doesn't feel any different now. The headaches stopped after a few days, getting winded stopped after about a year, but the dryness persists. I can only advise to use lots of lotion after you get out of the shower and buy a really good chapstick. Also, my husband has noticed that he gets nosebleeds more frequently so he uses a saline spray in his nose every night. We also have a house humidifier (which I am not sure does much more than prevent us getting a big shock when we touch a light switch) and individual humidifiers in all of our bedrooms. I think the dryness is just a part of living here since I haven't noticed a big change when the seasons change. Someone else mentioned that they feel the effects of alcohol faster and I would agree with that too. We had some friends visit for Christmas and they said they felt pretty buzzed after 2 glasses of wine (which is not normal for them as they often drink 2 bottles at dinner).

[ds495]

I'm visiting from a sea level city. We had several days in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, Pueblo, and now Fort COllins, and I still feel it. I had a minor headache, tired, fingers can't fit my ring on, or then off again! Yes, water!! I have also heard salt is good because it thickens up the blood, and if you're making new blood cells to carry more air around. I have felt tired for this week. Like trouble breathing (normally I would attribute it to smog.)

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by zionvier

That kind of made me wonder if the reason it seems to randomly effect people and not effect people is influenced by the weather. Meaning, if you had two friends flying in from different places on the same day. Say one from NYC and one from Miami. Both are pretty much coming from sea level to the same altitude, with roughly the same flying time. NY is having a low pressure system move through, so the barometer is down at like 27mmHg, but Miami has a high pressure system so they are at say 31mmHg. While Denver also has a low pressure system and we're at 27mmHg. Since the one from Miami has to deal with a 4mmHg drop in pressure on top of the already existing lack of oxygen, but the one from NY only has to deal with the oxygen issue.

Does anyone think this could be an additional reason why some people get sick and some don't?

Probably not. This is an individual thing. People get it or they don't depending on the indivdual makeup of there bodies.

Originally Posted by jeepgrl015

I do not live in colorado YET, however, I was there for a week and I think that that was long enough for me to be able to assist you. When we were driving through the mountains for the first time, yes, it was sickening. I was dizzy,light headed and nauseous. I was drinking plenty of fluids and I was NOT on an empty stomach. By the next day in the mountains, I didnt feel it one bit. I think your head and body need to get used to the altitude but I guess it all depends on the person. So, for me, it only took a day to adjust.

Three medications have shown to be useful in the prevention and the treatment of the altitude illness. Acetazolamide (Diamox) can prevent AMS(acute mountain sickness), when taken before ascent, and it can speed the recovery, if taken after the symptoms have developed. Dexamethasone appears to be effective in the prevention and the treatment of AMS and HACE(High Altitude Cerebral Edema). The drug prevents or improves symptoms; however, there is no evidence that it aids acclimatization. Therefore, there is a risk of a sudden onset or worsening of the symptoms, if the traveler stops taking the drug while ascending. HAPE(High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) is always associated with increased pulmonary artery pressure.
Drugs that can selectively lower pulmonary artery pressure happen to be of benefit in preventing and treating HAPE. Nifedipine prevents and ameliorates HAPE in persons, who are particularly susceptible to HAPE.

Good Luck and hope this helps!

These drugs are prescription medications and you would need to be evaluated by a dr. before getting an rx for them. Do a google search on altitude sickness. Most people really have no problem at 5000 feet. I still have problems sometimes at 10,000 ft (mostly just sleepy) and I have lived here for 29 years.

[UDAirman71]

I came to visit Colorado (Denver and CO Springs) for about a week with my family last summer. I didn't really notice too much right away, (of course we drove 12 hours first instead of flying) but when I was laying in bed that night trying to sleep I felt a little nauseous as did my mom. I'm in my 20's and in decent shape she's in her 40's and exercises 3 or 4 days a week. My dad, brother, and sister didn't say they felt anything. Anyway after that first night I didn't feel anything. The next day we walked around the 16th Street Mall and made our way over to the Red Rocks Amphitheater where we walked around for awhile. Over the rest of the week we went to the Garden of the Gods (a descent amount of walking) Pike's Peak, and even went white water rafting and no one complained of feeling bad at all.

[j96g]

I drove from McAllen, TX (about sea level) to Pueblo, CO in about 21 hour straight drive, we stopped at Roswell for about 3 hours. My brother and i felt fine, we got to Pueblo Friday night, woke up Saturday went whitewater rafting in Canon City got back to the hotel tired, we did the full day. But Sunday we went to Pikes Peak, he felt a little sickness up on top, but i didn't, I did feel winded a bit, but nother major, we drove back down and when we went back to the hotel, we both had major headaches, like tension headaches that you get in the back of your head. We were supposed to go to the Riverwalk that night, but we just woke up from the nap to eat and went back to sleep until the next morning. Monday was fine and all, but do you think that was for coming down from Pikes Peak? I thought you get sick going up not down. Everyone says don't go up that high until you've at least spent a day or two in Pueblo etc.