Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Does Anyone Have A Cure For Pre-Hike Jitters?

I just got back from a one-day trip and only made it to the cables before lack of sleep drove me back down.

For the sixth year in a row I woke up the night before in a sweat with my heart pounding like I was running from Badwater to the summit myself. Tried light booze and woke up with hangover.I also tried over the counter sleeping aids and it worked for 45 minutes and I woke up in a panic thinking of all the things that could...but never do...go wrong. My heart was racing so bad I had to pound it with my fist. I figured if it couldn't get the rest it needed now I'd have a certain heart attack later in the day!

I've been to the summit before and done miles on this trail but as I get older this is becoming an awful kind of automatic self generated habit. I think I'm even fearing the night sweats/anxiety attack more than the trip itself.

Anyone have any suggestions that could help other hikers too?

I don't have a suggestion, but you might want to add whether these things are happening to you up at altitude, or everywhere, prior to your attempts. This info would probably make it easier for others to make suggestions.

Edited to add a personal story: One of the first times I went to extreme altitude, I woke up in a panic and actually blew out of my sleeping bag. (I had to use duct tape to patch it.) Over the years, I've learned to control these "vivid" dreams, and now I actually do cool things, like talk to my father. Instead of dreading them, I look forward trips up high.

SummitSeekr,

Interesting post. So I assume you're having an anxiety attack prior to the hike? Do you know what it is your anxious about? If you can pinpoint the source of the jitters, that might be half of the battle. You've made it to the summit already, so you know you can do it and that pressure is off. You've done it, if you have to turn around because of bad weather, fatique, illness, no big deal.

As Richard suggested, could it be altitude? Or is this just nerves? What about starting the hike assuming, "I'm just going to mosey on up and take it as it comes. I'm assuming I'll turn around and if I summit, that's icing on the cake." Maybe taking a casual approach might help?

If you can't sleep start hiking early and nap on the trail when you tire.

If you are waking up with your heart pounding and gasping for air, assuming you are not overweight and out of shape, I would say that your body is having trouble adapting to the altitude. This is fairly common for people to experience especially when they come from sea level. Your body is not used to breathing in the lower oxygen content which causes your body and brain to think it is not getting enough oxygen.When you sleep at night your body naturally slows down your breathing rate anyways,so, without as much oxygen in the air combined with a slower breathing rate this could very well be the root of your problem. Maybe the cure is to properly acclimate yourself before you do your one day summit attempts. As a previous poster said, you've been to the summit, you know you can make it so relax in the comforting fact that you know you can handle the altitude. Reaccess your fitness level and make sure you aren't biting off more than you can chew.You are talking about a 6,000 foot elevation gain in a single day, be realistic about your goals.

Summit Seeker-

three things that I can suggest:

the first is to be careful what you eat at altitude. Most people have a harder time digesting food and especially fats at altitude. If you eat more, smaller meals and stick with carbs and a little protein, it should help you sleep better.

next: spend a day before the actual climb doing a day hike. It will help you acclimate and you'll sleep better because you're tired at night.

finally: diamox or Ginkgo biloba may help you. It is quite common for people to have what is called Cheyne-Stokes breathing at high altitude. You literally hold your breath and then wake up gasping for air. Acclimitization is the only real cure, but some medications seem to help some people.

Sadly, a doctor would say, "Don't do that anymore." If you're having anxiety problems, maybe this sport is not for you. Maybe try doing some other type of activity, like plain running or simple easy hiking.

I get apprehension almost every time I plan a big trip. Some times I can't sleep. But having done this thousands of times, with nothing terrible happening, I sure feel good once I'm on the road and on my way. Bring along a friend, solo climbing gets me worried a lot.

There is treatment you can undergo, but it's probably so expensive, it's not worth it. Did you have a traumatic experience while doing any of this?

phobias and anxiety are one area that psychology has made some huge strides and shown to be effective. Find a psychologist in your area who specializes in stress disorders. There is a teatment called systematic desensitization that could make a big difference for you. There are also pharmaceutical treatments for anxiety if you chose to go in that direction.

I also agree with sierra sam that you may be waking up in a panic because of your breath holding at night. Happens to many folks at altitude.

How about doing a multi-day hike with shorter distances that let you acclimate and get into the rhythm of the hike? If and when a lack of sleep hits you, you could stop for a long rest or make camp and pick up the next day.

I think I have the same problem and strongly believe its mostly self induced mentally. I'm going to approach it by doing more trips that are "routine" or easy compared to the number that are "epic" like Whitney or a Teton.

If you have many trips that are remembered as "cruises", then you have a history of casual success to draw on when the "epic" adventure comes along.

I suggest approaching any summit hike (or long hike) with three principles:

1. Long-term health and hiking fun is infinitely more important than reaching the summit on a partiular attempt;
2. You (or anyone in the group) can call for a group turn-around with no loss of honor, at any time for any reason;
3. The slightest sign of lightning is reason to turn around.

With those three rules in mind, most of your jitters will vanish, and you'll find yourself summiting most of the time - as long as you are training on smaller hikes as others have said.

One more thing - Think of Whitney as three challenges: Distance, altitude, and elevation gain. For distance, try doing a training walk on level ground of at least 15 miles, prior to the Whitney attempt. That will convince you psychologically that you can do a 22-mile distance. For altitude, perhaps try Wheeler Peak in Nevada - 8 miles round trip with 3000 feet gain and an altitude of 13K feet. For elevation gain: IMO if you can do a typical 4000-foot gain, the extra 2000 feet should be no problem, especially if you have the two issues above under control. This, combined with the mental strategy I described in the previous post, will help you get there. Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I was at the White Mountain Open House on Aug.1 and slept at the trailhead. Same thing happened again although I've summitted White several times, you know the pounding heartbeat that wakes you up and you think this will cause a heart attack later in the day.

But if this happens to any of you, I realized the rapid heartbeat probably only happens for a few seconds and wakes you up and it's all in anticipation of the big energy output you're going to have later. Just a little bio feedback like thinking of something that calms you did the trick. Went back to sleep, summitted White again. A huge amount of people showed up for Barcroft's open house. Fun, suggest you all show up next year.

Going back to Whitney in early Sept. Sure I'll be successful this time.

just because you get no sleep doesn't necessarily mean that you won't get to the summit.

we spent night of july 28th at portal. I couldn't sleep a wink. the thought of the bears crawling around had me on edge. hearing those chains rattling on the bear boxes scared the bejeezus out of me. and I also had to use the bathroom every hour on the hour. i guess that heavy hydration theory has its drawbacks.

night of july 29th at trailcamp, i couldn't sleep either. tossed and turned all night. good view of inside of tent though due to beautiful full moon. I barely made it up mt. baldy on an earlier hike and so I still had some residual anxiety of not making it up whitney. tough part though was getting to trail camp with that 45 lb. pack.

at 2 am, my tentmate and I wanted to head up the switchbacks but other two hikers vetoed us. one of them said she didn't think she could summit with only FIVE HOURS of sleep. Sheesh! I would've killed for 5 hours. we finally all left at 4 am. piece of cake!

so I couldn't sleep worth a darn. maybe it was anxiety, maybe it was altitude, maybe hydration. who knows. but adrenaline flowed well when I was awake and never had a problem due to the lack of sleep.

on july 30th, got down the hill and over to the Dow at 11:00 and they had some rooms in the old section. we had steak at the all-night diner next door, then I crashed at midnight. was out like a light til 6:30, not one pitstop all night. I had the room on 395 and looked out the window and saw the sun shining on whitney. it was gorgeous.

good luck on your next try.

Nor-wood-

Taking a back up strategy- a little bit of Red Bull in a plastic coke bottle so you don'thave to drink the whole thing at once. Makes a person hike too fast and get sick.

Also have your stuff ready BEFORE you go to sleep, so that your mind doesn't keep going over the inventory and what did I forget list.