Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board My experience with Diamox

I have been hiking and climbing for 14 years now and through the years I have had many experiences with altitude sickness. I usually start to get symptoms between 10,000 - 12,000 ft. For years I have been living with this and just chalking it up to one of the negatives of this passion of mine. It has been very frustrating for me, as I am usually puking my guts out and slowing the rest of the group down. This has also caused me to abort several summit attempts and sometimes friends have also aborted to assist me. I have always contemplated taking Diamox, but I never did because I did not want to put up with the side effects. I recently took a trip to the high Uintas in Utah and I decided that I was finally just going to try it. we camped the first night at 12,000 ft and all I can say is..WOW!! That was the first time that I can remember sleeping over 10,000 without getting sick. It made the trip so much more enjoyable and I was able to climb two 13ers without any symptoms of AMS. I have seen some discussions on this forum before where people have criticized the use of Diamox, but for me I will never go to altitude again without it.

It is always best to adjust gradually, keep hydrated and don't go up to fast etc. But I for one have no problem whipping out the diamox when I need a little extra help. I don't feel like it is cheating or anything.

Back in the old days when I drove from sea level to the portal, slept a few hours and then headed for the top I always used it.

Don't combine it with pain killers like motrin or aleve. Together they can really upset your stomach. And I never take it the night before...if you do it can make your fingers and toes tingle while you are trying to sleep. I also like to take the smaller dose (125 mg). I don't find the side effects to be much really. I hardley notice any effect at all.

It doesn't make you superman. But not getting sick is a huge advantage if you don't want your hike cut short. Some I have hiked with have gotten altitude sickness even with it. But I still believe it helps and always carry it with me, just in case.

Glad to hear that you did well with Diamox. In the archives is a couple of threads of my positive experience with it. The threads are titled: "Success with Diamox" and "Managing AMS on Whitney"

Ellen

I've also had many experiences with AMS. I tried Diamox and found that it helped, but I didn't like the side effects. After reading about the trials with Gingko, I tried that and found that it relieved the AMS symptoms as well or better than Diamox without any discernable side effects. Of course, each individual is different, so I don't suggest this as a universal cure, but it is a useful alternative worth evaluating.

Web site http://www.high-altitude-medicine.com/
has some interesting insight into AMS.

Theloneus