Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board pain killers

similar to a privious post, any comments or suggestions to taking a loratab(basically a strong asprin but without the naseua elements assoc with asprin) over 11-12000 ft to fight headaches or naseau that can be assoc with altitude sickness? as to the percocet ( a stronger pain killer) at the end of the day is great for the overall soreness of the 22 mile day.
comments or suggestions welcomed please, thnx

taking an opiate painkiller (percocet and lortab are both opiates and hardly qualify as "strong aspirin") to dull the pain of climbing is one of the worst ideas I've ever heard. Opiates (which include such family members as heroin and morphine) are among the most dangerous drugs in existance and the idea of taking them because you have sore muscles or an altitude headache is terrible judgement. In case you don't know it, opiates interfere with breathing, which is already compromised at high altitude and make many people sick to their stomachs. Your idea is a great way to get into serious trouble without being aware that it is happening until it is too late.

Lortab is a combination of acetaminophen (Tylenol) and hydrocodone. The latter of the two is a narcotic that can interfere with breathing and worsen the effects of altitude. I would recommend taking them with you so that you have something when you get back to your car but by all means do not take them before, during or on your way back down from your hike.

Sum Seeker, if you have to rely on such a strong medication to off-set what you think will happen, maybe this is not the time for you to go up. If you're in the best physical condition you can get yourself and have acclimated to the altitude you shouldn't need much more than a plain old Advil.

Personally I like the gels because they instantly get into the blood stream, faster than chalky pills. /They're jsut a form of motrin and my doc said to keep a steady stream of motrin-which is an anti-inflamatory- in my system and the after-hike pain would not be so bad. He was right.

I think you guys are being much too polite on this topic. Taking narcotics so that you can climb (or recover from one) is a stupid f**king idea, period. Don't do it. This is not a death race, it's recreation.

It is one thing to take aspirin, tylenol, motrin or Aleve for muscle soreness or pain. That may be reasonable. It entirely another to take a narcotic addictive drug like mentioned. That is way beyond what normal wisdom would justify. You shouldn't even have access to powerfull painkillers like that. Never take anything on the mountain which could affect your judgement.

I agree. The real danger here is that there are many inexperienced climbers who read a dumb idea like this and think that it might be ok to use these drugs. The fact that this guy doesn't have a clue what he is talking about could endanger many others.

I have to add my two cents here. First, I'm an Advil man all the way. It's just a good cure-all drug.

However, I must refute the claim that you should never take heavy pain killers with you. On every packbacking trip I've done, I've carried two vicadin. The way I see it, if someone in my party breaks a leg or something, and for whatever reason, can't be carried out, a heavy pain killer could give enough relief to walk with a splint for a few hours.

cmachler:
I hope that you can see the difference between carrying narcotics as an emergency back-up and carrying them for routine use in altitude headaches and muscle soreness. phil mac was advocating the former.

Oh, I can totally see the difference. I would NEVER take a heavy narcotic for something Advil could take care of. But Kashkroft said carrying narcotics "is way beyond what normal wisdom would justify. You shouldn't even have access to powerfull painkillers like that." I just wanted to point out that they do have a place.

Kashcraft is pointing out that narcotic pain killers are prescription only, prescribed by a physician for a specific purpose (like post surgical pain). I am sure no one has a problem with having some emergency medical supplies (including pain killers), provided one knows how and when to use them. The real issue is taking medicine more powerful then needed. Few of my Doctor friends would prescribe a narcotic for routine hiking pain, although we might be tempted to use some "powerful painkillers in the cabinet" left over from the removal of our wisdom teeth. If we reach for them now, we are not using them in the way they were prescribed.

I'm wondering from the content of the original post if this isn't someone who decided to climb Whitney on the spur of the moment without conditioning and acclimization and hoping for a "bandaid" (drugs) to off-set the consequences of not conditioning. Believe me, nothing you can take will make you "feel good" if you did not prepare.

california-trailwalker: I totally agree with you that it is far better to be polite than not. However, someone advocating the use of narcotic drugs for climbing on a bulletin board full of inexperieced climbers calls for a more dramatic response, in my opinion. I've spent much of my career saving people from the damaging effects of these opiate drugs and seen too many people die from them to let a clown trivialize the risks by talking about using them to treat a minor head-ache or sore muscles. Perhaps if you'd had someone die in front of you from abusing an opiate you would feel the same way.

Use of painkillers for muscle soreness and pain have become so common we don't always give much thought to side effects. I was very surprised to learn of the potential side effects for "safe" pain killers like tylenol and motrin. (read the package insert). My problem with prescription pain killers (the narcotic kind) is their addictive nature and how they change perception and judgement. They come with real risk and danger and are not harmless. For most people full strength Advil or Motrin would seem to be sufficient and much safer.

I was considering a Vicodin for my tweaked right leg around Trailcrest on the way down last Tuesday but, had just enough common sense remaining to stay with Aspirin & Advil. I was fuzzy enough without experimenting with that drug at that altitude.

While at home, I know the name and altitude of almost every peak within 10 miles of Whitney. While on the mountain I can hardly remember how old I am when I sign the register.
With altitude and fatigue already taking their toll I wouldn't want medicine making judgement worse. There are many potential dangers on the mountain just waiting to hurt you if you make poor choices.

The best pain killer for altitude-related problems is good preparation. The only drawback is that you have to take it well in advance. Of course, if you enjoy hiking in the first place, that's no drawback at all!

My husband and I started taking one baby aspirin a day a week prior to our trip. We continued the regimen for the duration of the trip and did not experience any headaches...
Hope this helps.

a single baby aspirin a day would have no effect on altitude sickness, but would help prevent heart attacks.

We trained for 5 months (as we did last yr.) for our Whitney summit. We took Excedrin Extra Strengh while at high altitudes.
I don't think it is out of the question to be sore the next day upon your return, take a hot bath!!!