Altitude sickness / Mal de la montaña / Soroche
By ricci - Posted on August 29th, 2008
You crossed 15,400 feet of height at Peru. How are you doing about the effects of the altitude? What symptoms are you manifesting? There are many medicines to avoid it. Can you make a list here? (Please note I disapprove medicines use, mostly without medical supervision. I'm NOT trying to do apology to its use). There is also a "heritage" one: the coca leaf. Are you using it? What is the best for you, chewing it or its tea? Is it expensive, or hard to find? Did you have specific tips for cycling tourists, once they infringe the basic recommendations to avoid this disease, like to exercise excessively, practice much effort, etc?
Ustedes cruzaram los 4700 m de altitud en Perú. ¿Cómo están haciendo a respeto de los efectos de la altitud?¿Qué síntomas están manifestando? Hay muchos medicamentos para evitarlo. ¿Pueden ustedes hacer una lista aquí? (Por favor perciban qué yo desapruebo el uso de medicamentos, principalmente sin supervisión médica. Yo NO estoy logrando hacier apología de su uso). Hay también una medicina ancestral: la hoja de coca. ¿Están usando ella? ¿Lo qué es mejor para ustedes? ¿Mascarla o tomar su té? ¿Es cara o difícil de encontrar? ¿tienen ustedes informaciones específicas para ciclistas, una vez que ellos infringen las recomendaciones básicas para evitar la enfermedad, como ejercitarse en demasía, hacer mucho esfuerzo, etc?
Hi Ricci -
We were quite concerned about altitude sickness as we crossed Peru over the last couple of weeks. We crested at 4700 meters, and that may be our high point for the trip, but we'll be at 4300 and 4400 several times yet, and that's almost the same.
Nancy is quite sensitive to altitude and was very worried about it. Randy grew up at over 2300 meters and was less worried. We took it quite easy, making sure we didn't climb to an elevation more than 1000 meters higher each day. We spent 2 or 3 days around 4000 meters before going over the pass. Nancy felt like it was a big challenge but did not have any of the classic symptoms of altitude sickness. She felt weak and worked hard, but didn't get "sick".
We have both tried chewing coca leaves, a time-honored way to deal with stress at altitude. Nancy feels like it really helps her, but it's annoying that the leaves get stuck in your gums. I tried it and think it's OK but probably won't do it again. Nancy has also fixed a water bottle full of "mate de coca", coca tea, several days, and feels like that helps too.
We bought some medicine in the pharmacy also, but didn't really understand its use or possible effects, so we didn't use it.
The biggest advice, of course: Go up slowly. Go up gently. Take time to acclimate. If you get actual altitude sickness (especially HACE or HAPE, cerebral or pulmonary edema) which is possible even at lower elevations like 3000 meters, GO DOWN IMMEDIATELY.
-Randy