Diamox
I am planning to bring Diamox (for altitude) for my wife and myself, however, I have heard both positive and negative of this med. Some say they would never take it again due to frequent awakenings at night for urination. Others say they would not go to these altitudes without Diamox. The nay-sayers said to chew cocoa leaves. Any comments from anyone? Thank you.
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Comments
Morn'n', Cap'n.
I don't do well at even low ... high altitudes, so when I took the National Parks of the South West trip a few years ago, and being mindful of how well I didn't fare in Glacier National Park, my general practitioner and I sorted out Diamox. The dosage is important and the trick is to start taking the stuff before you reach "altitude". For me, I took half a tablet each morning and night. (I took a nifty pill cutter with me.) This should help prevent the middle of the night wanderings because you should have been wandering before you get to great heights. The instructions are to continue taking the medication until you have reached your maximum altitude.
I found that any kind of carbonated or fizzy drink tasted really foul. No problem, considering the alternative. I drank wine and bottled water. You are in South America where they make some excellent wines, so that's a plus! I did find some tingling in the finger tips, which was more annoying than anything. I don't recall any other "nasties". All in all, the medication meant I could actually walk to see the stunning views at Angel Point, which was a lot better than some other passengers who couldn't leave the bus at picture stops. It didn't make me any fitter, I hasten to add. I still had to struggle a little bit, but that was down t me not having been to boot camp. At least I could see what I had travelled across half the world to see.
One other thing altitude does to me is to reduce my eyesight ... in that I become very much more short-sighted. I have to take some stronger readers with me and then be careful to ween myself off them when I return to my normal sea level home. I found that when using Diamox, I didn't need the stronger glass I'd packed. I understand this is not a common side effect of altitude but no point telling my eyes that!
Cheers,
Jan