How To Avoid Altitude Sickness
If you’ve got a trip to the mountains coming up, I bet you’re super excited! The mountains are magical and truly my favorite place to be. The term “Rocky Mountain High” is for sure a real thing (thank you, John Denver). While they’re definitely a blast, there’s one surefire way to put a damper on your trip if you’re from a lower altitude region, like me. Altitude sickness.
It happens when you travel from a lower altitude region to higher altitude and your body physically has a hard time adjusting to the lower oxygen pressure. Thankfully, there’s some pretty easy things you can do to prepare for your trip and avoid spending it feeling hungover. Unless you’re actually hungover, in which case you’re on your own. I’ve been warned about altitude sickness numerous times and thankfully I’ve never had to experience it, but I’ve been warned by friends who have that it’s definitely sucky. Because I’m paranoid about it before all of my trips, I have a pretty good list of tips to share with you that I make sure do to before every mountain excursion.
Before You Go
Organize your trip: if you think altitude sickness might be a problem for you or someone in your party or if it has been in the past, try to plan the beginning days of your trip if you can. If possible, try to not plan strenuous activity for the first day or two of your arrival to allow your body to have a chance to acclimate. This isn’t always possible, especially if you’re traveling to the mountains to snowboard like me, so it’s really important to prepare right in other ways if this one isn’t an option.
See a doctor: while this is probably recommended of everyone, I’ve never seen a doctor before a trip to the mountains. Although, I’m pretty healthy and have never had an issue with it. If you think you might acquire altitude sickness, see a doctor before your trip. There’s medications that can be prescribed specifically to help with the problem and you’ll be glad to have them if you do get sick.
Try day trips first: they say altitude sickness is worse at night. If you’re fortunate enough to live somewhere near the mountains, try day trips and hikes first before planning overnight trips.
Get hydrated: I can not stress this one enough. In my opinion, it’s the most important, and also the one you likely have the most control over. Usually two weeks leading up to a trip I start to pay a lot of attention to how much fluids I’m drinking and try to increase my intake. I also usually buy something with electrolytes or hydration-helpers to have daily beforehand. I usually go between the Liquid IV packets, Pedialyte, and Gatorlyte Rapid Rehydration.
Get enough rest: second-most important to me is getting enough sleep in the days leading up to the trip. There’s always a time difference change for me when I travel to the mountains and if I’m not well-rested, it can be pretty rough. Just like preventing other types of sickness, getting enough sleep is really important to help your body aide off unwanted illness. You might be really busy packing and organizing before your trip but try to space it out so that you’re getting plenty of sleep each night the week before your trip.
Once You’re There
Woo! You made it! The first 24-48 hours of your trip and how you take care of yourself will play a major factor in whether or not you experience altitude sickness. Here’s what you can do to make sure you dont.
Climb slowly: take lots of rest breaks when you need to. If you’re starting to feel sick, rest for awhile or even better, head to a lower elevation to hydrate and rest before continuing on.
Avoid alcohol: especially before bed. Not only can it make it harder to stay hydrated, but it also can suppress your breathing. It’s not normally noticed at lower elevations, but drink with caution when traveling higher up.
Continue to stay hydrated: it’s a good idea to continue your hydration regimen I mentioned above even on your trip. It’s really easy to get dehydrated when you’re doing physical activity, especially in the mountains when your body is working harder to breathe.
Eat all the carbs: in Michigan I prefer more protein in my diet to keep me feeling full on my hikes. In the mountains, carbohydrates metabolize with less oxygen and are the preferred energy source.
If after all of this you’re still struggling, there are a lot of places in tourists towns that offer Oxygen Bars or ‘canned oxygen’ you can buy. I’ve never tried either of these but I’ve heard they work wonders if you’re feeling really crummy and don’t have the time/don’t want to wait it out. If that’s not your thing, rest assured that your body should start to feel better by day 3 of high altitudes. Try to do less-strenuous activities until your body feels better, and then proceed with caution. Remember, the best thing to do for your body is just to listen to what it needs!
Wishing you a rad time on your mountain adventures,
Brooke
