First night was fine. 2nd night I wake up with little breath, fluid in my lungs and spitting up pink froth.

Rush to hospital, oxygen saturation at 42% on arrival.

When I was here last year, stayed 5 days with no issues. Anyone else had to deal with this crap?

I'm in great shape so, no. Drink a lot of water. Like tons of water.

I had one lung collapse while in a midst of a flu/pneumonia bout. I think I was laid up 2 weeks in ICU & have just a few short of breath issues now, but you will be OK!

That's what they diagnosed me with. Getting to carry around this sweet oxygen machine for the rest of the trip.

I've had it happen before camping above 12,000'. I had done it multiple times before with no problems so I was completely taken by surprise.

Better HAPE than HACE, but still sucks. You are definitely right, it can strike anyone at any time. When I was guiding in Colorado, I luckly never had anyone that got either.

Yeah. Definitely some serious stuff. If we plan on climbing higher that 16k, we carry dex just in case now. Usually once you have oxygen supplementation and drop altitude, it goes away pretty quick. Might be down for a few days though. Hope it doesn't ruin your trip too much

Heck yeah. Been lucky to have never been on a climb were HACE has been involved.

TecRecAg said:

---

That's what they diagnosed me with. Getting to carry around this sweet oxygen machine for the rest of the trip.

---

Well now you only have two choices go to a Casino and play some slots, you will fit right in. Or head to the bunny slope bar and see if you can get some sympathy.

That is one of the challenges with altitude issues, it can vary from one trip to the next.

Any other preventative measures to be taken? Anyone know the pre-hospital care protocol?

Diamox can help. Drink tons of fluid. Hike high, sleep low. Go slowly. Other than that, it's hard to predict or prevent, and it can happen to you regardless of conditioning or prior experience. Unless, of course, you live at high altitude for a significant period of time before your climb.

Occasionally I get a headache the first night. I try to drink a lot of water before and during the trip. Luckily I have never had anything more serious.
Hope you feel better!!

Viagra may help some.....or do nothing.

I used to get headaches for 48 hours when I go to the mountains for hunting etc. For the past several years, I take acetazolamide (Diamox) when I hit the road. I pee a lot and never have any altitude issues.

Breathing works for me. YMMV

Your body is tellin'' ya somethin'. Listen, babe.

~K

brs4688 said:

---

Any other preventative measures to be taken? Anyone know the pre-hospital care protocol?

---

Not a doctor, but have been told Chloroxygen can help. Be warned it turns your poop some crazy colors at first.

Man, that's messed up. I've had a couple of sinus headaches going from sea level to 7-9000 feet, but a sudafed and an aspirin fixes that every time.

I had an exhaustion and altitude combo that caused me to pass out on a flight back from Colombia. It was the weirdest thing. No real warning, the lights just went out and I apparently slammed my face into a seat on the way down. I was fine once I got back and got some oxygen back in my blood.