Pulmonary Edema

“I was just reading a trip report from a guy who was trying to Thruhike the pct on www.pcthiker.com He had to abort his hike in the Sierras after he developed what later had been discovered as pulmonary edema. I didn't think it was possable to get at altitudes in the Sierras. The doctor said that he developed it either from a viral infection that caused it aided with altitude, or altitude alone. I didn't know you could get it form having a common cold or nazal infection. Anyone else have info on the subject.”

“That sounds bad....:(”

“pulminary edema is the general term for fluid filling the lungs. So it kind of rates with headache or sore throat. It's not a sickness but it's caused by stuff. High altitude will cause it and so will many respritory infections, like pnumonia (sp?).”

“SnowDude got it once in '98, and twice in 2000. He had wine the night before, and also took allergy medicine. The rales always start on the third morning. On those trips he drove and we arrived at the trailhead at 2am. Then he didn't get enough sleep, and pushed himself. The only thing you can do is to go down.

Now for the longer trips he goes up 1-2 days early and hangs out at 10,000'. He hasn't had a problem since.

We've heard of rangers getting it, and a friends nephew got it in Idyllwild (~8K) and another friend got it in Mammoth at 8K.

In Oct 2000, I climbed Mt Muir (14K) one weekend, and the following weekend tried for Whitney and got altitude sickness. It can happen anytime.”

“Oddly enough, it seems to occur more often in highly physically fit people than less fit. Possibly because less fit people hike uphill slower and take more breaks, thus slowing the onset.

Prevention is to take it easier during rapid ascents and eat a few antacid tablets. Avoid acidic foods (like powdered lemonade drinks). Small changes in blood pH affects the condition, hence the antacid tip mentioned in several publications (antacids are not a magic bullet, it just seems to help some).”

“*it seems to occur more often in highly physically fit people than less fit.*

Now I know why I've gotten it so much. :)”

“The respiratory system is nothing to mess with either. If your lungs don't work, there is no fix. People generally have "reserve" capacity in their lungs to help them through respiratory difficulties. If you are NOT in good shape in that department you can't afford pulmonary adema.

My sister and mother both died from respiratory problems. In my sister's case she had pulmonary emboli (clotting that got to her lungs) that was misdiagnosed by three different doctors as asthma. She was only 35.

Good thread. I don't think we talk enough about "mountain medicine".”

“wow. Yeah, this is something scary for us all to be aware of. I've never been higher than 10,128 though.”

“I had no idea that this was a possible outcome of altitude sickness. It's good to have the information.



SnowDude: heeheehee, way to turn it around and use it to brag about how buff you are ; )
.”

“When we hiked the San Juan Loop of the CDT my husband developed pulmonary edema. We were at about 10-12,000'. Started out with a dry cough, then fluid filled his lung, he started coughing up foam and the next step was coughing up blood. We got out. HE was stopping every 10 yards to rest. Trouble was we didn't take enough time to acclimate and started out doing fairly long miles, plus he got a viral infection just before we left that really threw him for a loop. When we did the CDT two years later, he never had a problem at altitude -- I did, but not as severe. I just have no energy when we get above 10,000' and I start breathing really hard. Doesn't stop me, but it does slow me down.”

“I live at 5,000 feet and never have gotten it, not even when I was doing helicopter work up to 10,000+, getting out and doing sustained hard physical work after gaining 5,000 feet in 20 minutes.”

“HEY! I just booked a ticket to Denver for March. I will be skiing at Vail for 5 days. A first for me at that ALTITUDE!!!

I know we have done it before on past threads (go ahead and find them Radagast), but, can someone fill in the "dos" and "dont's"

E.G. Keep hydrated, don't drink (alcohol)to excess, try to have a day of acclimitization, get sleep.

What else.\


AND . . .what is the prescription drug that you can take to ward off the effects of altitude?? Has anyone used it??? to what effect???”

“Acetazolamide (sp?). The brand name is Diamox. Works well for me. Talk to your doc about it. I bring it along and if nasty altitude sickness sets in, I stop, pop a pill, wait a while and see how I feel.”

“I've been taking Diamox the last couple of seasons and have not had any problems with altitude sickness. I'm not sure how much the Diamox has to do with it, though. I really think the biggest change for me is just taking the extra days to acclimate. My body just can't handle leaving from sea level and going straight up to 11-12k in less than 24 hours, which is what I did the times I got sick. There have been many, many times I did the same thing and didn't get sick, but I guess I'm just more susceptible and every now and then it gets me if I don't acclimate.

The first time I had pulmonary edema I think I also had cerebral edema. I couldn’t stand up straight and was stumbling all over the place like I was drunk. I’ve never had the foam, though. Our friend in Mammoth who just drove up for a snowboarding trip had the foam, and she never even got onto the mountain. She only made it to the condo at 8k, and they had to drive her back down to Bishop.”