Mountain sickness: symptoms, prevention, and quick action

Heading into higher places? Altitude sickness can ruin a trip fast. This page helps you spot symptoms, prevent problems, and act if someone gets sick. Read practical tips to use before and during a climb or vacation.

What it looks like

Mild signs include headache, nausea, dizziness, and poor sleep. These usually start within six to twenty four hours after ascent. If you notice severe breathlessness at rest, confusion, chest tightness, or an inability to walk steadily, those can be signs of life threatening forms, high altitude pulmonary edema or cerebral edema. They need immediate descent and medical care.

Who is most at risk? Anyone can get mountain sickness. Faster climbs, sleeping higher each night, previous history of altitude illness, and dehydration increase the risk. Age and fitness don't protect you — fit people get sick too because it's about how the body handles lower oxygen, not fitness level.

How to prevent it: ascend slowly. A common rule is don't sleep more than three hundred to five hundred meters higher than the previous night once above two thousand five hundred meters. Take rest days every one thousand meters of gain. Stay hydrated, avoid heavy alcohol and sedatives, eat light meals, and consider acetazolamide if you have a history of problems or a fast itinerary. Talk to a healthcare provider about dosing before travel.

Medication basics: acetazolamide helps you breathe easier by making blood slightly more acidic, which boosts breathing. Typical preventive doses start at one hundred twenty five milligrams twice daily, but medical advice matters. Dexamethasone is a steroid used for severe symptoms or sometimes as short term prevention. Nifedipine can help pulmonary edema. These medicines work, but they don't replace slow ascent and common sense.

Gear, meds, and what to do if symptoms start

If symptoms start, stop climbing and rest for twenty four hours. If mild signs improve, continue to ascend slowly. If symptoms worsen or severe signs appear, worsening headache despite painkillers, severe vomiting, confusion, or breathlessness at rest, descend immediately. Even a small descent of three hundred to six hundred meters often helps. Oxygen, portable hyperbaric bags, and emergency medications are useful if descent isn't possible quickly.

Practical gear and tips: bring a pulse oximeter to check oxygen levels and an analgesic for headaches. Pack an altitude kit with acetazolamide (if prescribed), dexamethasone for emergencies, small oxygen canisters for rapid aid, and a lightweight pump style hyperbaric bag for remote trips. Share your plan, altitude profile, and emergency contacts with someone not on the trip.

For more guides and medication details, explore related posts on MedExpressRx.com. Smart pacing, simple gear, and clear plans keep trips safe and enjoyable. Breathe slowly, move with caution, and don't ignore warning signs. Consider practicing hikes at gradually higher altitudes before a big trip. Ask your doctor about fitness to travel if you have heart or lung disease. If you plan supported treks, carry written emergency instructions and a local evacuation plan to speed care if needed, and stay safe always.