Hi
I've been trying to read as much as I can about preventing altitude sickness online as I'm flying into La Paz in January from sea level and I got quite bad altitude sickness when I was in Peru last summer. Apparently you're much more likely to get it if you've had it before so I'm a bit worried.
Just to give some background, when I flew to 2,400m (Arequipa) from Lima before, for the first day my symptoms were a headache, feeling really tired, tight chest, shortness of breath and a fever, but then the next day I just had a headache and felt wrecked.
The day after that I ascended from there to 3,600m by bus. During the trip, every time the bus went up or down I could feel it in my head, with a headache starting going up and I would start falling asleep, and then easing off and wakening up whenever it was going down. And when we got off at the highest point along the way to take photos, I had this weird floaty weightless feeling and felt dizzy and giddy.
Sleeping at 3600m I was fine initially apart from my stomach/bowels were all over the place but I didn't throw up, but then I got the worst headache of my life the next day and felt really terrible after drinking one small beer and was unable to move for nearly a day. I must have slept for about 16 hours straight as well, as I just felt completely knackered.
After that I felt better, even though I ascended slightly to 3,800 (Puno) but in both Cusco at 3400 & Puno I still felt very tired and short of breath and definitely couldn't walk uphill without feeling completely wrecked. After that I was in a few places that were 2500m+ but lower and was acclimatised by then, though still not as energetic as at home.
Particularly as I'll be flying in way higher this time, I'm wondering is there any way of avoiding feeling pretty awful again for a good bit of the trip? If I take Diamox beforehand, how effective is this likely to be? Obviously this time I would stay away from all alcohol initially, but how long is this advisable to do?
Would it make a massive difference if I flew straight from La Paz to Sucre which is 2750m, or would sleeping as low as possible in La Paz, which I think is 3,200 do the trick? Is getting oxygen in a hotel like descending i.e. can you rely on it to make you feel significantly better?
For anyone who's experienced in these things, for someone with a history of this like me, should I really plan my itinerary around it as much as possible, or will I be ok with Diamox, avoiding alcohol etc.?
Thanks :)
