Has anyone used any other drug OR "remedy" besides diamox, with good results? I cannot take diamox. Thought I would ask the "people" before asking my doctor who has never been on a mtn.kh

the way my lung doc explained it to me, diamox raises the acidity in your blood a little bit, increasing the rate you're breathing. so, you could make yourself breathe faster without any meds, but it'd just get tiring after a while (do any yoga? kundalini- breath of fire.. lol but not that dramatic). coca tea supposedly helps too (someone on our climb had just come from bolivia).. i've also heard of people using ginkgo. most importantly though, is to remember to take your time.

If you have time, you can do some practice hikes at higher elevations around you. I don't know that area really well, but some ideas are going to Yosemite and hiking up Half Dome, going over to the mountains, Mt Whitney(?), hiking some of the 14ers in Colorado, etc... Having the practice at higher elevations will help your body acclimatize before the trip (being at higher elevations will make your body build more red blood cells that are needed for being up there).

If you have a lot of time, take some weekends and do some trips like that gradually. Have your last trip close to your leaving date, and get up as high as you can.

I had very little experience with altitude before I climbed Kili in February. I brought Diamox with me and took some the day I arrived in Moshi. Our guide suggested that we stop taking it and I didn't like the tingling feeling anyway, so I followed his advice.

Other than summit day, (I got a little foggy as we got to the top), I didn't really have any issues, other than a headache one day that might not even have been altitude related. Our guide, Oswald Jamaica, fed us Rosella juice as we went up, especially on summit day and that may have helped. It also might have had a placebo effect.

In addition to the suggestions here, I think it's important that you climb at a slow pace, make sure to breathe deeply and always sleep lower than the highest point you climb each day. We accomplished this by taking evening hikes up a thousand or so feet higher than our camp site.

While only 3 out of 8 climbers in our group took Diamox, we had no major altitude issues.

Good luck on your trip!

Diamox is really there either as a last resort if you start feeling the pinch (it won't stop the symptoms if you are suffering onset of HAPE or HACE of course, but it may assist dealing with minor symptoms), or as a bit of a placebo to help stop you worrying.

I used it as a prophylactic (took it 2 days before and up until summit day) and didn't suffer any major symptoms. Just a few headaches which went away with some basic pain meds and drinking more water.

If you can't take it, it's no big deal. Just listen very closely to your guides, take it very slowly, drink plenty of water and tell your guides if you have any headaches or nausea etc as you go up. You will probably have some minor symptoms, but tell the guides, they are trained to know how to treat and monitor them.

Lots and lots of people make it to the top without diamox. I think I was the only one in my group that took it, 9 of us made it to Stella point, and the other picked up a chest infection from a cold she had so went back at Karanga. Diamox wouldn't have made any difference to her (and she had it anyway if she needed it).

My doctor mentioned gingko but also said it had bugger all benefit. But hey, could work as a placebo if you believe in it ;-)

Thank you, crashbam... makes me feel more at ease when i hear stories about people not taking diamox and doing ok. that is a good suggestion about the evening hikes, hope i have the energy to try some. thks,kh

and thank you, everyone else...kh

I bought some drops from the health food store of chlorophyll. It helped with breathing. I also was very conscious of my breath as someone else mentioned. I took half a tablet of diamox on the third day onwards but think I could have done without it. Lots of water, electrolytes, slow walking, chlorophyll and hydration tablets could be your answer.

Good luck

I don't know how effective it really is - and it's certainly no substitute for taking the usual precautions that everyone else is mentioning - but guides in the Everest region constantly push garlic soup on trekkers to aid acclimatization.

Ginko is a well-know and often used aid to high-altitude climbers.

Buy the good stuff, and use it for weeks before you start your climb. It's not as good as prescription meds, but many climbers believe that it helps.

suppossedly, extensive tests have found Ginko to be of no effect

Funnily enough, most "clinical" trials suggest natural supplements are of no benefit.

It makes you wonder where the funding for these "clinical" trials come from.

If I was cynical I'd suggest it's the pharmaceutical companies ;-)

Welll, whether it works or not, my daughter (16) and I took it and we both summited on June 28th with no problems except a nasty headache at Lava tower camp. My husband took diamox and made it without incident also. I must say, i think alot has to do with our incredible outfitters and guides, of Nature Discovery. Top notch all the way!! Relly made us take our time. Kh

I felt a bit under the weather at Lava Tower camp too! But that's also where I started getting the symptoms of giardia...that wasn't fun! LOL

I got a headache at Lava Tower too, as did many in my group. The elevation is almost 15,000, so I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise. But after a night at Barranco Camp, I recovered and was ready for the wall!