Anything I can do/take to lessen the side effects of staying at a high elevation?

Question

I'm on vacation around Denver right now and am hating it. The high elevation (!5,000 ft.) makes me get bad headaches along with running out of breath very easily/my heart racing while doing simple things like climbing a flight of stairs. If you have any advice, please help me out.

***correction: meant to put 15,000 ft. - not 5,000

Answer 1

Are you on a mountain peak? 15,000 feet! The city of Denver is only 5,280 feet above sea level. Where are you that you are 10,000 additional feet above the city of Denver?

You likely have Acute Mountain Sickness (altitude sickness). It's not necessarily a benign condition, as it is within a spectrum of illness that ranges from simple altitude sickness to fluid accumulation in the lungs and brain. These latter conditions can be life threatening.

The best option is to return down to the city. At 5,280 feet, you're not going to have fluid build up in the lungs or brain. The headache, heart racing, shortness of breath can be treated with a medication class called "carbonic anhydrase inhibitors." An example of this medication is Acetazolamide. It's a prescription medication.

You can also go through baby steps and acclimate to lesser elevations than 15,000 feet. Go up a couple thousand feet, spend a few days, then proceed another couple thousand. Baby steps.

If you have a heart or lung condition, descend at once. I still can't picture in my mind how you are typing this from 15,000 feet! Is there some sort of high altitude resort up there? :)

Answer 2

Drink lots of water.
Try moderate exercise and increase it daily. This forces your body to adjust a little faster.

Answer 3

you'll get used to it after a while. That's what mountain climbers do, they go up to the high camp and wait. They get "acclimated" by just staying there and getting used to it, then they go higher.