Altitude sickness tablets for overseas travel

[sunspot]

Has anyone found altitude sickness tablets in Cyprus? If so, what was the name and did you take them?

[Dominic]

I think they are prescription only. If you are going somewhere where they advise you to bring pills for altitude sickness, I would question why they think it is necessary.

[Ams]

People react differently to altitude. I wish I'd had tablets when I went to Bolivia last year, though we were only sick after we'd spent a day between 4000 and 5000m. I didn't suffer from headaches though. I can't help with your question though as I hadn't investigated the tablets before I left Cyprus. If I visit another high altitude location id want to have some with me.

[sunspot]

Apparently there is no way to know if you will be affected by altitude sickness, i.e. they cannot test you. But if you are affected, it can be severe and ruin your holiday. Will report back for the thread when I know more.

[Dominic]

My point is if you are going to high altitude places, the possibility of altitude sickness should be factored in and you shouldn't ascend or descend too quickly. Certainly when I was trekking in Nepal a few decades ago I had to devise a route that didn't go up too much in one day.

[sunspot]

I have learned the following:

Acetazolamide is the medication sold in Cyprus for altitude sickness. (Branded Diamox in some countries.) I will be travelling to Peru, moving to a high altitude by plane, with no chance to slowly acclimatise. I have decided to take acetazolamide as a preventative measure as advised by the CDC:
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook ... de-illness

Pharmacies here sell acetazolamide over the counter, no prescription needed. Tablets of 250mg, which I will cut in half.

I understand that many people will prefer to avoid medication altogether and take their chances. Not everyone is affected by altitude. This is just info for the thread.

[Ams]

Thanks Sunspot. Knowing what we can get here may be useful for me one day if I visit another high altitude country. My friend and I wished we had some tablets when we were in Bolivia last year.

[Tuppence]

When we went to Peru it was on a coach & part train tour starting in Lima so we were able to acclimatise as we went along as we had a gradual climb into the Andes. Our guide advised us to drink the local coca tea & to keep well hydrated by drinking plenty of water & sports type drinks. This was the advice 16 years ago so it may be different now. I liked the local tea but my husband wasn’t keen! We had a wonderful holiday & experienced so many different things with the piste de resistance being the magnificent Machu Pichu.

[Princebytor]

We flew to Cusco from Lima and the impact of the altitude was quite stark. I really struggled for the first few days. Tried the tea with the coca leaves which seemed to help but wished I had taken some tablets with me.