Coffee, Caffeine, My Blood, and Altitude

[KAMO]

I am heading up my first 14er this weekend (Holy Cross) and I feel rather prepared other than this topic. Any help would be great!

I live in the Midwest (600ft elevation). I plan on being in Colorado for 4 days (Sat-Tues) and camping at East Cross Creek for the 3 nights.

I drink more than enough coffee every day, and I know I wouldnt be able to keep up those caffeine levels so I've stopped drinking coffee as of this past Sunday so that I would experience the crash before my trip (OUCH). Someone also told me that it would help my blood at altitude retain more oxygen, but this is what I'm looking to get verified.

Everywhere I look people are saying coffee is a great energy boost and stimulant and performance enhancer for these hikes and climbs, and I dont disagree. Am I putting myself through unnecessary pain of not drinking coffee this week to help my trip?

I honestly just didnt want to get a caffeine crash during my time (and I'm not a huge fan of instant or cold coffee and didnt want to pack the things I needed for warm coffee). Out of all the things for this trip...I didnt think coffee was the one topic I'd be stuck on

THANKS!

[cottonmountaineering]

If you are a coffee drinker, it will be a benefit to keep drinking coffee. Just drink some water as well

[LarryM]

I don't have scientific backing for this, but my experience is that caffeine is just fine at altitude - and is definitely a performance enhancer. But I live in Boulder & have never had problems at altitude, so maybe I am not the best data point for you.

[12ersRule]

No caffeine will give you a bad attitude.

No idea why you'd do that to yourself.

[painless4u2]

I too, am a coffee addict and had similar concerns when contemplating an upcoming stoveless multi-day hike. I've decided to just use Clif Shot Double Espresso gel packs with 100 mg caffeine. Not as satisfying as a nice, hot cup of joe, certainly, but still getting my caffeine in a small, easy to pack product. Altitude may give you headaches, and so will caffeine withdrawals. Might as well eliminate one of them!

[polar]

Agree with the above. If you're a coffee drinker, you should drink coffee. I'm not aware of any evidence that says coffee affect your blood's ability to retain oxygen one way or another. That seems like total BS.

Some endurance athletes quit caffeine for a while to prep a big race, but re-start the caffeine right before the race. This supposedly give them a noticeable boost in performance. You probably won't need to do that, but if you've quit coffee already, then it may not be a bad idea to try.

[KAMO]

If you are a coffee drinker, it will be a benefit to keep drinking coffee. Just drink some water as well

I figured as much - I'll hunt around for a few lightweight, instant coffee packs or something to keep me going that doesnt taste horrible

[KAMO]

I don't have scientific backing for this, but my experience is that caffeine is just fine at altitude - and is definitely a performance enhancer. But I live in Boulder & have never had problems at altitude, so maybe I am not the best data point for you.

The person that told me is a trustworthy source, but I agree I cant find any backing or articles about it lol... I'll have to call them out maybe. I very much see and use coffee as a performance enhancer.

[KAMO]

No caffeine will give you a bad attitude.

No idea why you'd do that to yourself.

Hey! I've got a great attitude on day 3 of no caffeine. It's the headaches that I'm not a fan of...and the lack of morning wakeup call

[KAMO]

I too, am a coffee addict and had similar concerns when contemplating an upcoming stoveless multi-day hike. I've decided to just use Clif Shot Double Espresso gel packs with 100 mg caffeine. Not as satisfying as a nice, hot cup of joe, certainly, but still getting my caffeine in a small, easy to pack product. Altitude may give you headaches, and so will caffeine withdrawals. Might as well eliminate one of them!

I've never seen those packs before - thanks for sharing. When it comes to altitude sickness, i've heard people use Ibuprofen or something like that to ease the headache. Any comments to say otherwise?

[KAMO]

Agree with the above. If you're a coffee drinker, you should drink coffee. I'm not aware of any evidence that says coffee affect your blood's ability to retain oxygen one way or another. That seems like total BS.

Some endurance athletes quit caffeine for a while to prep a big race, but re-start the caffeine right before the race. This supposedly give them a noticeable boost in performance. You probably won't need to do that, but if you've quit coffee already, then it may not be a bad idea to try.

Can I say I was doing this all along? - I was thinking that if this post convinced me that coffee was ok, I would pack some instant coffee or something.

[KAMO]

I know it's a little off my original question, but i've been to colorado a few times a year and done 10k and 12k easier hikes- altitude never gave me a headache, but I also was never working as hard as this trip would push me. Any objections to ibuprofen if I get said headache from altitude?