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palikona44 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 3:17 pm not enough recent exposure to higher altitudes.

not enough recent exposure to higher altitudes. just try consistent exposure to altitude over time (weeks or even months).

At least you got the basics out of the way.
I think 600g of Advil 2 or 3 times a day would kill you!!!
Other than that, I got nothing. Good luck figuring it out.

mtree wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 3:43 pm At least you got the basics out of the way.
I think 600g of Advil 2 or 3 times a day would kill you!!!
Other than that, I got nothing. Good luck figuring it out.

I misread

Is 400g a day, once a week ok? Yes, right?

palikona44 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 3:58 pm
I misread

Is 400g a day, once a week ok? Yes, right?

Surely you mean 400mg? Milligrams. 400g is 400 grams, or one thousand times that amount, which almost half a kilo of Advil. This is definitely a question for your doctor, not an internet forum.

So, like 5 pounds of Advil a day. Now how many calories is that? Rather than a Camelback I think you'll need a 50 gallon drum of water to wash it all down.

Now that would be an impressive summit picture. Just remember pack it in, pack it out.

yes 400 mg!!

Or my original question: is 600mg twice a day for a climb ok to combat altitude sickness?

"mild nausea and the beginnings of a headache"? "felt somewhat ok again, albeit tired and kind of “off”"? That does not sound like altitude sickness to me, but ymmv.
If you have mentioned Cheyne-Stokes breathing and mild anxiety attacks I would say that I can relate, those point to mild altitude sickness. Btw you can push a little bit through those, don't ask me how I know, but of course you shouldn't be climbing class 3 or something with complicated route finding if you are not 100%. More serious symptoms are dizziness and nausea strong enough to cause vomiting, that is when you turn around and go lower (or preferably before that). Then there are real things like HAPE or HACE, but you have to be really unlucky minority to suffer those on a 14er.
Advil (or some other NSAID) is not the cure for altitude sickness, but it can help alleviate symptoms. Read small print, drink enough fluids, mind your liver and kidneys.

probably just routine need for acclimatization which can vary for a given person on different trips.

also get checked for LOW hemoglobin if you didn't already. The combination of anemia and even mild altitude is bad, bad, and bad at least for me. This certainly could have changed between your 30's and 40's.

cdonnelly0626 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 7:07 pm probably just routine need for acclimatization which can vary for a given person on different trips.

also get checked for LOW hemoglobin if you didn't already. The combination of anemia and even mild altitude is bad, bad, and bad at least for me. This certainly could have changed between your 30's and 40's.

I recently got my hemo checked and it’s slightly elevated.

I got altitude sickness on my Everest attempt.

I trained all winter. I went to Ecuador as part of my training and did some climbs at altitude. I was super strong when I rolled into Nepal. I was great the whole time on the trek in and in base camp. Never got sick or really felt bad with the altitude.

I went up the Khumbu Ice Fall and felt strong. Once I got to a Camp 1, I started getting sick, weak, throwing up, etc. I then tried to push through it to Camp 2, bad move. I completely fell apart physically and came down with a bad case of AMS and HACE (diagnosed later). I was barely able to down climb to base camp. If it were not for the Sherpa I was climbing with I don’t think I could have gotten back through the ice fall. I really should have done a helicopter rescue, but it all kind of a blur. Once I got to base camp the Global Rescue doctors insisted I be helicoptered a hospital in Kathmandu where I spent three days. In the hospital they also found a blood clot. That was the deal killer for my summit bid.

I know this all sounds horrible, but actually it was a big adventure. Other than not summiting and the two bad days in the upper camps, it was an incredible experience.

I had been higher than the elevation that I got sick on Everest several occasions with no problems. My hypothesis is I let myself get dehydrated and moved too quickly through the ice fall causing my body to go over the edge. But I’ve also read dehydration can’t cause altitude sickness, so who knows. I have gotten all kinds of mixed feedback from different doctors and I think it comes down to bad luck on my part. My challenge now is where to go from here. I don’t think I will attempt Everest again without testing my body at 20,000 ft plus.

It can be unpredictable. I have been above treeline hundreds of times. I have gotten sickness about 1 per 100 trips and do not know why. Perhaps a hidden low level cold.

This is all interesting, thank you.

How long do you typically have to be at a certain altitude for it to help acclimate slightly? I.E. in prepping for a future climb to 13,900, if I go to 13,500 and sit for an hour up that high, will that do anything to help for the future climb?