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AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) can happen to anyone as long as youโre about 3,300m above sea level โ this is especially if you ascended within a very short period of time (which is basically anyone on a trek ๐ ).
most trekking/hiking itineraries will factor in a couple of days solely for acclimatization, but the human body is a human body; and if youโre not used to it (especially if we live in territories close to sea levels), then youโre just simply, not used to it.
[๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง 5 ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต. ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ด 5,300๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ.]
almost everyone in my trek group was on Diamox (a medication that prevents / alleviates AMS); but because i felt completely fine all the way right up till the end, i really didnโt think i needed to be on it. things only went south literally on the day before we reached the base camp; when it started snowing as we left Lobuche for Gorak Shep. there was a huge weather shift because of Cyclone Viyaru doing its thing in New Delhi โ and even our guide and sherpas remarked that the region typically wouldnโt snow at this time of the year.
despite everything, i think i got the better end of the stick because i got hit in as chill a way as one can possibly hope. i.e. it started off as a mild headache that wouldnโt go away the whole 2 hours that we were trekking; it continued for a couple hours more even after weโd settled in our lodge. at some point, my fellow trekker attempted to coax me with soup but iโd lost my appetite by then and was feeling nauseous so i excused myself to head to the washroom.
and then this was when the shit hit the fan EXPONENTIALLY, because i distinctly remember getting so dizzy in the bathroom stall that I had to spread my arms out and press both palms to opposite ends of the walls just to steady myselfโฆ and within a second of stumbling out of the toilet, i knocked out cold, promptly, on the floor.
i woke up hours later, back in my own bed and surrounded by a bunch of people, with a mug of hot chocolate on the table and snow falling in full force on the outside.
long story short, my guide was super worried and thought i was being sus the entire time hiding my AMS symptoms or whatever so that i wouldnโt be kicked out (responsible trek leaders will make you descend immediately once you show signs of AMS โ even if youโre trekking as part of a group.)- but i really wasnโt. i was literally ok right up till the snow started falling like freaking Christmas in the middle of May. and it shows, because even without ascending or descending, i got better by the next day.
โโโโฆโโโ
just in case youโre really scaling something soon (or have it on your bucket list), nope, donโt even think about it. if you have AMS and you are not getting better and you do not descend immediately, YOU WILL DIE. it is not even a question of โmayโ / โmay notโ.
if you are lucky and attentive enough to catch your own symptoms early, you can try alleviating them with drugs (Diamox, or Dexamethasone), and then recalibrate to see if you feel fit enough to continue.
but if not, DESCEND. donโt give yourself extra pain by thinking about the waste of $$ and loss of time and whatnot. the fact that youโre on this trek already sets you apart from the average traveller. you are an adventurer, and you have grit. and strength. and courage. and youโre usually in things for the long haul. but a true show of perseverance under these circumstances would be to know that you can put things on hold and pick it all up again another day.
not to mention the obvious reality that it is literally better to descend and be alive to attempt this one more time โ than to be dead and not have the opportunity to do anything ever again. #MyLemon8Diary #horrorstory #lemon8travel #Lemon8SG #CanShareMeh #SavourTheMoment