“Many people experience morning high altitude headaches,” says Steve House, founder of Uphill Athlete, a company that offers high-altitude endurance coaching. “I feel like that.”
Sleeping at high altitudes is often difficult. This is partly because the part of the nervous system that maintains alertness is working to increase breathing rate, Nicolazzo said.
Be careful of altitude
The two main drivers of AMS are how high you get there and how fast you get there. Altitude-sensitive people can begin to experience difficulties before they get much above 5,000 feet, in places like Denver and Johannesburg. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who travel above 8,000 feet can be at risk for altitude sickness.
Serious adventure travelers, such as those trekking in the Himalayas or climbing Kilimanjaro, usually know that they are headed for high altitude. But the elevation of destinations like Mexico City (about 8,000 feet), Maui's Haleakala summit (10,023 feet), Cusco (about 11,150 feet), and even Santa Fe, New Mexico (6,996 feet) may surprise you. To get an idea, check the elevation of your destination in advance with Google Earth or the U.S. Geological Survey's national map viewer.
listen to your body
If you have a medical condition such as heart disease, heart failure, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation, lung disease, COPD, asthma, or sleep apnea, you should start paying close attention to your health from around the age of 5,000. there is. feet.