Friday, October 24, 2014

Interesting reactions to altitude

Altitutude can do some strange things to your body and can be deadly if not managed and controlled. 

That said, I always am reminded how my body reacts each time I go above 12,000ft.

Here are some of the fun things to expect or to at least be aware of when going high:  headaches, lower appetite, nauseous feelings, light headed, tingly finger, nose, chin, toes. Super weird dreams or bad sleep in general.  Waking up from a sound sleep feeling like you are totally out of air and gasping to catch up.  Sound fun right?

This time around I monitored my resting heartbeat at various elevations. Here are the results: (normal resting HR 48)

Kathmandu: 52 going to go with all the pollution in this one
Lukla (9,380ft) 62
Namche Bazaar (11,290) 75
Macherna (13,450) 80
Gokyo (15,350) 89
Gokyo Ri (17,000) 102 (not a true resting measurement 

Incredible how much harder the system has to work to maintain a healthy oxygen level at altitutude. 

It was also interesting to note that the readings on the way back down were consistently 5 to 10 beats lower based on better acclimatization. 

I guess it's sort of boring for most but I find it very interesting.


Lukla airport

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