Mt. Everest - Meds

Meds

We made sure we were up on all of immunizations.  Unfortunately, we had to have another tetanus shot, but other than that not too bad on the shots. (Of course, David was all caught up, so no shots for him - not totally fair - but the humor or irony of us having to get shots and not him, was not lost on him.)

Meds - An Overview
(click above)

Typhoid Vaccine (Vivotif Berna)

In any case, we are entering some serious terrain, where we might run into contaminated food or water. So we are all getting our typhoid vaccine. There are two kinds of vaccines to prevent typhoid.  One is a shot (with inactivated vaccine).  The other typhoid vaccine is taken orally and lasts a lot longer (if you take a booster in 6 months it can last almost forever).  You can guess which one we opted for - yes - the oral vaccine.


We need to take one capsule every other night for four nights and then we are done.  Tonight is our second dose. (It should be taken 2 weeks before your trip and not in conjunction with diuretics.)

I should note that routine typhoid vaccination is not recommended in the United States, but it is recommended for folks like us who are traveling to a part of the world where it is, lets say, not uncommon.

Acetazolamide

Acetazolamide is used to reduce the severity and duration of symptoms associated with altitude sickness. Most folks who have heard about it (like John) know about it under the name Diamox.  In spite of our altitude acclimatization preparation we are not going to take any chances. We will take advantage of acclimatization days; (where we hang out and walk around for a day or so before going to a higher elevation).  In addition, we will be taking acetazolamide during the trek, probably after we land in Lukla: one tablet by mouth twice daily for 5 days to prevent altitude sickness.


Azithromycin (antibiotic)

Finally, we will be careful about the water we drink. We have the UV sterilizer.  However, even with the best sanitary practices and precautions things can go very wrong.  David does not have a lot of boy weight so dehydration is no joke if he were to get sick.  We are not all that big either so a serious bacterial infection would not be good in the middle of nowhere (from a hospitalization medication perspective).

If we do get sick we need to take 1 tablet bu mouth daily for 3 days.

These are all precautionary measures.  We should be fine, just trying to minimize the risk of radically shifting our experience in a less than optimal manner or direction.

Be sure to check with your physician before using any of these devices or medications. Also check with the High Altitude Physicians.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mt. Everest - Happy Rosh Hashanah (Happy Jewish New Year in Kathmandu

Image
Rosh Hashanah in Kathmandu We celebrated the first day of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) in Kathmandu. More to the point we celebrated it in a multicultural, religious, and cultural manner at the Boudhanath Stupa  (or  Bodnath Stupa ) is the largest stupa in Nepal and the holiest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet. It is the center of Tibetan culture in  Kathmandu  and rich in Buddhist symbolism. The stupa is located in the town of Boudha, on the eastern outskirts of Kathmandu. David & Dad in Front of Boudhanath Stupa  on Rosh Hashanah Star of David or Shatkona This is a bit hard to see, but it looks exactly like a Jewish star.  In fact, it is a  symbol composed of two overlaid equilateral triangles that form a six-pointed  star   However, it is t he Shatkona - a a  symbol  used in  Hindu  yantra that represents the union of both the male and feminine form. More specifically it ...
Read more

Mt. Everest - An Introduction (to the blog)

Image
Mt. Everest - An Introduction The journey begins now, even though the formal expedition is in September (all of September). Many of you have been asking me about the trip, the equipment, and the preparation. So I have made a brief video to  highlight where we are going - Kathmandu , Nepal, Lukla Airport (one of the most dangerous airports in the world), Namcho Bazaar (11,280 feet), Deboche (12,530 feet), and Everest Base Camp at 17,594 feet (starting at dawn of course in the freezing cold) - and then hopefully back down.  Here is the intro video to give you a quick overview of the journey. INTRODUCTION TO OUR TREK (click here) A MAP OF THE JOURNEY (click here) This introductory blog is followed by another brief piece about our equipment. 
Read more

Mt. Everest: One Day Later (day 9)

Image
Mt. Everest:   “One Day Later” Loboche to Peng Boche Thursday, September 20, 2018 We are still reeling from yesterday’s marathon trek to Everest Base Camp, but we have a 7 to 8 hour trek ahead of us.   We are so lucky to have the trail to ourselves.   It is in between seasons and most of the folks that were traveling at the same time as us, remain fogged in or delayed due to weather.   We did not have to manage the “traffic jam” of trekkers that come to Everest these days.   It was quiet, no waiting in line for food or the bathroom.   We only competed with the Yak and horses for the trails each day.   I do miss the bells letting us know a herd of Yak are coming our way.   You need to stand aside and give them the right of way with all their baggage and supplies on their backs. We concentrated on each step, each stone, in part because we were still exhausted.   The narrow paths were only a foot across and the ...
Read more