High Altitude

[anonymous]

I was wondering if any of you have experiences with either living in or visiting high altitude places. I want to go visit Vail, Colorado, and am concerned because the altitude there at the base is 8,000 ft. My FEV1 is 46% right now...I am on 02 at night, though I dont know how necessary it is now that I am feeling better (it is new and was prescribed when I was really sick). I live at sea level in Mass. and have no problems during the day, doing whatever I want. However, my friend out there even got altitude sickness when he first got there....and I have heard people who are perfectly healthy say they notice a difference w/ thier breathing. It makes me think I "cant" go, but people with CF obviously live in these places. I do not want to go if I have to be on 02 during the day...but I also cant deal with it if my Sats drop to like 90. Right now they go between 95-98 off 02 during the day.

any input would be great thanks

 

[JustDucky]

Hi thre...when I was O2 and traveled on a plane to Las Vegas, my physician upped my O2 during the flight, when we are in the air, it is like we are traveling at 5000 to 8000 feet above sea level even though the cabin is pressurized, good thing it is as the plane is typically at an elevation of about 30,000 feet!! But..I was on O2 all of the time, day and night. I also had an oximeter an checked it periodically. Normally at sea level, my O2 requirements were at 2 liters without activity, in flight it had to be bumped to 4 liters to keep my sats greater than 90 %. So...my best advice to you is to ask your doc what he or she thinks about what your O2 requirements are needed, he or she knows your lungs best besides you. You may have to use it periodically during the day when you feel crappy. I usually could tell when I felt off and needed more O2, my oximeter would usually confirm it. I know of a gentleman who lives at sea level, but his doctor's office is at 5,000 ft and he requires O2 when he reaches those heights to visit his doctor. But do talk to your doc....
Hope I have helped, Jenn <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[JazzysMom]

There is a CFer on here that lives at high altitudes. She has had a rough few years & has had the need of O2. Even to she is pretty well adjusted she says she does feel the difference when descending from the mountain. We often joke that if I was to visit her I can share her O2 as long as I bring my cannula. Earlier this year I was in need of O2 24/7. I havent had the need for it in recent months, but still have it in the house. Since your fev1 is 46 I would check with the doctor about your trip & basically you are better safe than sorry & have something with you.

 

[Ben]

I have CF and race motorcycles in/and around Colorado several times a year. I have noticed I am ok up to around 7,000 feet...then after that I am VERY short of breathe. Based on my personal experiences, I would say go on the trip, just don't plan on a lot of strenuous activities right away...play it by ear. You may want to plan for more rest and relaxation than you normally would need. After a few days at the altitude you do adjust though. Oh..and another thing I learned the hard way...1 beer at that altitude is equal to around 4 at sea level! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0"> <img src="i/expressions/beer.gif" border="0">

 

[lovingBenandCambree]

I am pretty sure that Melissa was talking about me! I live at about 6500 ft. and I can tell a difference just going to my doctor which is 1 1/2 hours away and about 5500 ft. I can breath easier up there than at my own home. I have my own oximeter so I am able to tell how well I am doing. If I were you I would plan to have oxygen here because it could be a huge difference and like Melissa said better to be prepared. My FEV1 is 52 and my O2 now is usually around 91-93. My docs say that as long as I don't drop below 88 I am okay. I cant tell a huge difference between 91 and 96. When I hit 87 I can really feel it. Good luck and I hope you are able to make your trip.

Emilee

 

[supermanfan]

Alls I can say is that I never understood how parents of a CF child can keep them up in the high altitude areas... or the smoggy LA area. I grew up at the beach, sea level, and think I was healthier for it.

Bless you people who put up with the high altitude... it can make many people sick even if they don't have CF. I would suggest, however, if you start loosing lung function get yourself down to sea level!

 

[Mockingbird]

<blockquote>Quote<br><hr><i>Originally posted by: <b>supermanfan</b></i><br>Bless you people who put up with the high altitude... it can make many people sick even if they don't have CF. <hr></blockquote>

What are you talking about?

 

[anonymous]

i lived at 6200 ft elevation for a year & i never adjusted. O2 sat. was below 80%. yikes! i now live at sea level & when i go back to the mountains to visit family, i use O2 at night. i would probably feel better if i used it 24/7, but for convenience...
everyone is different, obviously, but i doubt you would adjust like a healthy person. i would think you would feel challenged the whole time. just be prepared for that & have fun!

 

[anonymous]

This is sooo funny, i live 20 minutes from the beach, and my brother with c/f use to visit me, yes use to, he would always have coughing spells, and he lives in the high dessert and says the hot, dry air is better for him! never understood that

 

[anonymous]

thanks for your input.
Emilee...I am curious if you think there is any long term disadvantage of always being between 91-93%, when you could be at a higher O2 if you werent so high up? Does your doctor think so? I know that above 88 is supposed to be ok, and fully saturated, but i cant help but think 96 is better than 91.

anyway, i have a tiny oximeter and a portable oxygen machine, so i would be prepared. I bet i would feel the difference though. When i flew over thanksgiving it was the first time i used 02 on a plane, and the first time i had an oximeter on the plane. As we got higher my sat began to drop...once it got to 92% i put the oxygen on. At one point when we were at cruising altitude i took it off to eat, and took my sat about 15 minutes later and it was 86! I couldnt even really tell because I was sitting down, but it sure explains why for the past few years every time I have flown I have felt AWFUL afterwards....

anyway, thanks again

caitlin

 

[Faust]

My lady (she doesnt have CF) and myself (I have CF, but very healthy), went to the zugspitz(sp) area in Germany. As soon as her and I exited the tunnel, I automatically felt the sensation of drowning. She did also. We both talked to each other and tried to breath, and then after a good few minutes, we were OK. But there was a time there where I almost paniced. It was because we come from Florida, which is technically below sea level. We appeared there, and we dramatically had things change from what we were used to, to 500 times higher elevation, and our bodies freaked out. If I wouldnt have personally "caught my breath" soon, I would have freaked out and went into convulsions...To me it was like choking on something solid that won't go away (like a jawbreaker or something), and i kept telling myself "Don't panic, you will be ok, this isn't you, just RELAX, things will work themselves out"...The whole time I felt like I was drowning. Thankfully I wasn't alone in my feeling, and my fiancee felt exactly the same way, and she has very healthy non smoking, non CF lungs. It's just a drastic change of altitude to those who come from sea level, to those who constantly hang out in that atmosphere and snowboard all the time.


We were fine after the panic sensation left both of us. We sat in the cafe and had a great meal, and watched all the snow boardes come in from outside (about -10 degrees farenheit)...But yes, to answer your general question, coming from a place thats extremely low altitude, to a place thats extremely hi altitude, its a massive shock to your lungs. If your lungs are already extremely comprised, meaning you already have massive lung damage and your capacity is very low, I'd highly not recommend that you go visit places where the environment is high altitude, and their air is very thin (one goes hand in hand).

That time was one of the very few times where I felt like I was feeling the way I did because of my lung disease, and the damage to my lungs. I'm sure my experiences were much more pronounvced that my non smoking fiancee, but knowing that she still experienced the same thing, I felt like It wasn't all me.

 

[anonymous]

I live at 3200 and go to 4300 weekly, exercise at 7,200 all post TX.

You will have major issues at 8,200 with headaches, shortness of breath, sleep issues and hopefully not pulmonary edema or cerebral edema. If you have issue go lower. Remember Denver is over 5,200 and for you will not be lower.

Take oxygen, get it at the airport. The passes to Vail are higher. Good luck (I would hesitate to go full time to 8,200 and I use to live at that altitude). You will not aclimatize with you lung functions.

CF 55 TX cepacia

 

[anonymous]

I've been to CO a few times --

In my experience, I have found that moving up gradually helps a lot... for example, if you are planning to go up higher than Denver, it helped me a lot to spend two days in Denver first to get somewhat used to that altitude before moving up to Silverthorn, where I spent a couple days, and then up into Vail, Breckenridge, A-Basin, etc.

I had to cut back some of my skiing expectations, which was a bummer... stuff that was easy in the East (where even in the mnts, you're never really over 4000 ft) was harder in the Rockies, but I still had a good time. I agree with SeanDavis about the 4:1 beer ratio!! Which is too bad.. there are some great micro breweries out there!!

Bring the O2 with you, and pay attention to how you're feeling, and adjust your itinerary accordingly... even if you find you can't do all the stuff originally planned, CO is beautiful, and you should be able to have a nice trip. Besides, think of how much better you will feel when you come back down!

Chris (cdale613) - forgot to sign in!

25/w CF