Using CPAP At An Altitude of 12,500'

[moresleep]

I would worry about you, not the cpap machine. The cpap may not adjust enough, but it will still work. At that altitude, you are at risk for "mountain sickness," also called "altitude sickness," which causes central apneas and other unpleasant things. If you google the term, you'll find a lot of information. Acetazolamide is a recognized preventative/treatment. You might want to talk to your doctor about it, and get a prescription.

[plr66]

I would worry about you, not the cpap machine. The cpap may not adjust enough, but it will still work. At that altitude, you are at risk for "mountain sickness," also called "altitude sickness," which causes central apneas and other unpleasant things. If you google the term, you'll find a lot of information. Acetazolamide is a recognized preventative/treatment. You might want to talk to your doctor about it, and get a prescription.

Thanks, moresleep. I've done both high altitude trips as well as the medication before, and had very minimal symptoms of altitude sickness. In fact, the last such journey was a year before I was diagnosed with OSA, and I did not experience more than 1-2 days of feeling a little drunk.

[nanwilson]

Didn't Starlet figure this out earlier this summer. i'm sure I read a thread about her going to the mountains and trying to figure out how much extra pressure was needed to compensate for the altitude. I will try and find the thread as soon as I get back from taking my g daughter to school.

[Bobby269]

Call or send an e-mail to Cpap.com. They should be able to offer some advice.

[plr66]

Didn't Starlet figure this out earlier this summer...I will try and find the thread as soon as I get back from taking my g daughter to school.

Thanks, Nan--I really am bad at searching this forum, which is why I started the thread.

[BlackSpinner]

Thanks, moresleep. I've done both high altitude trips as well as the medication before, and had very minimal symptoms of altitude sickness. In fact, the last such journey was a year before I was diagnosed with OSA, and I did not experience more than 1-2 days of feeling a little drunk.

Yes but that was because you had OSA which had conditioned your body to survive at lower oxygen level. You had the same "hormones" in your blood stream as people who live in high altitude places. You don't have them now so don't expect the same ability as before.

[n0hardmask]

Didn't Starlet figure this out earlier this summer...I will try and find the thread as soon as I get back from taking my g daughter to school.

Thanks, Nan--I really am bad at searching this forum, which is why I started the thread.

This may be what you're needing: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=65216&p=608799&hili ... de#p608799

[nanwilson]

Didn't Starlet figure this out earlier this summer...I will try and find the thread as soon as I get back from taking my g daughter to school.

Thanks, Nan--I really am bad at searching this forum, which is why I started the thread.

This may be what you're needing: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=65216&p=608799&hili ... de#p608799

Thanks nOhardmask, I got waylaid at the school then when I got home a couple of hours later I totally forgot to look up Starlets thread. You covered my "b%$#t", thank you.

[plr66]

Thanks, moresleep. I've done both high altitude trips as well as the medication before, and had very minimal symptoms of altitude sickness. In fact, the last such journey was a year before I was diagnosed with OSA, and I did not experience more than 1-2 days of feeling a little drunk.

Yes but that was because you had OSA which had conditioned your body to survive at lower oxygen level. You had the same "hormones" in your blood stream as people who live in high altitude places. You don't have them now so don't expect the same ability as before.

Excellent point, BS! Thanks for clearly reminding me of the basics. (and thanks a whole lot for obliterating my illusions of enjoying my next adventure!)

[BlackSpinner]

Excellent point, BS! Thanks for clearly reminding me of the basics. (and thanks a whole lot for obliterating my illusions of enjoying my next adventure!)

Well I am not enjoying myself so why should anyone else! Suffer Universe, Suffer!!! (My thunderbolts don't seem to be working)

[plr66]

BS, you're funny. I do know that feeling, so I "forgive you." Seriously, I do appreciate your enlightenment here.

Thanks for the link, nOhardmask.

OK, so if I understand the posts there, the suggestion is to raise the cpap pressure 1 cm for every 1000' above the max altitude of the machine's auto-altitude adjustment.

Let's say my cpap is designed for pressures of 6-18, and auto-adjusts to 7500'.

My regular pressure is 12. So at 12,500' I should raise my pressure 5 cm, to 17.

Why would I need to worry about burning out the machine, since it is built to handle producing pressure of up to 18cm? I'm not sure that the upper limit of auto-altitude-adjust means that it's also the upper limit of the motor's capability...

[BlackSpinner]

Let's say my cpap is designed for pressures of 6-18, and auto-adjusts to 7500'.

My regular pressure is 12. So at 12,500' I should raise my pressure 5 cm, to 17.

Why would I need to worry about burning out the machine, since it is built to handle producing pressure of up to 18cm? I'm not sure that the upper limit of auto-altitude-adjust means that it's also the upper limit of the motor's capability...

I believe the ones that burnt out were auto paps trying to push that pressure boundary

[plr66]

Let's say my cpap is designed for pressures of 6-18, and auto-adjusts to 7500'.

My regular pressure is 12. So at 12,500' I should raise my pressure 5 cm, to 17.

Why would I need to worry about burning out the machine, since it is built to handle producing pressure of up to 18cm? I'm not sure that the upper limit of auto-altitude-adjust means that it's also the upper limit of the motor's capability...

I believe the ones that burnt out were auto paps trying to push that pressure boundary

I'm thinking in that direction myself, BS, and hope it's right.

Any further direct experience would be very much appreciated.

[rocklin]

I've done both high altitude trips as well as the medication before, and had very minimal symptoms of altitude sickness.

The past is not a fail-proof predictor of the future. Both in deep sea diving and mountain climbing.

12,500 might seem like nothing, not even as high as base camp at Everest, uh, until you run into trouble.

and I did not experience more than 1-2 days of feeling a little drunk.

No disrespect plr66, but in my younger, more heartless days, I'd try to buy a high-limit key-man insurance policy on your life, payable to me . . . but I doubt any insurance company would've taken that bet at a reasonable premium.


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Just keep in mind what happened to Sheck Exley.

He was utterly brilliant when it came to the rocket-science level details of high-voltage, mixed-gas, deep-diving, but less bright vis-à-vis the "I'm an absolute beginner" diving basics of always being in contact with your buddy (if not visual, then audio).

http://www.stationr.org/caving/exley.htm

"It is tempting to draw comparisons between the two men, Exley the cave diver and Messner the mountain climber. .Each had a well-earned reputation for being the best in their chosen endeavor. .Over the years both men saw contemporaries perish; early in their careers, both watched their own brothers die in front of them, Messner's high in the mountains and Exley's deep in the clear waters of Wakulla."


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Still, if you're determined to do this, you can do it the easy way or the hard way . . . your choice. .Personally, I'd go for the easy way: test yourself and your CPAP equipment in a decompression chamber.

It doesn't have to be this elaborate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmeJlewaU7s
(watch in 720p, full screen)

Or this comically disastrous:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSrGfElyfVE
(he books at about the 3 minute mark)

But I agree, HA mountain climbing can glorious. .Me, I' prefer it this way, easier on the bod:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY1bzsfE6io
(watch in 720p, full screen)

.

[plr66]

I've done both high altitude trips as well as the medication before, and had very minimal symptoms of altitude sickness.

The past is not a fail-proof predictor of the future. Both in deep sea diving and mountain climbing.

12,500 might seem like nothing, not even as high as base camp at Everest, uh, until you run into trouble.

No disrespect plr66, but in my younger, more heartless days, I'd try to buy a high-limit key-man insurance policy on your life, payable to me . . . but I doubt any insurance company would've taken that bet at a reasonable premium.

No disrespect to you either, rocklin, but I found your responses here to be way over the top, and off the mark, actually. My sentence above was in reference to the fact that the altitude medication has worked well for me on each occasion I've used it in the past. I am aware that altitude sickness can be variable on each occasion. I am aware that 12,500' is not minimal, or I wouldn't be asking about pressure setting and machine capability well prior to this particular journey.

I am not naive about OSA nor about my therapy. Been doing this at an optimal level for some time.

On the basis of my experience and fairly well-read knowledge of this condition & its treatment, I believe your responses are unnecessarily dramatic & alarmist for anyone else reading this thread who might be interested in continuing to travel and enjoy life, while not compromising their therapy. The sky is not falling. Yes I will continue with my planning for this trip, and yes I will prepare myself well ahead of time.