Some of the more severe symptoms include: It’s important to seek medical attention right away if you experience any of these symptoms.
If you’re having problems breathing, it could indicate you’re having a pulmonary edema, where excess fluid builds up in your lungs. If you feel confused or disoriented, it might mean the altitude is affecting your brain function. As a result, symptoms can become more severe and cause complications with your brain or lungs. In rare cases, you might be unable to acclimate to a high altitude. Choi says over-the-counter (OTC) medications should ease symptoms. “Symptoms can last from minutes to hours to even days.” Dr. “Most people are able to tolerate these mild symptoms and still function and do their activities,” Dr. Symptoms usually resolve on their own shortly as your body acclimates to the elevation. You’ll typically experience these symptoms within hours after arriving at a high altitude. If you head to the mountains and do feel the effects of the altitude, chances are likely your symptoms will be mild. Surprisingly having certain underlying health conditions, such as diabetes or asthma doesn’t automatically make you more likely to have issues at higher altitudes. The ones that we worry about the most experience swelling in the brain or lungs.” “If you’re unable to adapt to higher elevation, it can cause swelling in different organs. “When your body is in this stressful situation with low-oxygen and low-pressure, you have to adapt to it,” says Dr. Choi clarifies: “Older people experience more severe symptoms, not so much because of their age, but because they have more frequent chronic medical problems and may not adapt to this elevation as well as someone younger,” he says. Likewise, older people experience more severe symptoms. Young people are more likely to experience altitude sickness.
Flying causes a sudden shift in elevation that makes it harder for your body to adjust, compared to driving, which provides a more gradual incline. Moving from a lower elevation level to an abrupt change to higher elevation - such as flying from low elevation to higher - seems to have more of an effect.