Diamox for AMS. Prescription only (I got mine from Nomad Travel Clinic)
Acute mountain sickness is a bit of a mystery as to whom it affects - fitness level has no correlation to the likelihood of falling ill. The symptoms of AMS generally begin with a headache.
Usage: One tablet per day - half in the morning and half in the afternoon.
Diamox is a diuretic which effectively means you have to drink more water, and you also need to piss more, so it’s not a good idea to take before bed.
Afterthoughts:
I didn’t take any Diamox in the end and didn’t feel like I suffered any AMS. I got out of breath pretty fast, but I never really got any loss of appetite or headaches or anything. Ibrahim did run a heart rate/ blood oxygen test on us tho’, and I came up with the worst results of all the group - a resting heart rate of about 110bps and a saturation level of about 70%. I think medically, that would be cause for worry.
We were told that for Diamox to work properly, you need to be taking it early on, with plenty of water. Past a certain point, there’d be no benefit as your body would have no time to adjust for the benefits.