Pneumonia + altitude = sick, sick, sick

While bowhunting I was hit with a bout of pneumonia. Our camp was at 9700 feet and we were hunting at about 10500 or so. At first I thought it was just a chest cold so I put up with it for a couple of days and nights. Too long really. It got so bad that I couldn't sleep laying down due to the fluid in my lungs, and even the smallest physical effort left me totally exhausted and out of breath. I finally wised up and drove myself the 40 miles to the nearest hospital. They put me on oxygen, IV antibiotics, and did an EKG and a CT scan to rule out cancers, hantavirus, etc. They detemined the cause was bacteriological. After 8 hours I felt great and, against the doctors advice, drove back to camp hoping to resume my hunt. No chance. I stuck it out with oral antibiotics for about a day and a half, and got my butt back to the hospital. They told me that my O2 level was 74, which they said was pretty low. After 2 more days of IV's, with portable oxygen, I was able to return to camp, collect my gear, and go home.

I gleaned a few lessons from this episode. If an ailment seems worse than the usual it probably is. The altitude definately affected the severity of the illness. So even though I've hunted this high all my life it still pays to be aware of the effects it can have, particularly on lung ailments. It was amazing how much better even fluid-filled lungs work at 4500 feet compared to 10500 feet. I'm going to try to lay in a supply of Levaquin or some other antibiotic in my hunting camp's FAK (although I'm not sure my Doctor will give me any more now that I'm getting over it.) And finally, the next time the doctor says: "I really want to keep you here for a couple of days" I am going to listen.

Probiotics should be taken following any course of antibiotics. $.02

Wow, sounds like a tough lesson to learn. I'm sorry you missed out on the hunting. Will you get another chance this year?

-Blast

The Levaquin did cause some gastric upset for a few days, but that seems to be clearing up. If I can't get that for the kit I wonder what a good alternative would be?

Fortunately yes. I drew a cow elk tag for early October. And I'll be tagging along on a premium bull elk hunt in 2 weeks that my brother-in-law drew out on. So the year is still salvageable.

I'll try to get some of that instead. IIRC the vet prescribed Keflex when my dog got an infection in his throat awhile back, so it certaintly is versatile!

It would appear to me from your description that you developed pulmonary oedema. Also known as altitude sickness. Which will worsen unless you descend. It has all the symptoms of flu or pneumonia. It is not a condition that a Doctor would necessarily recognise. Unless specificly trained in high altitude medicine.
One classic mistake that many people make is thinking that partial oxygen pressure is a function only of altitude. They think that the amount of oxygen at point A is the same at 9000ft as at point B. They fail to allow for variations due to changes in pressure caused by high and low pressure fronts. So the P.O.P at 9500ft at A might be the same as at 10,000ft at B.

The British Mountain Council has some of the best experts in the subject. Who have studied the condition, which affects some thing like one in three people at those altitudes, over a large number of years. They are becoming very worried about Tour Groups who go up mountains without proper acclimatisation. Current recommendation (I believe)is a maximum of 500ft per day over 10,000ft.

One word of warning: Once you develope the condition you become far more vunerable to repeat attacks. So exercise caution.

I thought about altitude sickness as well but I honestly don't believe that was the cause. The doc at the hospital did sputum, blood, and other tests and came to the conclusion it was some sort of bacteriological infection. My own doctor agreed when I got home. Add to that the fact that I've been playing in the same mountains for over 30 years and have never had even a hint of trouble. I think I may have inhaled something in the road dust while riding my ATV up to the trailhead early in the trip. Lots of sheep grazing up in that area in the summer. At least it wasn't anthrax...

You are absolutely right about being cautious. I'm going to be especially careful the next few times out.

I got infected with Giardia once and went on Flagyll, which pretty much wiped out my GI microbials. A couple quarts of warm buttermilk, a tablespoon of raw sourdough starter, and some home made yogurt and I was back in business.

Giardia is no fun, but neither was what happened to me after I took the Flagyll, until I got the buttermilk in me that is.

I always thought that most antibiotics were very time sensitive and lost their effectiveness relatively quickly, such that storing them wasn't a practical idea. In any case, I think it is a bit unethical to use antibiotics like you would other medicines, mainly because the more they get used, the less effective they become. I've taken Keflex for a bronchial infection and it did absolutely nothing, then the doctor put me on a different course of antibiotics that cured it up in a few days.

Physicians have knowledge about the bugs in the air at any given time and what is working against them, information the gen pub doesn't know about. If I am going to remote locations, I will consult my doctor then and see if he thinks I should take anything with me.

Buttermilk? Sounds like the cure was worse than the disease!

The best smoothies are made with buttermilk...

I was raised on it, so I am partial to it, but my daughters still can't stand the stuff, unless I fool em by making strawberry/banana smoothies with it, then they love the stuff.

I was informed that the worst of the three for palatability is definitely the raw sourdough starter. That's gauranteed to take your mind off your other worries and make you squint your eyes shut.