Canned "Recreational Oxygen" for elevation sickness?

ndking1126

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Has anyone used one of the canned oxygen bottles that claim to have 90%+ pure oxygen inside as a way to help with elevation sickness? In my mind it might be useful after the sickness kicks in almost as a treatment, not prior to as a preventative measure.

I ask because i have an elk hunt this year around 7k, 7.5k' and I currently live at about 500'. The last time I was at 9k I had a pretty bad case and I had to be driven to a lower elevation cause I couldn't do it myself. I've never had problems at 6k, though. I'm thinking $20 or $30 is pretty cheap insurance if they are only slightly helpful.

Cause someone will probably mention it, I'm certainly not trying to find an easy replacement for being in shape. I've already started physical training and will be ready to go when the time comes!
 
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If you are worried about altitude sickness I would go to your primary care physician and get a prescription for Prednisone or Acetalzolamide. Easy to carry, cheap, proven effective, and you can start taking them the morning of your hunt if your schedule does not allow you extra days to acclimate. Not worth losing a hunting opportunity because you got sick with something that was easily preventable.
 
It will not fix altitude sickness
The whole point is to prevent it and getting to altitude 3 days in advance of your hunt has been scientifically proven to be huge step to prevent the possibility by allowing your body to Naturally Acclimate over the 3 day period. The average person takes 3 days to acclimate so why screw up a 5 day hunt with your body trying to acclimate while you are hunting? Not everybody can hit the ground running first day but this can help. Nothing can absolutely prevent it but the 3 day acclimation is the easiest step you can take to help prevent it.

If you show up out of shape, not much you can do period. If you have pre-existing health conditions the 3 day may help but again there may not be ANYTHING you can do under those circumstances.
 
I have used the canned O2 (unflavored, don't remember the brand) and it does work. Was hiking with a friend in CO and went from 8500' to 11,500' in about 2 hours. Don't know that I had alt. sickness but sure got queasy sitting at the top. A couple shots of O2 and a good lunch got me back in business. 😵
 
The whole point is to prevent it and getting to altitude 3 days in advance of your hunt has been scientifically proven to be huge step to prevent the possibility by allowing your body to Naturally Acclimate over the 3 day period. The average person takes 3 days to acclimate so why screw up a 5 day hunt with your body trying to acclimate while you are hunting? Not everybody can hit the ground running first day but this can help. Nothing can absolutely prevent it but the 3 day acclimation is the easiest step you can take to help prevent it.

If you show up out of shape, not much you can do period. If you have pre-existing health conditions the 3 day may help but again there may not be ANYTHING you can do under those circumstances.
I meant supplemental O2 will not help.

acclimating and diamoxx or steroids are the only things that will help.

interesting but some studies showed that people in better shape, actually got worse altitude sickness. Probably because they pushed it too hard but who knows. Being in shape sure helps you enjoy the trip but by itself won't prevent altitude sickness.
 
Yep! Altitude sickness is an equal opportunity affliction that can hit a marathon runner just as fast as old geezer like me.🤣 But I have pre-loaded 3+ days in front of all my high altitude (7,000+) hunts for past 20+ years and has been godsend enjoying the hunt to the fullest without any signs of it.
 
I appreciate your feedback and first hand experiences. I'd certainly love the 3 day period, but don't see anyway it's going to be possible without giving up 3 days of the season. All of us are coming from lower altitude so I'm sure no one will be pushing all that hard the first day or two. On the other hand we are all FBI swat or military, so I suspect our egos will want to see who can out do each other. Haha.
 
Understand but please be fully aware of the symptoms and the seriousness of it. It can kill very fast if unchecked to lower altitude. I had to get a buddy off mountain at 9,800 ft and he just made it down. Got treatment at local clinic and was told one more day and it could have been tragic.
 
When I lived in CO, I lived at 6k' and made many trips into the mountains up to over 12K and never had a problem. Before leaving the state for good, I took a 3 week trip back east, came back to CO for 2 days to 6k feet and then went up to 9k for a ski trip. I was off the slopes by about 9:30 cause I started to feel badly and then in the car by about 11:30 on my way down. That was my one and only experience with elevation sickness. I don't know our exact hunting area yet, but I checked multiple ridgelines in the area and few are over 7.5K' so that was a welcomed tidbit.
 
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