pills to prevent headache for Jungfraujoch?

Chris - LOL

good answer!!

Altitude Sickness can affect anyone but it doesn't happen to everyone. (I have lots of experience with this with my tour groups. I would say about 1 out of every 100 had some effect. And most of that was very minor.)

How long are you planning to spend on the the Jungfrau? Days? Weeks?

The preventive treatment last days and is really for mountain climbers. Very expensive and a waste of time for a one day visitor.

If you should feel sick, there is a very easy cure--get off the mountain and go back down. The symptoms will be headache, dizziness, nausea and a general feeling of blah. If you stay at altitude you will acclimate in a few days. If you are there for a few hours, you probably won't be affected.

Drink lots of water, move slower at altitude, ascend slowly, no alcohol or drugs.

Oh, the Indians of Peru who live near Machu Pichu used to chew coca leaves to alleviate the affects of alcohol. If you bring those into Switzerland you'll more than likely be visiting a Swiss jail rather than the Swiss Alps.

What Frank II said, but if you have some reason to thing it will be a real issue, consider the gondolla from Grindlewald to First. The view is better, it's cheaper, it doesn't go as high, and it's not as likely to cloud in.

The medication, acetazolamide, is used to treat serious cases of altitude-related cerebral edema. Routine use of acetazolamide to prevent acute mountain sickness is not recommended, although some people do it anyway.

It will just be a daytrip, if weather permits.
I guess I am just worrying for nothing. I will take the suggestion of FrankII and Ed and keep the name that Tom mentioned in mind. Thanks a lot!

Hydration seems to be a key factor in altitude problems. Just be sure you are not dehydrated -- that means drink plenty of water for several days before you arrive and you will probably be fine.

Another thing I remembered... don't use this as a preventative strategy, but if you do start to experience a headache, try hyperventilating for 1-2 minutes. I won't go into the physiology of why this works, but it's a temporary measure until you can descend to a lower altitude. Bottom line- if you start experiencing symptoms of acute mountain sickness (headache, nausea, confusion, loss of color vision), get down off the mountain as soon as possible. Hyperventilation only buys you a one time temporary reprieve.

The only proven method for prevention is gradual acclimatization to increase your red blood cell count, but as Frank noted, this isn't practical for most travelers.

"Oh, the Indians of Peru who live near Machu Pichu used to chew coca leaves to alleviate the affects of alcohol" Yeah, that'll work because it causes vasoconstriction of the cerebral arteries. Also a great way to have a stroke or heart attack at age 30.

I am an avid skier and have skied at Beaver Creek, Colorado; Heavenly & Squaw Valley in California; I bought an camel-back (storage for water that I drink constantly); take Bonime and I try to go 2 days ahead to acclimate...unfortunately last year nothing worked except to get off the mountain; bummer, I love Heavenly, pretty as a picture!!! Guess I'll have to stick to the East Coast like Lake Placid, Stow etc.

Jean
P.S. The Doctor would not give me a prescription as he said it was too dangerous.

I had a bad case of altitude sickness when I visited Tibet in 2001, but doing the Jungfraujoch did not affect me at all! Maybe you will be as lucky. It is beautiful!

DONT make the mistake i did,,, i have been to top of Jungfrau twice. First time no problem. Second time, decade later,,, i was taking several daily prescriptions , one for high blood pressure. Without thinking, i had 2 beers with a croissant at the top. On the trip down i became VERY lightheaded, dizzy and claustropobic inside the, what seemed a never ending train tunnel,,,almost passed out. When we stopped at wengernalp,,, i had to lay flat on the grass,,breathe deeply and nap a bit,,, before i could go on. It was very scary ; pills mixed with alcohol at high elevation

Some people swear by Gingko for altitude issues--it's something a lot of skiers take when heading from their sea level homes on a ski trip to higher areas in Colorado. I have heard that studies support this use but I'm not an expert so you might want to do some research, if you're interested. I know you start taking it a week or so beforehand. But, if you are just sitting on a train, not exerting yourself, and have the option of going right back down, I can't imagine you will have too hard a time.

As someone who has Meniere's disease and is easily affected by changes in altitude, yes, I got a little sick when we visited Jungfraujoch, but not bad enough to warrant anything more than taking dramamine or bonine. Also, as Frank said, drink LOTS of water. The more hydrated you are, the less likely you are to have any problems. Mild altitude sickness is not unlike motion sickness so if you have ever been motion sick, you know what to expect. More than likely, however, you will have been in Switzerland for at least a day or two before you go up and for most people, that is enough time to acclimate them enough to handle the Jungfraujoch without incident. Certainly that was the case for my father who has been known to spend the first day of a ski trip stopping halfway through each run to barf due to altitude sickness (and once ended up on O2 because he was so determined to get his money's worth out of his lift ticket even though he was getting sicker and sicker--don't be like my father). He had no trouble with the Jungfrau since we had been in Switzerland for several days before making the trip.

"Mild altitude sickness is not unlike motion sickness so if you have ever been motion sick, you know what to expect." I'm going to disagree here. Although there are some overlap in symptoms, the physiology is completely different and so are the treatments. Altitude sickness is caused by the lower pressure of oxygen, resulting in vasodilation and cerebral edema. "Motion sickness" occurs when the brain receives contradictory information from the vestibular and visual systems (as occurs in Mennier's disease and other conditions, such as acoustic neuromas and benign positional vertigo). Treating acute altitude sickness with an anticholinergic (dramimine, etc.) can actually worsen it. Bottom line, if you're not feeling well on top of a mountain, don't bother with any quick fix or home remedies, descend without delay!