Altitude Sickness

[drcampbell]

... we get millions of visitors up here every year and I've never heard this one yet.

There's a difference between visiting or sitting passively in an airplane, and working.

... I ... haven't found anything ... other than possibly trauma caused by actually putting in a hard days work.

If he's been unemployed for a while, a full day's work might be another thing he needs to acclimate to.

It's a real thing that can cause disorientation. ("the spins")
If he's a recreational SCUBA diver, he might be doubly at risk.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness

[Dennis Alwon]

My brother flew into Denver from Houston, Tx and decided to drive to Pike's Peak (the same day) and go to the top (14,000+ feet). You can guess the rest-- it was a bad idea.

Everytime we go to Boulder, Co and visit my sister my wife can feel it real bad- headaches for a few days. I feel it a tad also but that is going from a few hundred feet to 5,000 feet in a few hours.

I think dehydration is a major issue on ski slopes etc. My daughter had to be rescued and they were only at 4,000 feet or so. You need lots of water at those elevations.

[Coppersmith]

Perhaps you misunderstood and he said, "attitude sickness."

I thought that was the title of this thread until I re-read it. Made more sense for a bunch of electricians.

[bkludecke]

Thanks all for the responses. I think dehydration is the the most probable culprit here. Tomorrow should reveal a bit more on him.

[Sierrasparky]

The spins Sounds to me he hit the local watering hole before he left high altitude.

Make sure these new guys drink lots of water. At sea level that is 1.5 to 2 liters per day from what I understand. More at higher altitudes especially if it is dry.

[Timbert]

New hire started yesterday - he lives at around 3000' elevation and we work/live here at about 7000' or so. He called in this morning saying he got "altitude sickness" or "the spins??" because he descended the mountain too quickly on his way home, so he couldn't come in today.

I work every day at 10000', in my career I've worked for thirty years from 10000' to 14000'.

A 4000' change is unlikely to cause a problem. The rate of descent shouldn't have been an issue, never got sick parachuting out of a plane. We go from 10000' to sea level in about 1:15 everyday. Motion sickness is much more likely in my opinion.

I agree with others dehydration could be a problem. This is also known to occur with the addition of alcohol.

Altitude sickness is a real problem. Acclimatization is key. 7000' is unusually low for debilitating altitude sickness. A lot of people will notice the effects but it wouldn't keep most from showing to work. Going down is what resolves altitude sickness he definitely should have felt better in the morning after being down.

[Jraef]

I get altitude sick at 10,000ft, but my wife doesn't get it at all. It's different for everyone. But it's not coming back down that causes issues, it's staying up / oxygen deprivation.

Dehydration is the more likely suspect as others have said. I was told by my urologist (because I've had kidney stones twice) that I have to make sure I drink 60oz of fluids every day, but for every 1,000 feet over 3,00ft, I have to add another 12oz. So I was doing a bunch of work in Lake Tahoe last year for a week at around 6,000ft, I got real dizzy and realized I had forgotten to increase my water intake to 96oz (which by the way is a LOT of liquid, but luckily, beer counts...). It takes a long time to re-hydrate once you go too far, took me the better part of a day to feel normal again.

[wtucker]

Anyone know anything about this stuff?

I'll bet a doctor would know more about this "sickness" than any of us. Tell the guy to bring in a physician's note attesting to his fitness for duty. You certainly don't want anyone working with "the spins."

[bkludecke]

Well he showed up for work on time today and his journeyman/supervisor says he is working along just fine. We all had a good chat this morning about the importance of hydration and making sure to not wait until you feel thirsty to grab a bottle of water. We'll see if he has any more trouble with this or if it was just a one-off.

[gadfly56]

Well he showed up for work on time today and his journeyman/supervisor says he is working along just fine. We all had a good chat this morning about the importance of hydration and making sure to not wait until you feel thirsty to grab a bottle of water. We'll see if he has any more trouble with this or if it was just a one-off.

I'm glad it seems to be a minor hiccup. I wish you and him a profitable relationship.