Getting "High"... no, not THAT way!!!

[Hawkeye]

I have a question to ask that I have never noticed covered here in my years on the board.

Last August, I had the opportunity to visit an old friend in Colorado. It was a l-o-n-g way from Illinois, but I made it, and loved the opportunity to be back in the mountains after so many years' absence.

I was there for about two weeks, taking it easy at an elevation of 9,000 ft. I had feared the height would make my string of symptoms worse, but I got along VERY well, and actually felt a good deal better than usual.

After I got back home, I enjoyed about an additional two-week reduction in my every-day-for-10-years symptoms. Then, day by day, things crept back toward my "normal" (Rats!).

I assume it is nothing but coincidence, but has anyone here on the board experienced benefit from being at higher altitude for a while? I figured this would be the only place I would know to ask!!!

Inquiring Hawkeyes want to know...

[Camsue]

very intersting..I'm close to sea level..I hope you get some confirmations

Maybe. I had my first attack two years after moving to Denver. However, I do tend to feel pretty good when I go up in the mountains on the weekends, but that could just be having fun on the wknd vs working all week. Hmm, I'll start paying more attention.

[valeriem2220]

Well I have been looking for a good reason to move to Colorado...this would be as good as any....

[SNOOPY]

I grew up in California and have lived in Colorado for 28 years. I had MS symptoms when I was a kid in California and diagnosed a couple of years after moving to Colorado.

Through the years I have spent a fair amount of time in the mountains well as well as at sea level and have never noticed a difference in MS symptoms. Colorado, without going into the mountains is a higher altitude that's why Denver is known as the Mile High City.

but has anyone here on the board experienced benefit from being at higher altitude for a while?

Nope!

[SNOOPY]

It's very possible the mountain temperatures is what made a difference in your symptoms, not the altitude.

[opiegirl]

I live in the mountains and definitely feel better here than in Florida where my family has a home. However, I think Snoopy is right in that it is more the air temperature and lack of humidity than altitude.

The air is very clean as well, so maybe it's a combination of everything: beautiful surroundings, clean air and moderate temperatures.

[Bob698]

It's very possible the mountain temperatures is what made a difference in your symptoms, not the altitude.

I'm thinking it has a lot more to do with stress than altitude.
You're seeing old friends and hanging out and having a good time. The day-to-day worries go on the back burner.

[onlyairfare]

I've lived at sea level, at 3,000 feet (the Blue Ridge Mountains in VA/NC), at 5,000 feet (Denver) and at 7,000 feet (Flagstaff, AZ) and I haven't noticed any differences in my MS attributable to altitude.

I do feel much worse in hot, humid weather (sea level in Florida) than I do in cooler weather at any altitude - though at altitude the weather is usually cooler and drier.

[empirerecs]

I just moved from Florida to North Carolina and the lack of humidity and cooler weather has helped me be more active.

I'm with Bob, though, I think it was more the change in environment and lack of stress and more relaxation. It's really great you were able to get out there and have some fun!!!

[tommylee]

It's very possible the mountain temperatures is what made a difference in your symptoms, not the altitude.

I think this is the ticket.
It is more likely the cool nights rather than the altitude.

Our house is at 7500 ft and it is never hot at night.
When I go back to see family in Wisconsin and Tennessee every summer; I enjoy the extra oxigen in the air and feel real good untill the time with no cool down starts to get to me. (a couple of days)

Colorado is a Medical Marijuanna state...There are many "high" people here.

It was a very hot summer this year in most of the country.
It is more likley temp related. (If I go back in winter...I think I feel better at sea level?)

[SNOOPY]

Colorado is a Medical Marijuanna state...There are many "high" people here.

You are crackin' me up, tommylee...lmao

Although Colorado is a MMJ State, not all of us are high

I love heading for the mountains during the summer. The cooler temperature make me almost feel normal. I also find the mountains quite calming and peaceful for the soul.

[Scooter24]

I have also noticed a difference, when I go to the beach I always feel worse,when I get back home after a day or 2 I feel better, a difference of about 800 ft elevation, I also thought it was the humidity and heat difference, but just made the trip 2 weeks ago and the temp and humidity were the same there as it was when I left my house and returned home so that eliminates that issue.

[Hawkeye]

Thanks all! Those are some plausible theories, but you've helped me land back on the idea that it is coincidence (a happy coincidence).

I live in the country here in the midwest, so while I notice the crisp smell of the pines in the San Juan Nat'l Forest... and the lower oxygen content... I am used to relatively clean air.

Had to give up my career due to the MS, so aside from being sick, my stress levels are about as good as it gets on this side of the sod, and I took the "sick" along with me!

I live in air-conditioned comfort 24/7 here, but day time temps in SW Colorado were unusually warm in the mountains (mid 80's), and I was outside all day attempting to hunt elk. Temps don't feel like the answer- for me. Humidity WAS lower, however.

Since I can't go up and down the canyons, I spent about 9 hours a day sitting on full alert (especially the day a bear cub snuck within 5 steps behind me!) on a low stool. It was exhausting, and the longer periods of sitting made me very sore, but it was SO worth it. (No elk were harmed in the making of this thread, but I passed on one after coming to full draw because it seemed too small to feel like fair prey, and I let it walk away!)

I know of only one solution... in the interest of science, I am willing to make a return trip to Colorado next year, if finances will allow, and see if there is any semblance of return to the "Rocky Mountain High" Symptom Remediation Protocol (RMHSRP). No applause, please... I only want to be of service to mankind- and see if I can get close to a little larger elk!!!

Thanks for your input, everyone. I guess I can say that altitude has not proven to be beneficial for anyone else... and probably not for me, either!

Hawkeye