14er stomach prep

[MaxmimumMills4]

Ok this one is a bit silly but here goes- for some absolutely unknown reason before a 14er I feel a need to throw up and have a couple of times. I am fairly experienced in 13ers and 14ers and feel like I just psych myself out. Once I get moving and hiking I’m totally fine but obviously it’s annoying to roll out of my tent and feel like I’m going to throw up at 3AM.

Has anyone faced something similar and have any suggestions? Perhaps some over the counter drug that won’t mess with my focus? I’m doing Capitol this weekend and don’t want the hike to start with me in the bushes.

Appreciate any suggestions!

[Imcp]

If you are positive that you aren't waking up with altitude sickness, then an antacid like cimetidine (Tagamet is the brand name) could help. And then maybe a couple of Tums when you wake up. I find that the bouncing involved in descending sometimes gives me acid reflux so I keep some of each of those in my hiking pack.

[MaxmimumMills4]

If you are positive that you aren't waking up with altitude sickness, then an antacid like cimetidine (Tagamet is the brand name) could help. And then maybe a couple of Tums when you wake up. I find that the bouncing involved in descending sometimes gives me acid reflux so I keep some of each of those in my hiking pack.

Yea definitely not altitude sickness I’ve had that a couple times and that’s a different kind of awful. Thank you for the suggestions! I’ll try it.

[Gulf_Coast_Hiker]

Yes so I switched from running road marathons, etc to trail running because I would get so uptight and nervous about race day and pacing, etc. The trails are so much more my style. I think having something to calm you down....a book...a drink...music...videos...whatever....can help you to be happy and relaxed. Much, much easier for me to say than to do in practice. I think that being prepared - knowing the route, having all the right gear, a plan for nutrition and hydration, awareness of the weather, knowing you've climbed other peaks - can give you confidence about the task you are going to be taking on. Just my two cent, hope that helps.

[onebyone]

If you ruled out altitude then I think it might be anxiety. People think anxiety has to be associated with feeling literally anxious. Or it has to be something bad. Not true.
Which also might explain why once you get going it subsides.
In other words anticipatory anxiety.

Try taking an Ativan before going to sleep before your next climb.
If it helps then that will tell you a lot. If it does nothing then explore the next possibility.

[larkinrx2]

…..then an antacid like cimetidine (Tagamet is the brand name) could help. And then maybe a couple of Tums ……

As a pharmacist I would NEVER recommend cimetidine due to all of the possible interactions with other medications people may be on and can’t believe it’s still allowed to be sold OTC

Since ranitidine was taken off market for the dumbest of reasons it leaves us with famotidine as the drug of choice from the H2 antagonist group (antacids)

As for tums can’t go wrong and also a great way to get your extra calcium in

Also not recommend Ativan unless you have experience with it at home before being in the woods doping yourself with benzos to know how it would affect your mental abilities on the climb (leftover hangover symptoms possible)

[speth]

Propanalol, or escitalopram - or so I heard from my father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate.

But you should probably talk to your doctor anyhow, better than 14erMD dot com. My two cents.

I get nervous and have anxiety before big trips sometimes, or if I’m leaving my house for a few days, I find the prep work (“Ugh, I hope I packed everything I needed…”) and the break of normal routines stressful. Once I’m at the place I’m going, hiking or climbing or whatever, I have a good time, but the lead-up is often not enjoyable.

[Imcp]

…..then an antacid like cimetidine (Tagamet is the brand name) could help. And then maybe a couple of Tums ……

As a pharmacist I would NEVER recommend cimetidine due to all of the possible interactions with other medications people may be on and can’t believe it’s still allowed to be sold OTC

Fair enough, it doesn't have interactions with anything I use listed on drugs.com so I'll continue to use it sparingly till the bottle is gone and then switch over to famotidine (brand name Pepcid for anyone else reading this). I only got it for the off-label treatment of a plantar wart for which it did nothing.

[dan0rama]

Let's assume it is anxiety related... you should treat the anxiety instead of taking medication to treat the side effects... it is possible that the anxiety is there much earlier than the morning of the climb, but you are dismissing the signs until you throw up... there's a part of you that doesn't trust that you know what you are doing and there's another part of you who is invalidating the fears of that first anxious part of you... you should acknowledge the anxiety, be proud of it, tell everyone about it, own it, be in charge of it

[onebyone]

Jeeez. The Ativan is simply a way to help diagnose.
No one is suggesting pounding Ativan an hour before a hike. Lol. But you know what is worse than the lowest dose of Ativan before going to sleep the night before- starting your hike puking and subsequently dehydrated from said puking. That’s rough. If there was no puking involved then I would not suggest such a thing.

Either way, OP needs to get at the source of the problem. Sounds like anticipatory anxiety to me. But I’m not inside that person’s body.

Once OP figures out if this is the case or not, then there are a number of paths toward mitigating the situation.

Good luck! Feel free to pm.

[MaxmimumMills4]

I appreciate all the suggestions! It’s definitely somehow anxiety related but what I can’t get my head around is that when I’m on the ridge or hopping over a block with a mile of air below me I’m as cool as a cucumber but when I’m chilling making breakfast in the morning my body is like “yea this is a good time to throw up”.

[XterraRob]

Are you pregnant?