Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Aspirin or Ibuprofen or ?

I've heard people say to take aspirin to help prevent altitude headaches before heading up the mountain and I've heard people say to take things like tylenol or Ibuprofen for the same reason. Which one and how much is best?

We have always used plain aspirin and never had a headache on three summits. Also, follow the advice in other threads and drink tons of water.

I'll second that! Took aspirin and drank plenty of water, and never had any problems with headaches. I think water may be the key - the thin air does dehydrate you quickly (apparently due to the increased rate of respiration at altitude), so remember to drink, drink, and drink!

I like the long lasting (8 - 12 hours) form of ibuprofen called Alleve. Don't combine it with Diamox. Both of them can cause problems with indigestion. Taken both together once, they gave me a bad case of the runs...no fun. Tylenol is a good pain killer and is safe for children. Aspirin and Ibuprofen, and Alleve are best for their anti inflamatory effect (helpful for muscle pain). I am not sure any of the pain killers, aspirin, or the non steroidal anti inflamatories (aspirin, ibufrofen, alleve etc.) really do any thing for altitude sickness. But every one up on the big hike comes down with sore muscle pain. Some Drs. recommend anti inflamatory medicine to prevent the inflamation which comes from overdoing it...less soreness during and afterwards.

Usually the full prescription strength is about double what comes in the over the counter strength. For instance my over the counter ibuprofen is about 220 mg every 4 hours. My prescription strength of ibuprofen I got for a pulled muscle is 500 mg every 4 hours. Seems like Alleve strength comes in a lower number but the principle would be the same. Aspirin is also a blood thinner, taken in low concentration to prevent heart attacks.

I looked up the concentration. Over the counter dosage for Alleve (naproxen Sodium) is 220 mg every 8-12 hours. Full prescription strength is 500 mg every 8-12 hours. Motrin IB (ibuprofen) over the counter strength is 200 mg. Full prescription strength if you want anti inflamatory effect is 400-600 mg every 4-6 hours. The way these two work is they have pain killer effects in low dosage and anti inflamatory effects in the higher concentration. It seems if they help with headaches due to dehydration and altitude sickness, and help with muscle soreness also, who could argue against taking them before getting going?

Don't double up on Tylenol (acetopminophen). You can easily cause liver damage if you take that approach.

Right on about the tylenol, especially if you combine it with drinking alchohol.

I agree lay off the booze before an high-altitude hike (a small Sapporo at the summit is OK celebration style) and use aspirin, drink tons of water. Aspirin thins the blood and water keeps you sane.

Aleve works well also. I disregard Advil and Tylenol and related generics.