Are you taking the pill? When I was much younger and single, this question had quite a different meaning and a positive answer promised good things for the near future.The pill on my mind today is quite a different prophylactic called Diamox and when taken at the rate of three a day will, apparently, reduce the effects of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). We are still discussing the relative merits of taking “The Pill” or not but I went ahead and bought some anyway. My first surprise came when I got to the till at the pharmacy. R1700.00! And this was for the generic equivalent. I would probably have had to sell my car to buy the real thing. If they work, (there is some debate on this matter) and if we get AMS (not everybody is susceptible) I am sure this amount will be considered to be a good investment, but it is possible that we may not use them at all.
The argument seems to go like this:
Diamox is a prophylactic (preventative measure) but it is also a diuretic (takes water out of the body). Most of the specialists tell us that the best way to avoid AMS is to drink lots of water so the Diamox will counteract this solution.
If we take Diamox and then get AMS we will have nothing to treat it with because we are already taking the treatment.
Unfortunately medicine is not an exact science. The effects of AMS seem to be like the mother of all hangovers, made worse, apparently, by drinking alcohol on the way up.
The way we are talking at the moment, John and Sheila want to take the tablets from day one, but I want to avoid the tablets unless I need them. I will keep you posted.
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