Ever come down sick while out hammocking?

**G.L.P.** · 10-06-2011, 23:31

i had the runs once... nothing like having the runs and having to do it in a cathole

**exup** · 10-07-2011, 00:50

GLP, hahah, I'm thankful I haven't came down with that yet.

I've been lucky, nothing more than a few sniffles. Though once I had a mighty bad hangover. We were parked 100 yards from the trail so it all worked out fine.

**JohnSawyer** · 10-07-2011, 01:04

Day 1 a group member got sick so we divided up her stuff... I had her empty pack + my 40 lbs.. (yeah, it was the 80's and I was indestructable).

Then on the way UP the switchbacks (2000' climb that day), while I was covering the rear, I started getting sick... 4 hours later, when others made it to camp, a runner came back down looking for me... I wasn't far from the top by then, but I was pretty green... Fortunately I had water, but no trail food... He carried my pack the last mile. I was fine the next day...

**FLRider** · 10-07-2011, 02:57

While not a "sick" day, I wound up having to do 40 miles on a bike with one of the worst hangovers I've ever had earlier this year.

I'd gone camping up at one of the local sites, and a friend who lived in the area had come to visit for an evening. He and I had...well, let's leave it at "too much", since I don't have the clearest memory of it...that night. The next morning, I heaved myself up on the bike and started for home with a skull that felt two sizes too small.

By mile twenty-five, though, I felt fairly okay. Mind you, this was after re-seeing my meals twice. Thank goodness that I was completely okay by the time I hit home (especially as I had to be at work that night).

Not an experience that I would care to repeat, but it certainly was interesting.

**Big Papi** · 10-07-2011, 03:52

I have had some montezumas revenge (runs) and it sucks. i don't get to be out as much as i would like, so i just drink more liquids and take it easy. My last trip in spring to Mt Rogers, I spent a day diving fo the woods and sleeping in my hammock. felt like crap, but any day on a mountain is better than a night in da "hood".

**oldgringo** · 10-07-2011, 04:42

My hammock has never made me sick.

**Cookie** · 10-07-2011, 05:17

I caught a really bad cold on the trail one time. I had no medications at all. Ever since then I always carry some benadryl. This is a great decongestant and also good for wasp stings and allergic reactions to anything (such as poison ivy).

I ran into a guy hiking on the trail who had been stung on his ankle. It was swollen up like a softball! He was getting a little panicked. I gave him a couple of Benadryl and within 20 minutes the swelling had gone down and he was able to walk.

It does make me a little drowsy but that is better than laying awake in the hammock all night congested and feeling lousy. A couple of Advil and 1 Benadryl and I sleep soundly. (By the way, I am not a doctor, but I played one on TV once

**L.D. Cakes** · 10-07-2011, 09:10

Yeah Cookie, You can also give Benadryl to your dog too. Mine stuck her nose in a hole once that of course was a Yellow Jackets nest and got stung a couple times on her Muzzle. The Benadryl brought the swelling down once we out-ran the bees!

**MrClean417** · 10-07-2011, 09:30

Wow, I just wrote a treatise that would make your average pharmacist quiver, your friends and family schedule an intervention and your doctor pull out his pad and say "I've got a scrip for that".
Let me re-write and edit.

Along with carrying any prescription medications that you should have (blood pressure, etc.)
Carry
Benedryl (any Diphenhydramine) Anti histamine
Tylenol (any Acetaminophen) Pain blocker, stops reactionary swelling
Advil (any Ibuprofen) Anti Inflammatory Stops pain caused by swelling
Naproxine (my pinkies hurt nowadays, dang arthritis!) Stops pain, long term
NoDoze (any Caffeine) Wakes you up, small doses expands blood vessels activating the other drugs. counteracts drozy drugs
Pseudohydrine (works like Benedryl but long term, usually sudafed 12 hour)

The rest are combination drugs. they actually are specific mixes unlike the above that every company makes. These work for me.
Excedrin Migraine (This is a combo drug of Acetaminophen, Aspirin and Caffeine) Migraines. If I get a big blast of tobacco smoke* or MSG in my food (chinese, many jerky, etc) I will quickly get to where I can't move my head or I'll cry. If it's food, I'll just take this. If it's smoke, I'll take this and Sudafed which will help block out the smoke. While I can deal more with Cigarettes I can't get some Cigar smokes out of my nose for a week sometimes. Neti pot helps greatly with that to.
Mucinex DM (expectorant, cough suppressant)
Depending on where you are Small quantity of Alcohol (that varies by individual I know) This acts faster then the benedryl and doesn't linger in the mornings like benedryl will (know your amounts). It also numbs pain quicker then the pain relievers (go figure and can be used in conjunction with them-and is in things like Nyquil) But is illegal in some parks, some places, some counties, states.

You don't have to take a lot of the above with you, and I didn't list dosages. You'll have to find out what works for you yourself. Play wisely at home first kids. You'll find what kind of doses you'll need to carry in your first aid kit depending on your trip length. If it's to the place where a carry-able amount won't hack it, it's time to get off the trail anyways. A small bottle will probably carry everything I need for emergency conditions, another small bottle may be necessary for the dailys (heart, anti-inflamatory, etc.) Most days, weeks even, I don't need any of the above, but when I need em, whooo boy do I need em.

*Yup, grew up with chain smoking parents. Every night in front of the TV a cloud of smoke would gather at the ceiling and work it's way down to the level where we would have to see through it while lying on the floor watching. Then it was bed time. Never knew why I had so many devastating headaches as a small child. Was chastised for missing school. Went to college and all of a sudden my headaches were gone, till I went home on a weekend. I was jittery too, go figure. Then about 3 months in I figured it out, bummed a smoke from a friend and walla, no jitters, no headaches. Evidently, or at least in these test, if I smoke them I don't have problems. But I'm a cheap CHEAP dude and know that addictiveness flows through my gene pool like the Milkyway through the night sky, and I didn't like the taste of the dang things anyways.
So I avoid the smoke, I stand upwind and I don't go places that are smoke filled. Wood smoke rarely gives me problems but I've gotten hit with leaf smoke that has put me over the edge so there's something somewhere in the leaf process I think.

Again, quite a log.

**Shug** · 10-07-2011, 11:08

Originally Posted by Fronkey

Yep, I got sick last time I was out and drank plenty of water and tried to sweat it out. I ended up feeling better by the last day too.

There is a dude on here you may have heard of that likes to try the "backwoods neti pot" approach. Which I hear works great!

Fronkey

Originally Posted by ldcakes

If you don't already have one, A Neti Pot like the others suggest really work(you can get one at Walgreens). Making a back woods version with your hydration bladder & tube is easy. It's in Shugs vidios when he got to feeling bad.
Make sure you get plenty of fluids too but if you start to get a high fever don't mess around with that and either take a zero day or get off the trail.
Personally, I have to have my vitamin C to help me along.

Get Well Soon!

I did do a neti-pot with my ULA gravity filter bag.......has a sinus infection going and it cleared me out well. Not that I would recommend doing it))))
I boiled the water...added salt and let it cool down before running it through the nostrils. Felt a ton better after.
Shug