Bad idea?

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RobynLB83
RobynLB83 Posts: 626 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I've been sick with a bad cold for almost 2 weeks with no sign of improvement. I've been running a fever off and on with headaches, weakness, and fatigue. I have a 240 mile backpacking trip scheduled to start next Friday. I will be doing about 20 miles per day with a pack. Should I cancel? Should I wait till Monday? Or should I just suck it up and go, but come home if I develop phenomena by the end of the first week? I'm 29, otherwise healthy as a horse, and I was in top condition just prior to getting this monster cold.

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  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    If you're that sick and it's been 2 weeks and you're not getting better I would personally cancel and get thee butt to a doctor ASAP.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    If you're that sick and it's been 2 weeks and you're not getting better I would personally cancel and get thee butt to a doctor ASAP.

    ^^^^^ This
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,639 Member
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    So I've been sick with a bad cold for almost 2 weeks with no sign of improvement. I've been running a fever off and on with headaches, weakness, and fatigue. I have a 240 mile backpacking trip scheduled to start next Friday. I will be doing about 20 miles per day with a pack. Should I cancel? Should I wait till Monday? Or should I just suck it up and go, but come home if I develop phenomena by the end of the first week? I'm 29, otherwise healthy as a horse, and I was in top condition just prior to getting this monster cold.

    If it is a virus you have, insisting on training on top of that can be very dangerous, it is stressful for your heart.

    Personally, I would get to the doctors asap.
  • britzzie
    britzzie Posts: 341 Member
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    I wouldn't cancel yet. Get to the doc, take the meds, then wait and see. You may make a miraculous recovery.
  • macybean
    macybean Posts: 258 Member
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    See your doctor (or at least call the office) and see if you can get antibiotics to take if needed on the trip. Something lasting 2 weeks without worsening is usually viral and will start to improve...eventually! That said there's always the possibility of worsening (and bacterial infection), and you won't be on your top form for a while. Have a bail-out plan and emergency meds (if possible...that's easier to do when you're a nurse in an ER!) and maybe try to alter your route to something less ambitious, but still fantastic!
    BTW, where you headed? Just curious....I'm heading out to the winds in September and am still pondering routes!
  • RobynLB83
    RobynLB83 Posts: 626 Member
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    We are doing the Tahoe Rim. Yeah, maybe I will get the okay from my dr. first, just to get my boyfriend off my back. We are doing resupplies every 3-4 days, so I will have a chance to bail out if I need to. I was s'posed to do Hetch Hetchy this Summer too, but we did Catalina instead. If I could go anywhere, it would be Yosemite or a backcountry stretch of PCT.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    The flu usually runs its course in two weeks. I say if you aren't feeling better by Monday, then I would say go to the doctor. If he hasn't got you feeling better by Thursday, then cancel the backpacking trip.
  • macybean
    macybean Posts: 258 Member
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    Sounds awesome! I've got to get the PCT trail in too.

    Enjoy your trip, with resupplies every so often you've got plenty of opportunity to get to help if you get worse.
  • mikeatmichael
    mikeatmichael Posts: 92 Member
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    At my annual physical I would always have my dr. prescribe a 3 day z-pac (antibiotic) to take with on backpacking and canoe trips, just in case. It came in handy a couple of times.

    Backpacking with a cold or fever is no fun.

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