Inca Trail · Travel Medicine
Three nights at altitude on the trail. Diamox is what gets you through them.
Get the medication the CDC recommends for rapid ascent above 11,000 feet, prescribed without the appointment. Ready at your pharmacy before you fly to Cusco.
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The classic Inca Trail flies trekkers into Cusco at 11,000 feet, then climbs across three nights of camp above 11,500 feet before descending into Machu Picchu. CDC notes that acute mountain sickness rates approach 50 percent when ascent above 11,150 feet is rapid, and almost every trekker arrives in Cusco directly from sea-level Lima. Acetazolamide started the day before you fly cuts the rate and severity of AMS substantially, and it also eliminates the periodic breathing that disrupts sleep at altitude. There is no exit from the trail once you start, so the medication has to be in your pack at Km 82.
Peru travel health guide — vaccines, snapshot overview, and what to review before you go.
Orders are reviewed and prescriptions sent to your pharmacy within 24 hours.
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+1 (302) 251-2302Rx at your pharmacy in three steps.
No appointment. No waiting room. Answer a few questions and a licensed provider reviews within hours.
Your destination, dates, health history, and current medications. Takes about 2 minutes.
A licensed clinician reviews your health profile, checks for interactions, and approves your prescription.
- Allergy screen passed
- Drug interactions clear
- Prescription approved
Your approved prescription is sent electronically to the pharmacy of your choice. Pick it up when your pharmacy has it ready.
Skip the appointment. Get the same Rx.
Both columns cover the visit and prescribing only. Your pharmacy bills the medication itself on either side.
Medications in the Inca Trail plan
Inca Trail medication FAQ
- The CDC Yellow Book explicitly recommends acetazolamide prophylaxis for travelers ascending rapidly above 8,000 feet in Peru and notes that acute mountain sickness rates approach 50 percent when ascent above 11,150 feet is rapid. Almost every Inca Trail trek flies trekkers directly from sea-level Lima into Cusco at 11,000 feet, then transfers them to camp above 11,500 feet for two consecutive nights. There is no helicopter bail-out, no hotel to descend to, and no pharmacy on the trail. If you are flying in within a day or two of starting the trek (the typical itinerary), the medication is worth having before you leave home.
- CDC dosing is 125 mg every 12 hours, starting 24 hours before you ascend and continuing through the trek. For most Inca Trail itineraries that means starting the day before you fly to Cusco and continuing every day until you descend below 8,000 feet on the way out of Aguas Calientes. The medication speeds the ventilatory acclimatization that normally takes three to five days down to roughly one day, which matters when you cannot slow your ascent profile across a fixed-permit, fixed-itinerary trek.
- Three prescriptions. Acetazolamide (generic Diamox) to prevent altitude sickness and ease the periodic breathing that disrupts sleep at high camps. Rx-strength ibuprofen for the altitude headache and the joint and quad pain that compounds across four days on Inca stone stairs. Hydroxyzine (Vistaril) as a sleep aid for nights one and two at the high-altitude campsites where cold and altitude both work against rest. Diamox does the prevention work. The other two manage the symptoms that show up anyway across a four-day trek.
- Orders are reviewed by a US-licensed provider and the Rx is sent electronically to your pharmacy within 24 hours. Most travelers can pick it up the same day.
- After your provider approves the Rx, it's sent electronically to whichever pharmacy you choose during your visit. Your pharmacy will tell you when the medication is ready for pickup. You can use your pharmacy insurance to cover the medication itself.
- If a provider can't safely prescribe (rare, usually due to a contraindication), the visit fee is refunded in full. You only pay if the Rx is sent.
Get the Rx before you fly to Cusco.
Start the medication the day before you ascend, pick it up at your pharmacy before your flight, and you will be covered from Cusco through three nights of camp and back out through the Sun Gate.